The global Paul Bakery – Café chain is to open in our country by the end of next year, its first store planned for Johannesburg.
In a deal signed with Famous Brands, it was announced today that the 120 year-old French bakery chain, with ‘chic stores’ in 41 countries Continue reading →
Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Franschhoek, and used the opportunity to visit the completely transformed Franschhoek Cellar, for which re-opening I had received an invitation, but could not attend the Monday evening function last month. The redesign led to the closure in October and November last year, and the Franschhoek Cellar re-opening in December. What has emerged is a monster, not suited to brand ‘Franschhoek’ at all!
For the first time I noticed yesterday that one can no longer park in front of the building, an area which was shared with that for The Stall. There is no entrance into the wine tasting centre off the R45 entrance to Franschhoek anymore. Instead the walkway to the centre has been turned into a garden, with a rose garden, another with protea varieties, and a fountain wall. To the left of the building are some unusual looking ‘umbrellas‘, as if they are Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Retailers’ service sucks – we may have thought so – but now it’s official, according to the ‘Retail Shopper Survey 2014′, conducted by Why 5 amongst households with a total income of R10000 or more. More than half of respondents said service is bad; they want shops close by; shopping is a grudge purchase; the majority research offers online; payment by mobile phone would be supported by one-third of shoppers; loyalty programs are highly popular, 96% of shoppers using them; sales do attract shoppers; shoppers want information via catalogues, newsletters, and e-mails, but in-store radio broadcasts are a waste of time; shoppers feel that shopping malls all look the same.
* TripAdvisor has launched a new ‘Just for You‘ service, offering ‘tailor-made’ accommodation recommendations based on past searches on their website as well as preferences. It links with Facebook to gain a better understanding of its customers, to enable better recommendations to be made.
* The Vineyard Hotel has been recognised by the 2014 Travel + Leisure Global Vision Awards for its promotion of Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Locals as well as tourists may find it interesting to explore Cape Town underground as opposed to looking at its beautiful oceans and mountains! Tours of Cape Town’s underground water canals are offered for small groups of up to fifteen persons, commencing at the Castle of Good Hope, with a one hour tour of the Castle, and another one hour section of the tour showing one the fresh running water coming from Table Mountain and running into the sea. The canals were built by the Dutch in the 17th century, and were called ‘Little Amsterdam‘ at one stage.
* After ten years of participating in his Kitchen Nightmare TV series, Chef Gordon Ramsay has closed the door to this popular program which advised struggling restaurant owners in the UK and USA in how to save their businesses. More than 120 episodes were filmed over 12 seasons, and were sold to 150 countries, to have been seen by tens of millions of viewers.
* Actor Sean Penn was seen having lunch at Truth on Buitenkant Street yesterday, being in pre-production for his new movie ‘The Last Face’, which will star Charlize Theron.
* 2011 MasterChef Australia contestant Hayden Quinn, and cook, writer, and presenter, is coming to South Africa to film ‘Hayden Quinn South Africa‘, a 13-episode series which will be broadcast on Continue reading →