Tag Archives: Grande Provence

Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist 2015: a prediction! Judges identified too!

Eatout-lockup-merc1 2015The Eat Out judges are doing the rounds in evaluating our country’s Top 20 restaurants, from which they will pick their Top 10 Restaurants for 2015, to be announced at a Gala Lunch at Mistico Equestrian Centre outside
Paarl on 15 November.

Last year a number of restaurants made it to the Top 20 shortlist, possibly by default, as the largest number of chef changes ever took place in 2014, making the restaurants linked to those chefs ineligible to be considered for an Eat Out Top 10 award.  This affected Hartford House (Chef Jackie Cameron starting her Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine), Delaire Graff (Chef Christiaan Campbell Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 4 September

imageTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Our economy is struggling, business confidence having fallen to its lowest level in 16 years. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Confidence Index fell from 88 in July to 84 in August! This scenario may cost the country’s workers 60000 jobs.

*   Given that the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held in Durban, Continue reading →

Exciting restaurant openings and changes in Cape Town and Winelands today!

imageThe rate of new and planned restaurant openings seems slower than at the beginning of previous summer seasons.   Restaurateur Michael Townsend of the Harbour House Group continues unabated in opening new restaurants. Exciting news for Franschhoek is the ownership change today of Le Quartier Français by the Leeu Collection!  Today’s date of 1 September appears a number of times below!  We update information about newly opened and closed restaurants continuously.

Restaurant Openings

*     Vicky Cristina’s tapas bar y restaurante espanol has opened in Camps Bay (photograph).

*   De Warenmarkt has opened in Stellenbosch, a mix of market, deli, bar, and pop-up restaurant 

*   Open Door has opened at Constantia Uitsig, the third restaurant to be opened by Neil Grant and his business Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 17 August

imageTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Despite the Rand reaching its lowest level ever to the Pound, at just over R20, and weakening further against the Dollar, no positive impact of the exchange rate is visible in terms of tourism enquiries from the UK and the USA!

*   SA Tourism CEO Thulani Nzimi has advised the tourism industry Continue reading →