Tag Archives: Maze

One&Only to open Wine Library

A 5 000-bottle wine library is set to open in the One&Only Cape Town in the V&A Waterfront on 3 April, showcasing the largest wine collection in the South African hospitality industry, reports the Cape Times.

The Wine Loft will offer 100 wines by the glass, select older vintages, as well as wines from new wineries.   Tasting sessions will also be held, and will be complemented by tapas dishes from the next-door Gordon Ramsay maze restaurant. 

The wine list was compiled on the basis of terroir and regional wine styles, rather than on brand name, says One&Only Group  Sommelier Stephen Towler.    The Wine Loft will stock 450 local and 150 international wines, and “there will be wines for every budget”.

Top chefs in hot water!

Two of the world’s top chefs, Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal, are in serious trouble.

Heston Blumenthal is the owner of the three Michelin star Fat Duck in Bray in the UK, one of the world’s top 10 restaurants.   More than 400 patrons of the restaurant have become ill after eating at The Fat Duck between end-January and mid-February.   The restaurant closed two weeks ago and will remain so until the cause of the illness can be identified, reports Associated Press.  Numerous alternatives for the illness have been evaluated, including sabotage, bad stock, or infection via an ill employee.  

Blumenthal is well-known for using gels, enzymes, and liquid nitrogen in his cooking, as well as techniques such as dehydration and vacuum cooking.  

Gordon Ramsay of maze restaurant owes $5 million to the Royal Bank of Scotland, and his suppliers about $ 7 million.    A recent expansion programme at the time of the global credit crunch has affected turnover.   The first African branch of maze opens in the One&Only Cape Town on 3 April.

Kerzner pumps One&Only PR machine

Sol Kerzner, owner of the luxury hotel group One&Only,  is turning on his PR campaign to publicise the opening of his newest hotel in the Waterfront in April.

On Thursday evening Kerzner had 40 guests over for dinner, at his Leeukoppie Estate in Hout Bay, to give leaders in tourism, fashion and media a taste of the new restaurants that are set to open in the new One&Only.    maze and Nobu, two top international restaurants, owned by Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa, respectively, will be two major attractions in the hotel.   The guests were also introduced to the New York-based interior designer Adam Tihany.

In an article about the networking dinner in The TImes, the writer states Kerzner’s home could do with some of Tihany’s decor, the African curios being described by a guest as “bad, bad Greenmarket Square”.

 The opening function will not match that of the recent spectacular One&Only opening in Dubai, the newspaper reports.

Kerzner no April Fool!

Sol Kerzner’s One&Only in the Waterfront is set to open on 4 April, the construction work to be completed in an unheard of four months ahead of schedule.

The new Gordon Ramsay restaurant Maze will also open that day, reports TravelHub.  The restaurant has 170 seats and the menu will include seafood, game and organic foods.   More than 6 000 South African wines will be available to patrons.