Tag Archives: Japanese

Shhhh it’s a secret: Chef Cheyne Morrisby to open new Himitsu restaurant at Camps Bay Retreat!

 

One must applaud Chef and Restaurateur Cheyne Morrisby for his determination to continue running his restaurants, and to open a new secret restaurant in Camps Bay, the restaurant industry being down on its knees during the current Level 3 Adjusted Lockdown.

To be named Himitsu, meaning ‘secret’ in Japanese, the new restaurant will open at Camps Bay Retreat, it itself being a hidden luxury accommodation retreat tucked away in Camps Bay. Morrisby will take over all Food and Beverage services for the Camps Bay Retreat, and local Capetonians will be encouraged to visit the restaurant. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner will be served at Himitsu. Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 31 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Gareth Cliff left 5FM today, after 10 years at the radio station.  There appears to be no news about his future plans.

*   Heston Blumenthal is moving The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray UK to Melbourne in February next year for six months, whereafter he will call the restaurant Dinner.

*   Moyo has closed down at Spier, following the recent closure of Moyo at the V&A Waterfront, reports the Cape Times today.

*   Excellent news is that the International Court of Justice in The Hague has placed an immediate stop on whaling by Continue reading →

Wine estates should embrace Chinese tourists, to benefit wine tourism!

GWCGN Vergelegen Sharon Hosking AndreYesterday was the second time that I had the privilege to attend the Best of Wine Tourism Awards, the 2014 awards presented to the winning wine estates at Vergelegen’s Stables restaurant.  The wine estate representatives were advised to not neglect the booming Chinese tourism generally, as well as wine tourism market specifically.

Cape Town/Winelands is one of ten members of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network, and within each of these geographic regions the wine estates compete for the honour to be named the best in the category.  Winners for 2014 were awarded as follows: Wine Tourism Restaurant (won by Camphors at Vergelegen), Art & Culture (Vergelegen), Accommodation (Babylonstoren), Architecture and Landscapes (Babylonstoren), Wine Tourism Services (Delaire Graff), Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices (La Motte), and Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences (Spice Route).  Vergelegen was named the overall South African winner for 2014, with two first places and four second places out of the seven awards (it did not enter the Accommodation category, not offering any).

I was lucky to sit next to Bradley Brouwer, SA Tourism Regional Manager GWCGN Vergelegen Bradley Brouwer Whale Cottage Portfoliofor Asia Pacific, who was the keynote speaker, especially as I had missed his talk, driving through from a function at Jordan Wines at that time. Bradley is very entertaining, and shared that he was first appointed to head up the Japanese SA Tourism office eight years ago. and on arriving at his hotel and offering a generous tip, the taxi driver threw the money back at him, the hotel explaining to him that is regarded as an insult to be given a tip, as the Continue reading →

Blue whale research uses sounds to track them in the Antarctic!

An Australian Blue Whale Project has used acoustic technology to track the rare Blue whales in the Antarctic’s Southern Ocean, identifying their location based on the noises the whales made, reported The Times.

The Blue whale is the largest whale species, making it the largest mammal in the world, yet is rarely seen in the Antarctic Ocean.  The Australian research team located the Blue Whales from their unusual noises, enabling the researchers to locate the Blue whales.  Once located, two of the Blue whales were satellite tagged and 23 biopsy samples were taken, to track the Blue whales’ feeding habits in summer, and to study how they forage, a process that took seven weeks.

The Blue whale can grow up to 30 meters and can weigh 180 tons.  Its tongue is heavier than an elephant, and its heart is as big as a small car.  The noises made by the Blue whale were heard hundreds of kilometers away!  More than 600 hours of Blue whale songs were recorded and more than 26000 calls were recorded and analysed for the project.

The Blue Whale Project is proving that whales do not have to be killed to conduct scientific research, unlike the Japanese, who claim to slaughter whales in the interest of scientific research!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage