Tag Archives: Keerom Street

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 18 of Level 2, 4 September 2020.

 

Friday 4 September 2020, Day 18 of Level 2, Day 162 of Lockdown 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a very successful and well organized day, having written my Blogpost for the day last night already; for getting my head together in writing a summary of issues relating to overcharging by Sandak-Lewin in numerous respects, needed for a meeting with my lawyer this afternoon; for not having Loadshedding at 12h00, giving me extra time to complete my summary, and to do a walk through Camps Bay, so excited to see Firefly open today, only serving beverages this weekend, and food from Monday onwards; for a quick pop in at Dinkel Bakery to get my favourite poppy seed roll; for fetching my restrung pearl bracelets from FreeRange; for a very productive meeting about Sandak-Lewin with my lawyer, finding it hilarious that they are managing agents for the Keerom Street building in which my lawyer has her chambers too, and she had little nice to say about them as well; for a shop in the Garden’s Centre; for a second Camps Bay walk, seeing The 41 and Mantra Café having reopened today; for being invited to The 41 by Marius Blanc as I walked past, not only offered an Aperol Spritz but also gifted a brightly designed mask; for a lovely sunset, taking photographs at the Tidal Pool; for a lovely 18C sunny day; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 3 of Level 3, 3 June 2020.

 

Wednesday 3 June 2020, Day 3 of Level 3, after 66 days of Level 4 and 5. 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a surprisingly warm start to the day, despite it being very misty, when I left home to exercise at 7h30, the cyclists having their lights on, getting up to Clifton First Beach; with fewer bags on the pavements and fortunately none torn open; for the rain falling overnight; for the generosity of Margit and Chris Roberts, residents of Camps Bay, for making a further contribution to Camps Bay Clean, which I collected from their home after the walk; for the Pick n Pay Manager finding me a box of Smarties at another store and having it collected, so that I can collect it from them tomorrow (stockpiling Gary Peterson… 😂); for not having writing pressure this morning as I had written the story about the Court finding the Level 3 and Level 4 regulations to be ‘unconstitutional and invalid’ last night already, for revisiting Dinkel Bakery and Peppertree Café, each sending me a message today that their free-range eggs and lemon chiffon cake, respectively, had arrived; for experiencing the professional Covid service of a security officer at a building of law firms on Keerom Street, having my temperature taken, at 35C, when I went to collect a file; for getting to my laundry service with my laundry of 66 days, and being able to receive it back tomorrow; for an ice cream treat at The Dairy Den in Sea Point, it having been on top of my list of places to go when it reopened; for having a spoil dinner of Lamb curry with yellow rice and sambals as well as Malva Tart delivered to my home by Café Charles in De Waterkant 🙏; and for being fit and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Don Armando first ‘Argentinian’ steak restaurant in Cape Town!

Don Armando Logo and Chef Dan Whale CottageMy friend Whitney and I had not met for dinner for a while, after a very busy summer season, and chose the newish ‘Argentinian’ restaurant Don Armando.  It belongs to Il Leone Chef and owner Daniel Toledo, who named the new steak restaurant after his Argentinian father.  It opened in December, and is a ‘boutique restaurant’ seating about 50 patrons..

We had never heard of Cobern Street in Green Point, and had to call the restaurant for some landmarks to find it, as a Google Map let us down.  It is two buildings up a side road on which Il Leone is on the corner, the building once having been a night club.

We were shown to the small terrace right on top of the two storey building, withDon Armando interior uptairs Whale Cottage
space only for 2 small tables and a six seater, and we enjoyed the privacy and fresh air, despite hearing and smelling the extractor fan throughout the evening, and smelling burning fat at one stage.  Lighting is very low key, making it hard to photograph the dishes and interior, Whitney using her Torch App to light up the dishes for me. I went back the following day to photograph the decor, and found the daylight streaming into the rooms very bright.

The deck is clad in wooden slats, so that one cannot see the less glamorous Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Carne Bistro on Kloof Street a piccolo mix of Mozzarella Bar, Caffe Milano, and Carne!

Carne branding Whale CottageSerendipity led me to Carne Bistro on Kloof Street last night, bumping into the Friedman family, which was eating there while I was heading to Manna Epicure next door. An invitation to join their table led me to experience the new Carne Bistro, which opened in September. The space was previously Caffe Milano, which was a favourite for their Eggs Benedict, and for the excellent service from its previous manager Charlene, who now works at the main Carne on Keerom Street.

I had not been back to the original Carne restaurant, after the exposé on this Blog about owner Giorgio Nava’s misleading claims about his beef, lamb and game being organic and coming from his Karoo farm.  Nava saw the light, and removed the claims from his menus and website a year later.   The restaurant (with 95 Keerom) has never made the Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist since then, despite being one of two favourite chefs (with Chef Luke Dale-Roberts) of Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly!  Nava wins a more recently created Eat Out Carne Bistro Interior Whale CottageBest of Award every year, alternating between Best Italian for 95 Keerom, and Best Steakhouse for Carne. This yearshould be a 95 Keerom year!

Some interior changes were made to the restaurant, but not really visible nor obvious. Wall shelving has been removed, and the wooden buttermilk vessels which were used as decor at the Mozzarella Bar Continue reading →