I’m currently doing a Tour Guiding course, and am learning so much more about our City, both in theory teaching as well as practical tours of our city and outlying areas. Yesterday we did a tour of the city centre, and I learnt a lot more about the eminent Capetonians who are honored with statues in the city centre. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: Jan van Riebeeck
Haarlem & Hope changes its name to The Company’s Garden Restaurant!
Social activist Zackie Achmat has managed to get the name of Haarlem & Hope changed to The Company’s Garden Restaurant, three weeks after its opening earlier this month, after he complained that the original name included reference to the Haarlem ship, which brought the first slaves to the Cape!
Achmat wrote angrily: ‘I wish to register my anger and outrage against this unthinking, callous celebration of colonial power. The indigenous Khoi and San people faced genocide. Colonialism is part of our history. We can’t turn the clock back. But many white people’s failure to acknowledge the pain and injustice of colonialism, apartheid and capitalism angers me not simply because it is wrong, but because they are preparing the seeds of increased social violence‘.
The Madame Zingara Group reacted quickly on its Facebook page, posting the following statement: ‘We’ve come under fire once Continue reading →
De Oude Bank Bakkerij transforms, expands into artisanal market Schoon De Companje in Stellenbosch!
Whilst in Stellenbosch yesterday, I popped in at the new Schoon De Companje, the expanded De Oude Bank Bakkerij which opened three years ago and which is now a collection of mini artisanal ‘shops’ under one roof, whilst retaining its cosy restaurant section at the back of the restaurant.
The entrance is now on the corner of Bird and Church Street, where the Dylan Lewis art studio used to be, and opens into the market style space, with different section, each branded separately, most on a Dutch theme. A mat on the floor says ‘Die Kaap is weer Hollands’, reflecting the Schoon family’s Dutch roots. One of the staff told us proudly said that owner Fritz Schoon’s mother Jenny had planned the old-world character wood-dominant interior, and has done an excellent job, not being an interior designer. Design quirks 
attract attention, like a picture of Jan van Riebeeck in the upstairs seating area. The menu introduces the thinking behind De Companje: ‘Schoon means beautiful in Dutch. It is a fitting description for what we do here, the way we do it, where we are and our opinion of you, the people we do it for. De Companje is a collaboration of artisans in the Continue reading →
MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 20: Predict who will be chopped, and win with Pierneef à La Motte!
MasterChef SA Season 2 is the talk of the country, and we have another four weeks of viewing to look forward to. To warm things up a little, we have launched two competitions, the first being a prediction of who will win MasterChef SA in episode 26.
We are also running a weekly prize for the correct prediction of who our readers think will be chopped out of the MasterChef SA. For the correct prediction of who will leave MasterChef SA in episode 20 on 14 August, Pierneef à La Motte has generously offered a R500 voucher for two, making the correct prediction.
The restaurant was featured in episode 10, when Chef Chris Erasmus conducted a MasterClass, preparing a terrine.
Pierneef à La Motte opened almost three years ago, and has made the Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist two years running. It pays homage to the master artist JH Pierneef Continue reading →