New restaurant openings continue, many working behind the scenes, and not revealing information about their new establishments prior to opening. We update information about newly opened and closed restaurants continuously.
Restaurant Openings
* Giulio’s Café has opened where My Basaar was located (photograph).
* My Sugar has opened in Sea Point.
* Chef Julia Hattingh has opened her own restaurant Reverie Social Table in Observatory. Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Babylonstoren is expanding its offering of fruit and vegetables, by now growing various varieties of mushrooms in its Mushroom Cellar.
* Eurostar is to introduce a London – Amsterdam route from 2016, a four hour journey.
* Xolani Mancotywa, Sommelier at the Saxon Hotel, has reached the Finals of the international 2013 Best Young Sommelier, having won the South African title. He is competing against eleven other such country winners in Washington on 18 October. The competition is sponsored by the Chaîne de Rôtisseurs, a global gastronomic society.
* An innovative way of attracting business into the city in the evening is First Thursdays, the 20 or so city centre art galleries staying open until 21h00 (some even later) on the first Thursday of each month, Continue reading →
Despite one of the worst winters ever experienced by the Cape hospitality industry, few restaurants have closed down recently. A surprise however is the movement of staff between restaurants. This list of restaurant openings and closings is updated continuously, as we receive new information:
Restaurant Openings
* Beerhouse has opened on Long Street, with 16 beers on tap and 99 bottled beers from around the world.
* The House of Machines has opened on Shortmarket Street, building motorcycles, offering good Evil Twin coffee, and serving very healthy food.
* Pure Good has opened downstairs in the Associated Magazines building opposite Parliament, and is owned by Shannon Smuts, the first MasterChef SA Finalist to have been eliminated.
* The Harbour House group has opened La Parada Spanish Tapas restaurant on Continue reading →
More restaurants in the Western Cape than in any other province entered and received a Diners Club International Winelist Award 2013. At the 30th Awards function held for the Western Cape at the Vineyard Hotel on Wednesday, MasterChef SA Judge and Tsogo Sun Chef Benny Masekwameng announced the 38 winners in the Diamond, 30 in the Platinum, 26 in the Gold, and 2 in the Silver
Award categories, 96 awards in total.
Veteran wine critic Dave Hughes chaired the judging panel, which included fledgling judge Chef Benny, restaurant guide editor JP Rossouw, wine judges Christine Rudman and Fiona McDonald, Winestyle.biz owner Nikki Dumas, and the Cape Wine Academy head Marilyn Cooper. He said that it was fitting that the Awards ceremony was held at The Vineyard hotel, the Newlands area having been the first in Cape Town in which grapes were grown, but soon Continue reading →