Tag Archives: Gabrielskloof

Restaurant Review: Just Pure The Bistro offers impure service and food!

Just Pure The Bistro Exterior Whale Cottage PortfolioLooking for a coffee shop in Hermanus over lunch yesterday I popped in at Just Pure The Bistro, located within a showroom that sells the Just Pure pure skin and body care range.  I had no intention to write about my sandwich and coffee stop, but the dreadful service from the staff and owners compelled me to write a review.

The balcony has a fantastic view onto the ocean, and the ocean was particularly rough yesterday, with massive waves, making it a pleasure to sit outside.  I used to love going there when Bellini had its art gallery and coffee shop in the same space.  I walked inside the shop, not having been there for some time, and saw that the Just Pure showroom still looked the same, found a Cape Times on a table, and chose a table to sit at outside.  I was not welcomed by any staff, and saw a waitress yawning as I wanted to ask her for a table.  She brought a menu and I placed my order of a glass of ice, a jug of milk, and an espresso, wishing to make my own iced coffee, and a glass of ice water.  She brought the ice on a saucer, and there was no glass into which I could pour all the ingredients.  She returned with the same number of ice cubes in a glass, so I had to send her back to fill it up.

I chose to order a ‘Country Loaf’ sandwich, from the ‘Gourmet Open Sandwiches‘ section,  with tomato, mozzarella, and avocado, which I asked to be toasted, and expected a seed type loaf.  The waitress returned, after having taken the order, to double check that I wished to only have one slice , described confusingly in their menu as a half portion (R49), two slices being a full portion (R65).  It took at least half an hour to be served, but it gave me a chance to read the newspaper, and to catch up on Social Media, having spent about two hours driving to Hermanus.  What I was served was an attractively presented but non-gourmet plain slice of Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 18 February

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Taittinger has redesigned its bottle label and gift pack, to reflect its status as official champagne sponsor of the 2014 World Cup soccer in Brazil.   Holograms have been used, and the footballs on the label appear raised but are flat.  The brand has already been fined in France for advertising its link to the World Cup, but will communicate this in other countries, especially in South America, having the right to the title until the end of 2015.

*   The directive by the Minister of Finance that VAT be levied on international e-books levels the playing field says the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA), despite VAT being charged on books not being encouraged by the PASA.  The new legislation is not a surprise as governments are working on collecting VAT/sales tax on sales in their regions. Foreign retailers selling into South Africa will now have to register as VAT vendors. A healthier retail book trade is expect to result. Internationally digital book sales are at about 50%, but in South Africa they are currently only at 20%.  Charging VAT could generate R 1 billion in revenue for the country. The Cape Town Book Fair, running from 13 – 15 June, will showcase the latest technological developments on e-reading. (received via media release from The Embassy)

*   Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve is hosting a  number of Food and Wine Weekend treats in winter, pairing with top wine estates, including Meerlust (30 May – 1 June), Bouchard Finlayson (27 – Continue reading →

First Guide to Extra Virgin Olive Oil in South Africa launched!

Olive Oil Guide Whale Cottage PortfolioAn unique ‘The Guide to Extra Virgin Olive Oil in South Africa‘ has been published, the first of its kind, providing an overview of olive oil production in our country, and providing details of the top quality olive oil producers.

Olives were first brought to South Africa from California by Piet Cillie in 1893.    A mere 14 years later Jan Minnaar from De Hoop farm in Paarl won  the prize for the best olive oil produced in the British Empire at the 1907 London Show!   Reni Hildenbrand now owns the farm in Wellington on which Piet Cillie farmed, and she has written a book ‘Olives and Olive Oils in South Africa‘.  Ferdinando Costa arrived from Genoa in Italy a few years later, and brought in Italian plants, grafting them on the local Olienhout rootstock.  He planted large numbers of olive trees in Paarl in 1925, and pressed his first olive oil in 1935.   The Costa name is synonymous with olives and olive oil, and his relative Linda runs SA Olive, a quality standards body for the industry.   Italian Baron Andreis began planting olive trees in the ‘Fifties, using Carlo Castiglione to make olive oil from 1972, under the Vesuvio brand.  Its Extra Virgin Olive Oil won four awards in Italy for the first time, and regularly wins international awards.  Italian Guilio Bertrand bought Morgenster next door to Vergelegen just over twenty years ago, and saw the potential to produce quality wines and olive oils.  He now runs an olive oil nursery, and won the SA Olive Lifetime Achievement Award last year.

The quality of olive oil quality is influenced by the terroir, cultivar, climate, and the oil maker, similar to wines.  The biggest threat to good quality local Extra Virgin Olive Oils is inferior olive oils which are  imported, and bought by consumers in the belief that the imported products should be of a better quality. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is extracted from the olives at a temperature below 30° C, Continue reading →

‘Going Whole Hog’ goes the whole hog for humane pork!

Going Whole Hog GWH3_LowResA communication campaign ‘Going Whole Hog‘, about the benefits of eating free-range and ethical pork, has been launched by campaign advisor Mark Fox.

The ‘Going Whole Hog‘ campaign not only communicates the health benefits of eating pasture-reared or free-range pork, where pigs graze in a paddock, and are treated better than mass-reared pigs, but also communicates the benefit of farm-to-table.

Nutritional therapist Sara Bilbe said: ‘Factory farmed pigs live in concrete cells with no outside exposure and no entertainment. Pigs are fairly intelligent animals and this lack of stimulation in these cells leads to high stress levels and therefore high illness. A naturally foraging pig would not just be feeding on grain and legumes but insects, grubs, leafy greens and grasses which are all high in omega-3 oils and would change the composition of the pork fat that we eat’.  Such naturally foraging pigs are healthier and are not force-fed to gain weight abnormally, making the pork less fatty, and healthier in that it does not contain hormones nor antibiotics.

Mass-produced pigs are fed cheap soya, corn, and grain, disadvantageous to the digestive system of a pig, which cannot stomach such large quantities of food, hence requiring antibiotics.  Pig’s feed can contain hair, skin, blood, intestines, and hooves of other dead animals. Stressed pigs release hormones, which will be contained in mass-produced bacon.   The health benefits of pasture-reared animals include its high levels of  vitamin A, D, E, and K, and omega-3’s.  Pork chops are leaner, contain less sodium, and have more vitamin B.

Pick ‘n Pay is stocking free-range pork at some of its outlets, and is raising Continue reading →