Tag Archives: Jorgensen’s Distillery

Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club spoilt at Steenberg and Bistro Sixteen82 in September

The members of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club have been very fortunate to have been wined and dined in the past eighteen months of the Club’s existence.  This month is no different, and our visist to Steenberg Vineyards, and to their Bistro Sixteen82, is likely to be a very popular event.   The meeting will feature two speakers, being Anetha Homan, Sales and Marketing Manager of Steenberg Vineyards, and Chef Brad Ball of Bistro Sixteen82.

Anetha Homan has been the Sales and Marketing Manager of Steenberg Vineyards for the past four years, and worked at Constantia Uitsig for eight years prior to that. She graduated with a BA Communications at the University of Stellenbosch.  Steenberg’s winemaker is JD Pretorius.  Steenberg is committed to Social Media, having the Totally Stoned Steenberg Blog, which includes wine news and news about its restaurant Bistro Sixteen82.  Anetha says that Social Media allows Steenberg to communicate with its customers in an informal way, and it allows the wine estate to receive feedback from their customers too.

Chef Brad Ball is destined for great things, and deserves to be in the Eat Out Top 20 restaurant list, and is a strong contender for the newly created Bistro category.  Chef Brad comes from a foodie family, in that his mom managed a catering company.   It was a heavenly Tuna Nicoise that inspired him to apply for his first position as chef, and he was appointed at Simon’s Table in Simonstown 14 years ago.  Two years later he went to London, where he worked with Chef Patron Rowley Leigh, known as the father of modern British cuisine, at Kensington Place. It is here that his love for Bistro-style food was born.  On his return to Cape Town he worked as Head Chef at Olympia Café and Deli, followed by the Post House Hotel & Restaurant in Greyton, Pastis Brasserie in Constantia, and at The River Café.  He started his own catering consultancy before he joined Steenberg Vineyards to open the new restaurant Bistro Sixteen82.  Chef Brad believes in ‘simple is better’, and ‘local is lekker’.   He is inspired by Japanese cuisine and Provencal food. He puts his heart and soul into whatever he does, delivering passion and pizzaz in the food that he serves.  Bistro Sixteen82 is probably best known for its Friday Steenburger, and Beef Tataki.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to reflect the tremendous growth in and power of food and wine blogs in forming opinion about food, restaurants and wines.  Most bloggers do not have any formal training in blogging, and learnt from others.   The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club aims to foster this informal training, and to serve as a social media networking opportunity.

Anetha and Chef Brad will talk for about half an hour each about the Steenberg Blog, and what they have learnt about blogging.  The Club will give fledgling as well as experienced bloggers the opportunity to learn from each other and to share their knowledge with others.  Attendees can ask questions, and get to know fellow bloggers.  The Club meetings are informal and fun. Anetha Homan will lead bloggers through a tasting of the Steenberg wines, while snacks will be prepared by Chef Brad.

Future Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings have been organised as follows:

*   19 October:   Roger and Dawn Jorgensen of Jorgensen’s Distillery, and Anthony Gird and Michael de Klerk of Honest Chocolate, with a chocolate and potstill brandy tasting, at Haas Coffee on Rose Street.

*   12 November: Visit to new Leopard’s Leap tasting room and cookery school in Franschhoek

Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club, Wednesday 21 September, 6 – 8 pm: Steenberg Vineyards, Steenberg, Cape Town. Bookings can be made by e-mailing Chris at whalecot@iafrica.com. The cost of attendance is R100.  Twitter: @FoodWineBlogClu  Facebook: click here.

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

ImnoJamieOliver food blog ‘paired’ with Swirl wine blog at August Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club

The August Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting will ‘pair’ Food blogger Matt Allison of I’mnoJamieOliver Blog and Wine blogger Nikki Dumas of Swirl blog,  and will be held at Den Anker in the V&A Waterfront  on Wednesday 17 August, from 6 – 8 pm.

Matt Allison, author of www.imnojamieoliver.com blog, is a “husband, stay at home father, urban farmer, eco advocate, closet designer, photographer & designated household cook”, he writes about himself. His blog originally started when he committed to cooking his way through Jamie Oliver’s ’20 minute meals’ for the iPhone, completing all 60 recipes in under 90 days. It has since grown into a platform to explore the origins of food, rethinking it one meal at a time.

Nikki Dumas has always been in the leisure industry, as Training Manager at Greyhound Citiliner, having obtained her training background at South African Airways.  She has managed restaurants in Johannesburg, including the first store set-up and operations of Moyo on Grant Avenue in Norwood.   She moved to Cape Town in 2000, managing a number of restaurants: Villamoura in Camps Bay, Belthazar in the Waterfront, and Balducci’s in the Waterfront.  Two years ago she started her own consultancy, called Winestyle.biz, and  it specialises in wine list design, wine training, and wine accessories for several wine estates and restaurants.  The company has received the highest accolades, both locally and internationally, for its wine list design and compilation from Diners’ Club International and Wine Spectator.  With its restaurant on-site tutoring program, the company guarantees an increase in turnover in wine sales.  Nikki has produced and manufactured a wine tasting journal, to record one’s tasting experiences.  Nikki writes Swirl Blog.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to reflect the tremendous growth in and power of food and wine blogs in forming opinion about food, restaurants and wines.  Most bloggers do not have any formal training in blogging, and learnt from others.   The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club aims to foster this informal training, and to serve as a social media networking opportunity.

Each of the two bloggers will talk for about half an hour about their blog, and what they have learnt about blogging.  The Club will give fledgling as well as experienced bloggers the opportunity to learn from each other and to share their knowledge with others.  Attendees can ask questions, and get to know fellow bloggers.  The Club meetings are informal and fun.

   Future Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings have been organised as follows:

      *   21 September:  Chef Brad Ball of Bistro 1682, and wine speaker from Steenberg, at Steenberg

   *   19 October:   Roger and Dawn Jorgensen of Jorgensen’s Distillery, and Anthony Gird and Michael de Klerk of Honest Chocolate, with a chocolate and potstill brandy tasting, at Haas Coffee on Rose Street. 

   *   12 November: Visit to new Leopard’s Leap tasting room and cookery school in Franschhoek   

Jordan Wines from Stellenbosch will lead bloggers through a tasting of their wines.  Snacks will be served by Den Anker. 

Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club, Wednesday 17 August, 6 – 8 pm:  Den Anker, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. Bookings can be made by e-mailing Chris at whalecot@iafrica.com.  The cost of attendance is R100.  Twitter: @FoodWineBlogClu  Facebook: click here.

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

Batonage Blog pairs food and wine at Food & Wine Bloggers Club!

The July Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting will ‘pair’ Maggie Mostert and Hennie Coetzee, both writing Batonage blog about wines and foods that they have experienced, and will be held at What’s On Eatery on Watson Street on Wednesday 20 July, from 6 – 8 pm.

Batonage is made up of two very passionate foodies and wine lovers, says its Blog introduction:  “Together we decided to create a record of our adventures in food and wine, something we indulge in almost daily.  We are avid wine hunters, always on the lookout for something new and unique to talk, write and spread the word about.  When it comes to food we consider ourselves adventurous eaters, scavenging the latest food and wine pairing at the best eateries, but equally happy to indulge in uncomplicated fare at our local bistro.  The focus will be on visiting wine farms and restaurants, both old and new, and telling you dear reader, of our experiences there.   Every attempt will be made to make the information relevant and we might even make you smile once in a while”.

What makes Hennie and Maggie interesting and unique is that their day job is far removed from their food and wine blogging, and that they write about both wine and food on the same Blog.  Hennie comes from the Free State, and developed a love for wine whilst studying at Stellenbosch University, moving from financial management to wine salesperson, and ultimately, as sommelier at Singita, a leader in the accommodation industry. While he learnt a lot about excellence in food, wine and service, the hospitality hours were not for him, so he has returned to the financial industry.  Maggie comes from Pretoria, and studied Accounting at the University of Stellenbosch, worked as a waitress in Stellenbosch and did her articles, before setting up her own practice.  Her past experience as a waitress and her accountant’s perspective gives her a unique evaluation of her eating and drinking experiences.

Batonage is a wine term, and is the wine making operation of mixing up the lees (dead yeast cells from fermentation) in the barrel with the wine to release the mannoproteins, improving the flavour, mouthfeel, and stability of the wine.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to reflect the tremendous growth in and power of food and wine blogs in forming opinion about food, restaurants and wines.  Most bloggers do not have any formal training in blogging, and learnt from others.   The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club aims to foster this informal training, and to serve as a social media networking opportunity.

Each of the two bloggers will talk for about half an hour about their blog, and what they have learnt about blogging.  The Club will give fledgling as well as experienced bloggers the opportunity to learn from each other and to share their knowledge with others.  Attendees can ask questions, and get to know fellow bloggers.  The Club meetings are informal and fun.

   Future Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings have been organised as follows:

   *   17 August:  Nikki Dumas of Swirl Blog, and Matt Allison of I’m no Jamie Oliver Blog, Den Anker venue, Jordan wines

   *   21 September:  Chef Brad Ball of Bistro 1682, and wine speaker from Steenberg, at Steenberg

   *   19 October:   Roger and Dawn Jorgensen of Jorgensen’s Distillery and Honest Chocolate, with a chocolate and potstill brandy tasting, at Haas Coffee on Rose Street. 

   *   12 November: Visit to new Leopard’s Leap tasting room and cookery school in Franschhoek   

Wines are brought along by the wine blogging speaker, and Terence from Siris Vintners will lead bloggers through a sparkling wine tasting.  Snacks will be served by What’s On Eatery.  

Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club, Wednesday 20 July, 6 – 8 pm:  What’s On Eatery, 6 Watson Street, Cape Town. Bookings can be made by e-mailing Chris at whalecot@iafrica.com.  The cost of attendance is R100.

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

‘SoutenPeper’ blog ‘paired’ with ‘The Travelling Vineyard’ blog at June Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club

The June Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting will ‘pair’ Neil Stemmet, interior curator and writer of the Blog ‘SoutenPeper’, with wine blogger Dion Martin, who writes the Blog  The Travelling Vineyard, and will be held at French Toast on Bree Street on Wednesday 8 June, from 6 – 8 pm.

Neil Stemmet  of KONCEPT attracted attention with his restaurant interior curation at Simonsig’s Cuvee and Knorhoek’s Towerbosch restaurants.  More recently, he curated the BOS Tea House at Decorex, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and has very specific ideas about the Restaurant of the Future.  Neil’s focus in his ‘SoutenPeper’ blog is to go back to the traditional South African recipes, and to document them for future generations.  He is working on a book by the same title.  Neil is a dynamic and very entertaining speaker.

Dion Martin is a Capetonian who grew up on
“Vleis, rys, aartappels, brandy and rugby”, he writes.  He became obsessed with food, and how it connects people.  He did a part-time Chef’s diploma with City and Guilds, and passed with distinction while doing his day job in running his digital book printing company. He also completed the Cape Wine Academy Certificate, and the University of Stellenbosch Wine Evaluation diploma.  He started The Travelling Vineyard Blog to share his food and wine experiences, leading to Tweeting as @TVDionysus, and also Vlogging (video blogging).

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to reflect the tremendous growth in and power of food and wine blogs in forming opinion about food, restaurants and wines.  Most bloggers do not have any formal training in blogging, and learnt from others.   The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club aims to foster this informal training, and to serve as a social media networking opportunity.

Each of the two bloggers will talk for about half an hour about their blog, and what they have learnt about blogging.  The Club will give fledgling as well as experienced bloggers the opportunity to learn from each other and to share their knowledge with others.  Attendees can ask questions, and get to know fellow bloggers.  The Club meetings are informal and fun.

   Future Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings have been organised as follows:

   *   20 July : Hennie Coetzee and Maggie Mostert of Batonage Blog, at What’s On Eatery

   *   17 August:  Nikki Dumas of Swirl Blog, and Matt Allisson of I’m no Jamie Oliver Blog, Den Anker venue, Jordan wines

   *   21 September:  Chef Brad Ball of Bistro1682, and wine speaker from Steenberg, at Steenberg

   *   19 October:   Roger and Dawn Jorgensen of Jorgensen’s Distillery and Honest Chocolate, with a chocolate and potstill brandy tasting, at Haas Coffee on Rose Street. 

   *   12 November: Visit to new Leopard’s Leap tasting room and cookery school in Franschhoek   

Wines are brought along by the wine blogging speaker, and Dion will lead bloggers through a wine tasting.  Tapas snacks will be served by French Toast.  

 

Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club, Wednesday 8 June, 6 – 8 pm: French Toast Wine & Tapas Bar, 199 Bree Street, Cape Town. Bookings can be made by e-mailing Chris at whalecot@iafrica.com or call (021) 433-2100. The cost of attendance is R100.

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