Tag Archives: Midlands

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 20 of Level 2, 6 September 2020.

 

Sunday 6 September 2020, Day 20 of Level 2, Day 164 of Lockdown đŸ˜·

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for the arrival of Spring, finally, what a beauty of a day at 21C 🌞; for a glorious day; for meeting Johnny Nortje and walking to Camps Bay, dropping off a sample pack of Dilmah Teas at Firefly CafĂ©, to try out and to use until they get their tea order delivered; for a fabulous lunch with Johnny at Tindlovu Restaurant in the Camps Bay Promenade, meeting up with Chef Chris Papayannes (whom I’d last seen at the Newton Johnson Restaurant about 6 years ago), and now Group GM of the 10 Tindlovu restaurants around the country; for a drive with Johnny to Blouberg, walking along the Beachfront; for a second Camps Bay walk, walking with Lisa Hayden whom I bumped into when I was actually heading for Bakoven; for the City of Cape Town having spare electricity, which prevented us from being Loadshed at 18h00, coming off scot-free today; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

In search of the Holy Food Grail in KwaZulu-Natal!

imageI spent eight days in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) last week, in search of the perfect food experience, in a province I had last visited about ten years ago to attend Indaba, and the well-known Midlands area, which I had last visited more than 25 years ago.

The encouragement  to visit the province was made more than a year ago by Chef Jackie Cameron, who is the most passionate proudly-KZNer I encountered on my journey, making it her business to support KZN produce, from the Midlands in particular, in using and in marketing it at every opportunity. Jackie has put KZN on the food and restaurant map over the past twelve years that she worked at Hartford House, making the Eat Out Top 10 Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: 9th Avenue Bistro very good fresh food, disappointing interior and service!

imageIn my search for the top restaurant in KwaZulu-Natal, Katie Friedman, Lisa Woodhouse, and I had dinner at 9th Avenue Bistro, one of Durban’s best-known fine-dining restaurants, and a regular on the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list six years and longer ago. Despite the warnings one had read about the restaurant’s unfortunate location in a shopping centre car park, it was the interior decor and poor Continue reading →

Australian Hayden Quinn makes Capetonians proud of their beautiful and sustainable city!

Hayden Quinn Title page sunflowersIt is ironic that Australian 2011 MasterChef Finalist (and not even a winner) has become a celebrity, to such an extent that he has become the host of a 13 series SABC3 programme about sustainable eating in our country, also combining the travel highlights of the regions Hayden will visit. Beautifully filmed, with some product placement overkill, the first episode last night made one proud to be a Capetonian, and to see our beautiful city through the eyes of the guest chef! Hayden described Cape Town as the ‘tip of the iceberg‘, whilst raving about loving South Africa.

The episode begins with Hayden doing some surfing, sharing his passion for the ocean, saying it is the place at which he feels most at home.  The link to the ocean  is made, to share that he is a WWF SASSI ambassador, our local organisation that educates consumers about only ordering and buying orange-listed fish.  It explains Woolworth’s dominance in the programme, with a number of TV commercials, although none match the beautiful ads which it created for MasterChef SA in Seasons 1 and 2.  Hayden is ‘crazy about adventure’ and good food, he shared.

The start to Hayden’s food adventure was the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, where he sampled sandwiches from The Kitchen, and samoosas from Cumin Catering.  He described it as a ‘buzzing inner-city market‘, reflecting the flavours and fresh foods of Cape Town. Continue reading →