Tag Archives: Hermanus

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 8 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The EFF is calling for 40 Cape Town suburbs and Western Cape towns to be renamed, to remove references to our ‘colonial‘ past and to go back to the region’s African and Khoi San origins. Camps Bay, Worcester, Hermanus, Plettenberg Bay, Stellenbosch, and George are included on the suggested renaming list.

*   The City of Cape Town has approved the sale of a piece of land called ‘Clifton Precinct‘, currently housing garages used by bungalow owners, a restaurant, and sport grounds, despite resistance from Clifton residents. The City is calling for a bidder to build a parking garage, a retail outlet, and ‘boutique line shops’! Opposition parties in the City Council are also up in arms about the proposed sale.

*   The arrogance of the Department of Home Affairs knows no bounds in terms of its Immigration Regulations, it Continue reading →

Bushmans Kloof and Bouchard Finlayson come to Cape Town for a #TweetandEat!

Bushmanskloof Table Whale CottageI have not attended a #TweetandEat event for a long time, and when the invitation came from FIVE STAR PR to attend one at the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa presented by their sister property Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat last week, it was a yes immediately, not having experienced the contemporary Cape cuisine of Executive Chef Floris Smith before.

Bushmans Kloof GM James Basson came to welcome me immediately, and it is clearBushmanskloof James Basson Whale Cottage to see why he was named the Best GM in the Red Carnation Group earlier this year. He is bubbly, friendly, and vivacious, and one feels that one has known him for years. I asked him what he does to have won the award, and he immediately said that it his team that makes a difference. His staff stay for long, and many couples work there, given that they are in the middle Continue reading →

A whale of a Hermanus FynArts Festival: 5 – 16 June! A feast of food, wine, music, art, books, and more!

Hermanus FynArtsI did a quick visit to Hermanus yesterday, and at a stop at Rivendell Restaurant, between Bot River and Hermanus, I was told that Chef Thomas Sinn was coming back from his overseas holiday especially to participate in a super-sounding feast, for which he is one of eight chefs cooking on Monday evening. The staff brought a copy of the programme, and I could not believe what the organisers have planned for the 11-day Festival, ‘A Celebration of South African Arts’ its 80-page Festival brochure proudly proclaims!

The programme consists of different themes: Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 26 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Label design can make an important impact on the purchase of a bottle of wine, argues the Wall Street Journal, as can a comedy play on wine brand names for ‘much cheaper wines‘, mentioning Fairview’s Goats do Roam, based on Côtes du Rhône!

*   The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français has dropped to 88th spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the 51 – 100 ranking having been released today, ahead of the Gala awards function on 1 June.

*   Nederburg winemaker for the past 15 years, Razvan Macici, is to take on the role of Distell’s head winemaker as of 1 July, a new position, to oversee the style and quality of the company’s total wine portfolio, driving innovation, and acting as the ambassador Continue reading →