Tag Archives: Hidden Valley

Many new Summer Restaurant openings in Cape Town and Winelands!

imageA spate of new restaurant openings is coinciding with the start of the Summer season. Restaurateur Michael Townsend of the Harbour House Group continues unabated in opening new restaurants, achieving a total of 18 or more by December! We update information about newly opened and closed restaurants continuously.

Restaurant Openings Continue reading →

Does CNN’s ‘7 stunning Cape Town vineyards’ list have any credibility when they are not in Cape Town?!

haute-cabriere-restaurant-views-2-exlarge-169In my book CNN is a credible news agency, but this image has been severely dented by an article entitled ‘7 stunning Cape Town vineyards with food as good as the wine’, written last week by one Griffin Shea. Not one of the seven wine estates featured are in Cape Town!

The article introduction is short and sweet: ‘It’s no secret that in Cape Town, good wine abounds. But wine farms also host some of South Africa’s best restaurants, which pride themselves on serving up meals from ingredients often grown just steps away from the tables. These restaurants have won enough awards to fill walls, but like so many of South Africa’s best places to eat, they’re generally relaxed, unpretentious affairs where the prices won’t break the bank. Many of the menus are deceptively simple, heavy on local ingredients and farm fare, but prepared with passion and care’.

It does not state on which basis the wine estates were selected, but obviously they had to have a ‘great‘ restaurant, Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 14 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Former Capitec CEO Riaan Stassen appears to have bought Hidden Valley, the Stellenbosch wine estate on which Overture operates.   The staff at the wine estate say they have heard the rumour too, but it has not been confirmed by their boss yet!

*  ‘Budapest’ and ‘Blame it on me‘ singer George Ezra will perform in Cape Town on 29 August, at the Continue reading →

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   German competition authorities have reacted strongly against Booking.com, which prohibits accommodation establishments from offering better rates to clients booking with them directly relative to the rate they charge via Booking.com.  Action is also being taken against a similar booking site Expedia.com

*   The contribution of Tourism to the economy nationally has remained at 2,9% in both 2012 and 2013, reaching a total of R104 billion.   Just more than half of the spend was Continue reading →