Tag Archives: Hermanus

Restaurant Review: Rivendell Restaurant a new start for Chef Thomas Sinn, whale of a good value!

November 6, 2014

Jardine at Jordan Manager and former Sinn employee Riaan Moll told me recently that Chef Thomas Sinn, once an Eat Out Top Restaurant Chef, has closed down all his restaurant interests in Cape Town, and has opened Rivendell Restaurant on the road to Hermanus, near the turn-off to Kleinmond and Arabella. On our way back from a trip to Hermanus my colleague and I found an oasis of food, in the middle of nowhere, offering a whale of a good value.

Rivendell is referred to in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, ‘Lord of the Rings’ amongst others, and means ‘deeply cloven valley‘, referring to the Bot River valley lying between two mountains. The wine estate Rivendell is owned by Austrian couple Heimo and Maria Talhammer, and they invited Chef Thomas to open the restaurant on their farm three months ago. The restaurant building is set back on the estate, and is not visible from the road to Hermanus. It was previously the tasting and functions venue, but the Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 1/2 November

November 2, 2014

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Despite the disaster in Cape Town harbour earlier this week, our country has a lucrative future as far as cruise tourism goes. Nine cruise ships have scheduled stops off our coast for 2015, in Cape Town, Durban, Richard’s Bay, Port Elizabeth, and East London, a 70% increase in cruise liner passengers. A number of the cruise ships are returning to the country, after previous visits. The Queen Mary 2 will return for a second visit next year, and the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will visit in 2016. Vital to the expansion of cruise tourism is world-class terminals in ports, and Cape Town’s inefficiency as far as Customs staff goes was in the spotlight this week. Cape Town is one of the most popular stops in the region, for American tourists in particular.

* National Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom will lead a local delegation representing our tourism industry to World Travel Market (WTM) in London this coming week, one of the largest (after ITB in Berlin) tourism trade exhibitions in the world. More than 50000 tourism players are likely to attend WTM. The Minister said: ‘The WTM is one of the premier events where South Africa engages with the global travel trade. Besides maintaining excitement about our destination, and all that we have to offer, this platform is about doing business and growing international tourist arrivals to our country. We will be promoting the variety of experiences we offer in South Africa, and build on our reputation as a unique, diverse, friendly and accessible destination‘. The Minister will address a summit relating to mega-events and tourism at WTM, based on our country’s FIFA 2010 World Cup experience.

* Due to a cracked silo storing 10000 tons of coal, Eskom has announced load-shedding from today onwards, which is Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 20 October

October 20, 2014

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* World Design Capital 2016 will be hosted by Taipei, and the city received the baton for the bi-annual event from incumbent Cape Town last weekend from the President of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, with Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille present. Taipei’s theme will be ‘Adaptive City: Design in Motion’.

* Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will open the ‘Danish Showroom for Design, Architecture and Consumer Goods‘ at Youngblood in Cape Town on 3 November. Danish design products of ten companies will be on display, and the exhibition aims to improve collaboration between our country and Denmark. Entrance is free, from 4 – 6 November.

* A Ghandi tourism route has been developed, and was launched in Johannesburg by SA Tourism, with thirteen places on Continue reading →

‘Hayden Quinn: South Africa’: Cool as a cucumber in Durban, Chow bye Bunny Blondie, ends ‘epic SA trip of a lifetime’!

October 7, 2014

It was the last episode of ‘Hayden Quinn: South Africa‘ last night, going full circle in Hayden having surfed off Muizenberg in episode 1, and doing so as well in Umhlanga in episode 13 last night. It was a shame that Hayden chose to end off his endorsement for Woolworths’ sustainability program by playing silly games with two pieces of Naan bread and stick out his tongue, a photograph placed on the programme series’ Facebook page.

Hayden visited a hydroponic cucumber farm Qutom Farms outside Durban, which supplies Woolworths. They catch rain water, and therefore they have not had to use external water for more than two years. The plants are grown in glasshouses with covering over the roofs to allow the staff to adapt the amount of light shining onto the cucumber plants. Derrick Baird, Director of Qutam Farms, said that the hydroponic farm ‘is a little bit of Europe here in South Africa’. They also use solar heating for the plant, generating about 220 kw per day. The plants are grown in cocopeat instead of in soil. A fine mist is sprayed if it gets too hot. No pesticides are used, allowing Hayden to eat a crunchy cucumber without having to wash it.