Tag Archives: Mint

Streetsmart smart move for restaurants and beneficiaries!

StreetSmart Banner Whale Cottage PortfolioI have not been a great fan of the forced R5 addition to one’s restaurant bill without permission in Streetsmart restaurants, but after attending the presentation of monies to support the good community work for street children it is funding, and hearing what a difference the money makes to the less fortunate at a function held at The Salesian Institute on Thursday evening, my perception about Streetsmart has changed completely.

Established in 2005 by tour operator Margi Biggs as a means of helping street children, and now chaired by committee junkie Nils Heckscher (he has been or currently serves on the board of FEDHASA Cape, Cape Town StreetSmart Nils Heckscher Whale Cottage PortfolioTourism, the former Cape Town Routes Unlimited, and Tourism Marketing of South Africa), Streetsmart generated just over R900000 in the past year, and a total of R7 million since its establishment.  R5 is added to the restaurant bill per table, irrespective of the number of patrons seated at the table.  This money is transferred to Streetsmart once a month.  Streetsmart is also collected in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and in India.

Heckscher suffers badly from being in the shadow of his very well-known Continue reading →

‘Pendock Uncorked’ Times Live blog corked, blanked out!

Pendock Times Live Whale Cottage Portfolio‘South Africa’s leading independent drinks commentator‘ is no more, the ‘Pendock Uncorked’ blog on the Times Live (owned by the Sunday Times) platform having been blanked out, after a week long wine web war about the lowest-of- low loathed Pendock has reached in lashing out at all and sundry in the wine industry.

A week ago Pieter de Waal, (former?) Secretary of the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group, wrote a widely-distributed e-mail to explain his side of the story to counter persistent Pendock’s attacks on him re the recent FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc 2013 judging.  De Waal provided the e-mail addresses of Reuben Goldberg and Derek Abdinor at the Sunday Times, and encouraged others to write to them and to share what they think of Pendock’s wine business bashing. We must have been one of many sending them e-mails of complaint, and requesting that Pendock’s posts be removed.  Not responding to any complainants at all, the powers that be at the Sunday Times took action silently, having disallowed any new blogposts by Pendock to be added to his Times Live blog from 10 October onwards, and from yesterday onwards removing all past content of these blogposts, only retaining the first paragraph of his last ‘Pendock Uncorked’ blogpost ‘Beaverbrook of Botrivier‘, Continue reading →

Breaking news: Pendock proceedings pending!

Cape Winemakers Guild Neil Pendock Whale Cottage PortfolioThe dominant talk at the Chenin Blanc Association summer tasting at the Cape Grace hotel this afternoon (other than how fabulous the 21 Chenins we tasted were) was that Pieter de Waal, Secretary of the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group (SBIG*), which recently announced its FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc list to much criticism by Nasty Neil, is allegedly suing puerile Pendock via FNB.  It is speculated that the attack resulted from sour grapes, after Pendock was not invited to serve on the judging panel this year, and his services were cancelled at short notice for last year’s judging!

Prickly Pendock was visible by his absence at the Chenin Blanc Association tasting today, and appears to have gone into hiding, not having blogged for most of the day.  He has been a furious blogger in the past week, and has lashed out wildly at a number of victims, including ourselves.  Odd then that he blogged about David Cope’s (the first WhaleSpotter) new wine bar Publik on a personal website neilpendock.com this afternoon for the first time today, and that no blogpost by him has appeared on the Sunday Times Live blogsite today.  Could it be that Pendock’s column has been suspended, as the rumour mill is alleging?   Cope and Continue reading →

Western Cape restaurants lead the Diners Club International Winelist Awards 2013!

Diners Club Winelist Awards 2More restaurants in the Western Cape than in any other province entered and received a Diners Club International Winelist Award 2013. At the 30th Awards function held for the Western Cape at the Vineyard Hotel on Wednesday,  MasterChef SA Judge and Tsogo Sun Chef Benny Masekwameng announced the 38 winners in the Diamond, 30 in the Platinum, 26 in the Gold,  and 2 in the SilverDiners Club Chef Benny Whale Cotatge Portfolio Award categories, 96 awards in total.

Veteran wine critic Dave Hughes chaired the judging panel, which included fledgling judge Chef Benny, restaurant guide editor JP Rossouw,  wine judges Christine Rudman and Fiona McDonald,   Winestyle.biz owner Nikki Dumas, and the Cape Wine Academy head Marilyn Cooper.  He said that it was fitting that the Awards ceremony was held at The Vineyard hotel, the Newlands area having been the first in Cape Town in which grapes were grown, but soon Continue reading →