Tag Archives: Clos Malverne

Cape Town and Winelands Restaurant Winter Specials (and winter closures) 2015

Bungalow fireplaceIf it depends on the Cape weather, it is hardly winter yet. However, the first restaurants are sending out their Winter Specials information, summarised below.  The list is updated continuously. We welcome information about new specials:

Cape Town

*   Umi in Camps Bay: 2 course set menu R155, 3 courses R195.  Beef shortrib R105, beef sirloin R95, fish & fries R85, Tataki Beef R55, Beef sliders R55, Baby squid R45. Half price sushi. Cocktails R40  Tel (021) 437-1802 (added 1/5/15)

*   Pepenero in Mouille Point : 2 courses R150, 3 courses R190. Sirloin R90, Rump R90, Lamb cutlets R120, Seafood platter R160, Sushi platter R130, Veal schnitzel R110, Oxtail R110, prawn platter R130, chicken liver pasta R80, and chicken curry R90 .  Half price sushi (selected items) all day. Cocktails R35. Daily. Tel (021) 439-9027 (added 1/5/15)

*    5 Rooms, Alphen Boutique Hotel: 2 courses R160; 3 courses R 200; Sirloin R95, slow braised lamb shank Continue reading →

Stellenbosch squeezes most out of its 2015 Wine Festival, poor website!

Stellenbosch Wine FestivalBilled as a three-day event but stretching over a week, the Stellenbosch Wine Festival presented by Pick ‘n Pay draws to a close today, with a feast of events offered.  It is the largest wine festival in the country, and the oldest.  The media blurb proudly brags that the Stellenbosch Wine Festival presents the best of Stellenbosch’s ‘great wine, gourmet food, breathtakingly beautiful nature, and performances by some of South Africa’s most popular musicians‘.

Held at the Coetzenburg Sports Grounds since Friday, 200 wines of 148 wine estates that make up the Stellenbosch Wine Routes are available to taste, creating a ‘virtual wine route‘.  The Pick ‘n Pay Wine Shop will sell Stellenbosch wines to drink at the Festival, to take home, or to ship back to one’s home destination.   Winemakers from Waterford Estate, Spier, Kleine Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7/8 December

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Thirteen venues linked to the late Nelson Mandela  in Johannesburg and Pretoria are paying homage to the great leader.  They include his house in Alexandra; his house in Soweto; Nelson Mandela Bridge; the Nelson Mandela statue in Nelson Mandela Square; the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory; Liliesleaf Farm; Constitution Hill; the Apartheid Museum; Freedom Park in Pretoria; the Union Buildings; the Workers’ Museum; the Palace of Justice in Church Square, and Chancellor House.

*   The Sydney Morning Herald lists 20 reasons to visit Cape Town today, clearly out of date as it recommends seeing whales from land (they have left for the Antarctic already), and there is no reference to Nelson Mandela’s passing!  It oddly refers to the longest wine route in the world between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (the latter city is not associated with wines), and referring to indigenous fynbos as ‘native flowers’ is a ‘lost in translation’ reference!   It does highlight Clifton and Camps Bay as top beaches. The writer received information from SA Tourism, which makes the incorrect information unforgivable.

*   In the twenty years since the late Mr Mandela’s release and subsequent Presidency of the country tourist arrivals grew by 10 million!

*   Announced prior to the passing of Madiba, SAA and SA Tourism shared plans to tie in with the release of the movie ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom‘ in the United Kingdom, to promote our country as a tourism destination.

*   An American publication recommends three South African wines out of Continue reading →

‘A Void in the Landscape’ Art exhibition pops up at Clos Malverne!

Clos Malverne Gordon Froud Whale Cottage PortfolioA pop-up art gallery, curated by the North-West University Gallery in Potchefstroom, has come to Stellenbosch at Clos Malverne in the Devon Valley, with an inaugural exhibition entitled  ‘A Void in the Landscape’.  The focus of the exhibition is Nature, we were told at the opening by its winemaker Suzanne Coetzee ten days ago.  The indoor and exterior exhibition runs until January.

The art is displayed both two-dimensionally inside the restaurant overlooking the vineyards and beautiful hills and mountains in the background, as well as three-dimensionally in the garden and the vineyards.  The exhibition was curated by Christina Naurattel Continue reading →