Tag Archives: Kloof Street

Restaurant Review: New Molten Toffee Juice Bar & Coffee Shop has best croissants in Cape Town!

Molten Tofee main interior Whale CottageTrendy Kloof ‘Eatery’ Street already has more than 30 restaurants, and has just added Molten Toffee Juice Bar & Coffee Shop, which opened on Monday.  It is focused on offering Deluxe coffee, and a small selection of food items.

It was Molten Toffee following us on Twitter that attracted attention to them, and when I drove down Kloof Street on Friday afternoon, I saw a group of people outside the coffee shop, officially celebrating its opening.  Massive orange balloons are still floating inside, matching the brass interior decor elements which were introduced by designer Leon Morland, who is an ad agency art director in his day job. Tim Church of Church Original Products, who created a brass- clad servingMolten Toffee Art Whale Cottage counter, the brass cone-shaped lampshades, the brass-edged clock, and the little brass buckets in which the bill arrives. He also designed the small square wooden-top tables, and the sweetest stools with seats that look like buttons. One can sit outside when it is not too windy, as well as at a window counter for which the window opens completely.   Vases with orange proteas are on every table.  On the walls they have smaller works of art called ‘Windows .03’, a 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 →

City of Cape Town Sweet Service and Hylton Ross Sour Service Awards!

City of Cape Town logoThe Sweet Service Award goes to the City of Cape Town for its speedy repair of a traffic light at the corner of Kloofnek Road going downhill, and its extension towards Kloof Street, which stayed on red, whilst all the other traffic lights turned green too, which meant that one could not move, and had to eventually cross the intersection on a red light!   When I reported this on Twitter a few weeks ago, the City of Cape Town Tweeter asked me to log a complaint, which I had already done via Twitter!  They did take note of the complaint in the Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 15 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  The Eat Out Gala Dinner, at which the country’s Top 10 Restaurants will be announced, will be held at Thunder City on 16 November.  Mercedes-Benz is the new title sponsor of the Awards.

*   The charity ‘Chefs who Share’ dinner, to be held in the City Hall on 11 September, will have seven pairs of top local chefs cooking for guests, each team paired with a local sommelier as well as an international Michelin star chef.  The international chefs are Gerd Kastenmeier from Kastenmeier Dresden, Alfred Miller from Wirtshaus Schöneck Innsbruck, Andreas Meyer from Schloss Prielau, Christoph Geschwendtner from Schlosshotel Fiss, Anton Schmaus from Restaurant Storstad, Bernard Reiser from Restaurant Würzburg, and Christian Grainer from Christian’s Restaurant.  (received via media release from Amplicon PR)

*   Table Bay Boulevard is to be named after former President FW de Klerk, it has been recommended by the City of Cape Town’s Naming Committee, subject to a public participation process.  The recommendation has been supported by Premier Helen Zille and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

*   Huffington Post’s Travel Blog interviewed Chef Luke Dale-Roberts of Eat Out top restaurant Continue reading →