Tag Archives: Green Point Stadium

Restaurant openings bright light in gloomy recession

Restaurant closures seem to have ground to a halt, the last being the final liquidation of celebrity chef Conrad Gallagher’s Geisha Wok in the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel, and his Sundance coffee shops.   His departure from Cape Town and his shady business dealings have also influenced the operation of Crepe Suzette and Bouillabaisse in the Rockwell Centre in De Waterkant, which opened on the basis of Gallagher setting up an Epicurean Food Market on the ground floor, around the two new restaurants.   This deal fell flat earlier this year already, just as the restaurants were moving into the building.

Last month Reuben Riffel opened his second Reuben’s restaurant, in the new Small Hotel in Robertson.   Nook is the cutest ‘cosy eatery that specialises in homemade pastries, cakes, sandwiches and a wide variety of daily specials’,  that also opened last month in Stellenbosch’s Van Reyneveld Street, where the Greek Kitchen used to be.  The owners Luke and Jessica are young, and this is their first restaurant venture.  They are refreshing in the way they connect with their clients, and understand customer relationships. 

Last week Portofino opened where the Showroom used to be in De Waterkant, by fun and hands-on owner Cormac Keane with chef Stephen Kruger, previously working with Richard Carstens, in the kitchen.   See the review on this blog.

Yesterday the 12th branch of Doppio Zero opened on Somerset Road, Green Point, in a lovely renovated Victorian building with modern lighting, and is fantastically positioned opposite the Green Point stadium. Doppio Zero is a franchise operation, which has an impressive website that is upfront about what the company stands for.  Its promise is “to consistently deliver beyond your expectations”.   The company’s vision is to be a “leader in our industry and in the market in which we trade, and to imprint the Doppio experience in the culture of our guests.”   Its mission is to ensure that guest satisfaction is “number 1”, to offer staff growth opportunities, to offer uncompromising best quality food, service and people, to develop lasting relationships with guests, to continuously improve, and to make a “fair profit.”   Its values are passion and enthusiasm, integrity and honesty, an unconditional commitment to the brand, and individual responsibility and accountability.  These are strong words, and one hopes that the company can keep its promises, especially as they are stated so publicly.

Bruce Robertson’s Showroom Cafe and The Quarter on Long Street are doing well, and he was bubbling last week about four restaurant openings he is consulting on, all scheduled for October.   October also sees the opening of Vanilla, owned by the Newhouse father and son duo from Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay, in the new Cape Quarter building on Somerset Road.   Cru Cafe will also open in the center.

Kathy and Gary Jordan from Jordan Wines in Stellenbosch will also open a restaurant for light lunches in October, on their wine estate, reports The Sunday Independent.   Critically, they comment:”Too many people chase Michelin stars, but I am not a fan of that system.  To win those stars, you have to throw away your food from one sitting, and start again in the evening.  To me, it is just a waste.  It adds a huge cost to the restaurant bill.  Almost all the food rejected is still perfectly good.  I can’t stand seeing food wasted.”  Their restaurant will “offer simple, well-cooked, wholesome food”.  The Jordans are co-owners of the High Timber restaurant in London, with Neleen Strauss, and “a significant percentage” of the 40 000 wines in the restaurant are Jordan wines. 

The Waterkloof wine estate in Somerset West, which belongs to one of the largest wine importers in the UK, Paul Boutinot, and who calls himself the “Custodian” of the wine estate, according to its website, will open its restaurant in November, with chef Gregory Czarnecki in the kitchen and Julian Smith from Grande Provence managing the restaurant.  Czarnecki was previously at The BIg Easy in Stellenbosch, the restaurant belonging to Johan Rupert and Ernie Els, amongst others, and left when he was expected to cook hamburgers, it is said.    He worked with 3*** Michelin chef Alain Senderens at Lucas Carton.   Waterkloof’s website states that it makes ‘slow wines’, with fermentation taking place between one to eleven months instead of the usual 20 days, and it would be excellent if its new restaurant embodies “slow food”.

Little has been said or written about maze and Nobu locally lately, and one wonders what the effect of the poor reviews Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in the UK got in the 2010 edition of The Harden’s restaurant guide will be on the local restaurant in the OneandOnly Cape Town hotel.  According to a report in the Daily Mail, the guide has placed four of Ramsays’ restaurants on the “10 most disappointing restaurants” list.    Three of the restaurants also featured on the ‘most overpriced’ list.  The author of the guide, Richard Harden, said of maze and of Ramsay that it is suffering from “imperial over-reach” and feels that ‘it has deep-seated problems’.   Harden continues about Ramsay: “He wants to be an international film star and be accorded Beckham levels of international fame yet he wants to run this internationally recognised group of restaurants.”   Ramsay’s profits fell by 90 %, according to the report, in the last year, and received negative feedback when it was discovered that some of his restaurants serve mass-produced food, prepared off-site and delivered to the restaurants.

Word about Stellenbosch town is that Etienne Bonthuys will not be at Tokara restaurant in the Helshoogte Pass for much longer.   He is opening up a new restaurant in Stellenbosch later this year, it is rumoured. No doubt Tokara owner GT Ferriera will look for a heavyweight chef to counteract the competition from Delaire Graff across the road.

A late-comer to social media marketing is Le Quartier Francais, which announced with fanfare that it was starting a blog at the beginning of this month.  It has only posted two posts, of which one has already been removed again.   Perhaps the owner does not know that a blog needs a dedicated commitment to regular posting to be credible and to help with search engine optimisation.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Cape Town scores Final Draw goal

The City of Cape Town and the FIFA Local Organising Committee (LOC) signed a Service Level Agreement this week, for Cape Town to host the FIFA Final Draw on 4 December, reports www.goal.com.   The Final Draw will determine which of the 32 teams play at which venues.

Mayor of Cape Town Dan Plato and LOC CEO Danny Jordaan agreed that the Final Draw will take place in the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and is to be attended by 2 000 guests and 800 media representatives.   The FInal Draw is expected to be broadcast in 200 countries. The ceremonial signing was accompanied by Minstrels.

“We can’t wait for the fourth of December and we can’t wait for 2010 to welcome all the visitors and spectators to our city. Cape Town is ready and prepared to deliver a memorable Final Draw and to provide unique visitor experiences for visitors and the soccer fraternity alike. The timing coincides with Cape Town’s festive season and all stakeholders are working together on integrated planning and preparations for the event,” the Mayor told reporters.    The Final Draw will capture the imagination of the football world and will be a week-long event featuring a number of activities staged by FIFA, the Organising Committee, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Provincial Government and all the local Host Cities, says Jordaan.  “There are two projects left in the delivery of the 2010 FIFA World, the Final Draw this December and then the tournament itself starting next June. The FIFA Confederations Cup has really shifted the mood world-wide. Where people once questioned and doubted, we’ve now reached a position where people are looking forward in anticipation and excitement to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa,” said Jordaan.  
“The Final Draw in Cape Town is a critical date and an important milestone for us. And we could not find a better city in which to host it. Cape Town’s a wonderful location and its Greenpoint Stadium is a landmark, one of the best in the world,” he added.      

“The impetus of expenditure and investment in infrastructure for 2010 could not have come at a better time to counteract the effects of the economic slump. While not every individual or suburb of Cape Town will benefit directly from the World Cup, improved facilities, services and infrastructure will benefit all indirectly,” said Plato. 

Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com/blog

Camps Bay tipped to be 2010 training ground

A 2010 World Cup soccer team is tipped to take over the Twelve Apostles Hotel outside Camps Bay next year, and the sportfield at Camps Bay High School will be the training ground for that team, reports People’s Post.

Team representatives from Spain, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, France and Japan have paid site visits to the school.   The final announcement about the team that is to stay in Camps Bay will only be made after the final draw takes place in Cape Town in December.

The school’s sportfield will be upgraded to be as close as possible to the quality at the Green Point stadium.

Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com

FIFA: “South Africa is not only ready, South Africa is committed”

FIFA Chairman Sepp Blatter is visiting South Africa, and has given the thumbs-up to what he has seen on his latest visit to South Africa, to mark the 365 day countdown to 11 June 2010.  

Blatter met President Zuma and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille at Green Point stadium in Cape Town this week, and declared: “South Africa is not only ready, South Africa is committed”, reports The Times!

Blatter congratulated Zuma on his presidency, stating that he was happy that “he likes football and has realised what the World Cup can bring to his country and the continent.”   Blatter added:  “You have the confidence and trust of FIFA but also of the fans.  Everyone wants to be here.”

Danny Jordaan, CEO of the Local Organising Committee, praised the beauty of Durban’s Moses Mabhida and Cape Town’s Green Point stadia.   “The 2010 Fifa World Cup must be the end of an era and the beginning of a new era.   It must herald an era.  It must herald an era in which our country becomes a major driving force and an active participant in the global economy” said Jordaan.

Jordaan also said that 630 000 tickets have been sold to fans in 188 countries, half of these being sold to South Africans, for the 2010 World Cup.   The USA and the UK are the next biggest ticket purchasers, with roughly 70 000 and 43 000, respectively.

Jordaan also said that 70 % of the 640 000 Confederations Cup tickets have been sold.  The Confederations Cup commences on Sunday.

Cape Town Tourism organised the ceremonial kicking off of soccer balls from Table Mountain on 11 June, to mark the 365 days before the start of the World Cup, and attracted a fair number of Capetonians.   CODA performed a new song they have written for the World Cup, and vuvuzelas trumpeted.   The Green Point Stadium is already about 70 % completed, and will be ready for handover on 14 December, says a special Independent Newspaper “1 year to kick off” insert.   A pedestrian underpass will run underneath the traffic circle near the stadium, and the Green Point Common will be upgraded.   Green building practices are being applied for the stadium construction.   The Cape Town International airport upgrade will have been completed by November.