Tag Archives: la Parada Constantia Nek

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 14 of Level 1, 4 October 2020.

 

Sunday 4 October 2020, Day 14 of Level 1, Day 192 of Lockdown. 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a wonderful day all round, the weather superb, my first Lockdown brunch, and my first dancing at La Parada Constantia Nek since the beginning of Lockdown; for the City of Cape Town coming to collect the broken glass this morning just as I went for a walk, happy that I could express my thanks to the staff personally; for fetching croissants from Maison J, having pre-ordered them; for feeling far safer in Camps Bay today, with 10 Law Enforcement Officers, two traffic police cars, and a Metro Police car proactively present in Camps Bay; for a wonderful Heritage Brunch at my home, lasting six hours, the second longest one ever; for the happiness of going back to La Parada Constantia Nek, seeing so many people from the pre-Lockdown dance nights there, yet it was so different, with minimal dance space, but the highlight was The Kiffness playing; for surviving a taxi overtaking me in a curve of the road and scraping my car on my way home, but not seeing any damage to my car (yet); and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Quentin at Oakhurst Barn serves Cape Country Cuisine, blends Brit & Boer in his eclectic decor!

 

From never having been to eat at Quentin at Oakhurst Barn in Hout Bay, I was lucky to be part of a group of friends who love it so much that I enjoyed one dinner and a Sunday lunch, offering Cape Country Cuisine, both in the same week, earlier this month. I was astounded at this restaurant gem, the best in Hout Bay but also the most hidden, tucked away in a little lane off the Main Road on the way to Constantia, the popularity of this restaurant based purely on word of moth reputation. Continue reading →

Restaurant industry most discriminated against during Covid-19 Lockdown, Court plea to the Government to allow restaurants to serve alcohol on-site with meals!

 

Yesterday I was requested as a restaurant writer to prepare a submission for an urgent court proceeding to be brought against Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel, should he not meet the demand by today 6 July of restaurateurs that restaurants be allowed to serve alcohol with meals served, and to allow the distance rule for persons sitting at the same table to be reduced from 1,5 meters. The matter is being handled by Advocate Theo Nel, with support if the Karoo Art Hotel in Barrydale, and Chef Liam Tomlin’s six restaurants, including three Chefs Warehouses.

In preparing my document, I came to the conclusion that the restaurant industry in our country has been the one most severely discriminated against, given the number of hoops and hurdles it has had to deal with in terms of do’s and dont’s in the period just before Lockdown commenced, and the 102 days since it commenced! Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 5 of Level 3, 5 July 2020.

 

Sunday 5 July 2020, Day 35 of Level 3 after 66 days at Levels 5 and 4 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a typical Cape Town day, at least two seasons in one day, with light rain most of this morning and lovely sunshine late this afternoon; for it being pleasant to go for a walk at lunchtime, combining Camps Bay with a Bakoven walk in one go; for the support I received about the cribbing of my Restaurant Sit-Down list; for the invitation by Juandre to enjoy a Jasmine tea at Bootlegger Bakoven; for a day without any toothache or any other pain, almost 24 hours without a painkiller ❤️❤️❤️; for feeling on top of the world after 9,5 hours sleep, a record for me, clearly what I needed; for visiting DARG in Hout Bay, from which I adopted Minsky, to fetch a tablet for her; for an hour spent at my ‘third home’ La Parada, my home of dancing, but there was none of that today; for shopping at Woolworths in Hout Bay, buying ingredients for a soup; for not being stopped at a massive roadblock in Hout Bay, passing through it in both directions 🙏; for a lovely sunset; for loving the Beethoven and Mozart played by flautists Sir James and Lady Galway in Zürich with Daniel Hope at Hope @ Home on Tour, lovely happy lively music which reflects how I feel today compared to yesterday, and enjoying it with my cousin Ulrike in two different countries and hemispheres; for being requested by two restaurant owners to assist them in two issues affecting our local restaurant industry; and for being happy and healthy 🙏💙

On my walk I saw Sunset Sessions having put out tables and chairs, to create sit-down opportunities. I almost literally bumped into Howard in Bakoven, coming around the same corner on Beta Road from different directions. Juandre from Bootlegger not only invited me to tea but also helped me to look at the Cape Town Eats Facebook Group now that I have been deleted from it…. the Group owner having cribbed from my Sit-Down Restaurant list on my Blog without permission.

What a transformation at La Parada for a Sunday afternoon, few cars outside, all tables set up on ‘our’ dance floor of days gone by but no dancing allowed, and DJ Rene Tanguy playing there, seemingly still angry with me about the honesty of my feedback about the music he plays these days, not making eye contact or acknowledgimg my presence there at all. What was weird was that he turned his back on his ‘audience’, the diners! But the staff was lovely, and having an appetite for the first time in two days, I ordered fried calamari. Mmmmmm 💙

I have some writing to do for one of the restaurant owners this evening, he going to court tomorrow on behalf of the restaurant industry.

I’m very happy with my pot of home-made vegetable soup.

So much 💙💙💙💙 in the sky over Camps Bay today.

SA Corona Status : 196750 cases 3199 deaths 😷😢

FitBit 12000 steps 9 km 👣

Lovemylife ❤️

 

I posted a separate post about plagiarism from parts of my Blogposts on Facebook without permission or credit, this having happened twice in the past month, which created a lively discussion. The latest perpetrator is Pamela McOnie of Cape Town Eats, cribbing the Atlantic Seaboard section of my list of Sit-Down restaurants that have reopened:

‘Dear Friends

It’s the second time in a month that a section of one of two of my Blogposts, being lists of Restaurant closures and Reopened Restaurants, has been cribbed and shared without permission or credit to the source.

Even worse is that the Admin of the Sea Point Community Group gave permission to one of the offenders to do so. When I questioned him on this, this was his reply:

Chris Von Ulmenstein when something gets posted on this group, it becomes public information. Admin has the right to allow any member to copy, paste and share if they deem fit to do so. Since when do you own the sole rights to publish which Restaurants are open for business in Cape Town, and specifically the Sea Point and Atlantic Seaboard area?’

Surely a Facebook Group Admin does not own my content and cannot give a third party permission to commit what is outright plagiarism? 😱😢😡‘

 

The Corona Virus Lockdown (Level 5), announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier to commence on 27 March and to continue until 16 April, subsequently extended to 30 April, lowered to Level 4 from 1 May, and lowered to Level 3 from 1 June, is an unprecedented event in my lifetime. I am posting my daily Facebook post to journal this Corona Lockdown Journey, perhaps to serve as material for a future Book.

About Chris von Ulmenstein

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein