Tag Archives: Mother City

‘Fine Brandy Fusion’ warms up Cape Town for the first time!

The country’s most glamorous brandy tasting festival ‘Fine Brandy Fusion‘ takes place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre tomorrow and on Friday, it being the first time that the event takes place in the Mother City.

The theme for the event is ‘Celebrate liquid gold’, and takes place a stone’s throw away from the Table Bay harbour, where the first brandy was distilled on a ship more than 300 years ago. Visitors can expect to participate in masterclass educational tastings, learn about barrel-making, drink trendy cocktails, enjoy burlesque dancers, and generally have a good time.  Top end brands such as Aston Martin and BMW Motorrad will also be on show.

Central to the Festival is the recently established Urban Brandy Cocktail Route, focused on the Cape Town city centre, and which includes Shimmy Beach Club, Knock Knock Club in De Waterkant, Hudson’s Burger Joint in Green Point, Societi Bistro, Mano a Mano in Park Street in Gardens, Tjing Tjing Bar, Vista Bar at the One&Only Cape Town, Jackal & Hide, Roxy’s Café on Dunkley Square, and the new Frères Bistro.  Each of the establishments serves a choice of eight cocktails made from premium South African brandies, including ‘The Skinny’, a low calorie option which is big on taste, the ‘Ama-lekkerlicious’, devised by master mixologist Kurt Schlechter, the ‘Collison’s Cosmo’, and the ‘Fynbos’.

Not only our country’s top brandies will be recognised in the Walk to Fame, honoring South African brandies’ world domination at the International Wine & Spirits Competitions, winning the Worldwide Best Brandy trophy every year over the past six years, but French cognacs will also be on show.

Fine Brandy Fusion:  9 and 10 May 2013, 17h30 – 21h30. Cape Town International Convention Centre. Entrance costs R175, and includes a tasting glass and coffee vouchers. No under 18-year olds allowed. www.brandyfusion.co.za Twitter: @BrandyFusion  Tickets at www.computicket.com

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Madame Zingara pitches her ‘Victoria’ Spiegel tent in the V&A Waterfront for ‘The Miracle Tour’!

The V&A Waterfront is a magnificent location for the new Madame Zingara Theatre of Dreams ‘The Miracle Tour’ show, which kicked off in the Belgium-made Spiegel tent last week, and will remain in the Mother City for another four months or more.   It must be one of the slickest ‘restautainment’ operations, feeding about 400 patrons each night, with unbelievable service and amazing entertainment.  Owner Richard Griffin is the ultimate showmaster, and just gets better at it year after year.

Located across the Aston Martin showroom, in which building there is ample and reasonably priced parking, the Theatre of Dreams is in the small parking area alongside the cinema parking exit, making it easy to get to.  GM and Ringmaster Marvin Haddon told us that they had negotiated with the V&A Waterfront management for a long time to obtain a space, and that the retail management company is being very supportive in making their Cape Town run a success.  The marquee tent is better protected against the infamous south-easter than in most other locations in Cape Town, if one remembers where Griffin has had to pitch his tent in the past, including the bottom end of Adderley Street under the highway bridge, and in the bush at Century City!  The marquee is not very visible, as branding has been reduced to ‘MZ’ with pink hearts, at the front and back of the area, with faux swans, more hearts, warthogs, and more. One enters into a smallish reception area with a bar, and a number of the show characters stand outside for photo opportunities, some as ‘frozen statues’.  A choice of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks is offered, and even Richard was waiting outside, saying hello to his patrons.  The ‘check-in’ was painless, nothing as complicated as it was at now ex-Vaudeville, which was a Madame Zingara ‘substitute’ in Cape Town for a  while, having featured ex-Madame Zingara star Irit Noble.  Marvin made it an even more special evening, coming to check on us regularly, and made us feel like very special guests, an amazing ability the Madame Zingara staff has.  They really seem to love their jobs, are looked after well, seem to enjoy dressing up, and know where the boundary lies in dealing with customers. Griffin (right, with The Specifics) wrote in his invitation letter that he is proud of the employment his show can offer, with a ‘R2,2 million on group payroll’.  Once inside, one sees more frozen statues, the one in honour of Alexander McQueen attracting attention especially.  The Madame Zingara Photography Emporium has two seats, and allows one to take photographs within a beautiful frame of flowers.  One can have face-painting done and can buy hats and other party decorations.

‘Victoria’, with her stained glass windows, can seat 437 patrons, we were told, and one does not feel cramped.  The stage runs down the middle of the tent, half way, almost like a fashion ramp, the end part being raised up or down, and also revolving, used for amazing effects.  Depending on the size of one’s party, one is seated at tables on a raised section further back for larger groups.  Tables near the stage run the risk of being picked on, as one gentlemen came to regret wearing his striped ‘pyjama shirt’.   Our host and waiter Jason chose to play the little red devil, and he was charming, nothing being too much trouble.  He did struggle to get us to drink more than some wine and sparkling wine, and lots of water.  The marquee is very cool when one arrives, being airconditioned, but it got hotter and hotter inside, being sold out on Thursday evening.  The table has a display of red flowers with the table number, but is removed after one is seated to make more space.  A winelist offers wines and ‘bubbles’ at reasonable prices, but does not specify the vintages. Sparkling wines include Pierre Jourdan Brut (R50/R190), Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel (R195), and Moët & Chandon (R650); Madame’s house white wine (R35/R120), La Motte Sauvignon Blanc (R155), Warwick Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc (R185), Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc (R135) and more; Madame’s red wine costs R40/R135, Rupert & Rothschild Classique (R220), Beyerskloof Pinotage (R140), and more.

The action never stops once one sits down, and Cathy Specific (who had ‘her’ own show ‘Cathy Pacific’, and right in the main photograph) welcomes the audience, table by table, as long lost friends, in ‘her’ blue air hostess uniform.  Once we were taken through the four course menu, and dietary adjustments were requested, the starter portion of dipping sticks, cheeses, a cream of sweet potato soup, a peppadew dip, tsatziki, hummus, kalamata and green olives, and nuts was brought to the table.  A highlight of the evening was being taken to see the kitchen, in which Chef Lee Cox is in charge.  Every night he and his team prepare 430 portions of each course, and it is run as a military operation, timing being of the essence, songs being his cue as to when the food must come out of the kitchen. The waiting staff literary run from the kitchen into the marquee, ensuring that the food remains hot, and the dessert cold. Chef Lee worked at Five Flies previously, and said that he orders 1 ton of AAA grade Karan beef fillet (their signature main course) a month. Stock take is done weekly, and on Tuesdays he receives the food delivery to the value of about R110000 for the week ahead. They are recycling conscious, and have a good daily rubbish collection service in the V&A. He has a ‘culinary kitchen crew’ of 28, and ‘everyone knows what to do’, he said.  He is proud of his good storage facilities.  Impressive was that Chef Lee came to our table after the main course had been served, to personally receive our feedback.

The first act of the show is introduced by MC Mr C (left in main photograph), a local who has worked in similar shows in Germany, and he reminded one of the MC in ‘Cabaret‘, with a wicked sense of humour and a German accent.  Cathy Specific too is funny, and has an amazing figure, whatever the outfit.  Two acrobats (Sam and Justine call themselves Adage) inside a chandelier-shaped ring, were followed by a handsome Lisa and Daniel dancing to Tango-type music which picks up pace, as does that of the dancing, with elegance and grace. The Specifics have evolved from the Three Tons of Fun, and have grown to four members, singing popular hits.

The second course was a tasty butternut and potato ravioli served on a bed of wild mushrooms.  The second act started off with Mr C transforming himself into Marlene Dietrich, and singing a popular ‘Falling in love again‘.  Three Russians (The Strongmen Sergei, Sergei and Alexander) look like wrestlers, two being massive and the third small in comparison, perform amazing acrobatic feats, never putting a foot wrong.  Two further performers Miles and George, The Acurians, do somersault flips, one on the soles of the other, sometimes doing double, and even triple flips, not all successful.  The performers were so professional that when they lost their footing, they did the section again, and added an extra flip, as if it had been choreographed like that for the show!

My main course choice of Venison Wellington was a hefty portion of Kudu loin served with spinach and wrapped with mushrooms and pastry, and mash.  I was envious of Katie’s sesame seed encrusted Norwegian salmon, served with lemongrass and litchi, teriyaki sauce, and a fruit salsa, a work of art.  The third option is a vegetarian one, which includes marinated tofu.  The most popular main course is the beef fillet, served with a chocolate chili sauce.

The third act started with a splash, Sam showing a leg and then an arm in the bath, and got out of the bath, splashing her wet hair on the patrons seated around her and doing some acrobatic acts too.  While she and the bath disappeared into the stage, the bath reappeared almost instantly, this time with Mr C, also having fun in the bath!  Oompah type music inspired what must have been German patrons to get onto the stage, and enjoy themselves dancing whilst everyone else was eating.  They had to be asked to return to their seats.

The final course is the piece de resistance, being Death by Chocolate, a platter with a delicious Tiramisu, a chocolate brownie, a hot phyllo cigar, and a ball of Gorgonzola infused chocolate ice cream.  Just when one thinks that the show is over, the fourth act starts, with a Rocky Horror Show ‘Time Warp’ dance in which everyone participates, guided by Cathy Specific.  One of the most unbelievable acts is that of Mongolian contortionist Vicky, who bends her body into the most unusual shapes. Sam does some more smart acrobatic moves above the audience, and is followed by two drumming and rope whipping Argentinians.  A giant sized disco ball is erected, and the audience that doesn’t have to get up early the next morning is encouraged to dance.

Madame Zingara delivers on its promise, printed on the winelist: “It has always been our dream to build a space where our working family is inspired and empowered and our guests are welcome to be part of the Madame Zingara magic, even if just for one night. We invite you to step into our world where disbelief is suspended and all things are possible. The Miracle Tour is our tribute to the miracle of life and a celebration of this magical journey”. Whatever problems one may have experienced during the day, will have been forgotten by the time one leaves the world of Madame Zingara!

Note: One is not allowed to photograph the acts during the show, so we have used those from the Madame Zingara website and Facebook page.

Madame Zingara: The Miracle Tour, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.  Tel  0861 623263. www.madamezingara.com Twitter: @Madame_Zingara  Tuesday – Saturday, until mid-year.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:  www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

‘Fabulous February’ Cape Tourism’s best month, but media report irresponsible!

February has drawn to a close, and has not disappointed the tourism industry in Cape Town in giving it a welcome confidence and income boost.  However, February occupancy in Camps Bay has been on a par with 2011, at just under 90%.  February is by far the most popular tourist month of the year now, which it previously shared with November.

February is attractive to the UK market specifically, and to the northern hemisphere generally, to have a break after a long and bitterly cold winter this year.  The UK had school half term in this period too, allowing families to travel.  The Mining Indaba earlier this month was a tremendous boost for the city.  Our statistics for Camps Bay show that the share of the UK market in February was at its lowest level in the past six years, at only 20%, with that of South African visitors having increased dramatically from 9 % in 2007 to 38% this month.  The German tourist share at 15 % this month is on a par with 2007 and 2008, a welcome improvement after a decline in the years between 2008 and 2012.

In January occupancy in Camps Bay improved significantly to 72%, from 58% the year before, but it was still below the occupancy achieved in January between 2007 and 2010.   A similar trend was evident in December 2011.  Hermanus showed a significant recovery in February, with a 40% occupancy, double that of February 2011, the best performance since 2008.  Sadly Franschhoek experienced by far its worst February ever in six years, largely due to the sharp decline in the number of weddings which have traditionally been held in the village in February, and German tourists being less interested in visiting Franschhoek, choosing Stellenbosch in preference.  The Franschhoek Wine Valley tourism association has done no visible marketing in the past year, other than the hosting of a few events, and its reduced marketing in using the services of a one-day-a-week consultant is not helping!

It was with concern that we read an article in the Weekend Argus last weekend, irresponsibly entitled ‘Tourists flock to Mother City in record numbers’. The article’s claim that ‘Cape Town’s extended summer has translated into the city’s best-ever holiday season, with tourism experts declaring that predictions for a much-improved season have been right on the money’, is misleading, and completely incorrect.  The problem probably lies with who the journalist interviewed as so-called ‘tourism experts’.

The article quoted a number of tourism players, and the statements of most would be shot down by the industry, given their own experiences of the past few months, and how these compare with previous years:

*   The biggest culprit is Cape Chamber of Commerce President Michael Bagraim, who has enjoyed using his position as President to make media statements about any possible topic, including tourism, about which he has little experience as a labour lawyer. He claimed that the tourism figures ‘were the best he had seen yet for the city’ (our underlining).  His statement implies that he may not have seen all potential past tourism information, and it shows in his subsequent quotes to the journalist, including the nonsensical statement that ‘This past summer has certainly been the best, and we hope the upcoming summer will be even better. At the current rate I think Cape Town could easily become the best tourist destination in the world’, not defining how he defines ‘best’!  He clearly does not understand the definition of ‘summer’, and that it still has another six weeks to go, with far lower occupancy expected in this period.

Mr Bagraim goes from bad to worse, by praising the World Cup for the good performance: “I believe that we are now experiencing the rewards from the World Cup, the reason being that so many tourists currently in the city were here during that period, and are now returning”. We cannot agree with Mr Bagraim at all, showing that he was completely out of his depth in this interview!   He added that word of mouth from those that had attended the World Cup 18 months ago, the resultant media coverage, Table Mountain’s New7Wonders of Nature (not yet confirmed for Cape Town), and being named 2014 World Design Capital ‘would help ensure that Cape Town’s tourist enterprise would continue to thrive’ (our underlining).  Mr Bagraim clearly was not aware that the tourism industry experienced a crisis in 2011, and was nowhere near ‘thriving’!  He added:‘The one thing to remember about tourism is that it is foreign money which comes into the city, meaning it is new money that gets recycled throughout the economy’ (our underlining).  Once again Mr Bagraim has not been briefed about the visitor composition, and that the majority of tourists in the Cape are South African!  The rest of his statement would make economists shudder!  We can however agree with his declaration that ‘Tourism is certainly the biggest money-spinner for the city, and it will continue to be so for many years to come’!

*  Western Cape Minister of Tourism Alan Winde quoted improved visitor numbers for ‘Table Mountain National Park’ and Robben Island, but the time period was not stated.

*   Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, issued a media statement a week ago, along similar lines of the Weekend Argus article, and the journalist must have sought inspiration for his headline from this irresponsible media statement about the ‘interim summer’ period.  Mr Gilfellan is quoted as saying that Table Mountain had seen a 25 % increase in visitor numbers between November – January relative to the same period a year ago.  His conclusion is that it proves ‘the impact an international accolade has on the popularity of the attraction’. What Gilfellan neglected to mention was that the improved weather (i.e. reduced number of days on which the Cableway did not operate due to rain and gale force wind) in the past three months relative to a year ago played a huge role in the tourism numbers achieved for Cape Town’s icon.

*   Cape Town Tourism’s Communication Manager Skye Grove was also quoted, in a nonsensical linkage made between tour guides and the increased use of technology, ‘which should spur tour guides to up their game’, she is quoted as saying.  Further she is quoted as saying that tour guides should maintain high standards of quality and content ‘to keep up both with the challenge of technology, but also with the high tourist numbers’, a statement that does not make sense!  Ms Grove sent out a media release last week, sharing informal ‘research’ Cape Town Tourism had conducted amongst its members about their performance in December and January. With the exception of the accommodation members, the sample sizes were not mentioned, yet detailed analyses were provided, and one can assume that the subsample sizes were tiny (only 106 accommodation establishments responded, representing by far their largest member segment).  Ms Grove quotes passenger arrival figures at Cape Town International, up on the year before, which was a particularly poor period of arrivals.  She quoted Ravi Nadasen, GM of The Cullinan, who stated that accommodation establishments had not experienced the same good performance as had tourism products, due to the oversupply of accommodation in the city, as well as a trend to visitors staying with family and friends.

*   Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing, Grant Pascoe, is receiving a lot of coverage via Cape Town Tourism’s media releases, in the few that they issue, and his statements in the Cape Town Tourism media release were included in the Weekend Argus article, once again demonstrating how out of touch the Councillor is with tourism in the city.  He is quoted as saying that ‘the boost in the number of visitors to the city was a trend that was expected to continue into 2012’, given a number of events in March and April, including the Argus Cycle Tour, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Design Indaba, and the Two Oceans Marathon.  Our experience is that events (e.g. J&B Met) have attracted fewer non-Cape Town visitors to Cape Town this year, and even the Argus Cycle Tour has not yet filled Camps Bay, as it has in the past years.

We have previously pleaded for greater honesty and reliability in the reporting of the performance of the tourism industry.  The summer season is not yet over, and the past twelve months should not be the only benchmark of tourism performance, given that 2011 was the worst tourism year ever experienced in the Cape. It is no achievement to see tourism improvements relative to 2011!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Good scorecard for Cape Town tourism over the festive season, but with some service problems!

The busy festive season, with ideal holiday weather, is at an end, and Cape Town has won itself many happy fans amongst South Africans, the first time that such a large proportion of the visitors to the Mother City were locals living in other parts of South Africa, or working overseas.

Asking for feedback from guests in our guest houses, at shops, and in restaurants, the visitors raved about Cape Town, and how much they enjoyed their time here.  Being in holiday mode, they seemed undisturbed by the slow service in some restaurants, the busy roads and resultant slow traffic through areas like the Camps Bay beachfront, the cost of the restaurant dinners on New Year’s Eve, the out-of-stocks in shops, the lack of parking in beach suburbs and the V&A Waterfront, and the many city centre restaurants and artisanal shops they may have read about which were all closed.  Extra guarding was provided by restaurants on the Camps Bay beachfront, and this was visible to our visitors, and meant that there were no major incidents. Camps Bay had the largest number of bottles of alcohol confiscated from beachgoers, of all beaches in Cape Town, contributing to an almost incident-free period.

All was not perfect however:  the Cape Minstrel procession was criticised for being disorganised, with only two troops coming through in a three-hour period, a waste of time for tourists. Resultant road closures also were an irritation. Making bookings at restaurants was a challenge, especially at the One&Only’s Nobu, where it took three calls for them to answer.  Sedan taxis took half an hour to collect guests when called. Finding somewhere decent to eat on 25 December and 1 January was a problem, as most restaurants had closed down for these days.  It appears that those restaurants that were open on these days had staff not arrive at work (a new ‘disease’ called absenteeism) or had arrived at work under the influence and had to be sent home, giving the city and Winelands area a poor service image on these special days. Some restaurants refused to accommodate patrons on a walk-in basis, due to staff shortages, giving their establishments a bad name, as the patrons could see that the restaurants were not fully occupied.  One hopes the tourism authorities, who themselves were out of town in this period, will encourage more restaurants to be open to service tourists in our city in future.

It appears that it was the local Capetonians that were annoyed by the GP-numberplated drivers’ poor and cheeky driving habits, by sedan taxis making U-turns on major throughroads, by the shortage of parking, by the full restaurants which they could not go to without making a booking, the empty shelves at their local supermarkets, and by the closing down of all their maintenance suppliers over this period.  Those restaurants and shops that were open were found to be under-staffed relative to the volume of customers.

Restaurants were taken by surprise, in being exceptionally busy for lunch trade especially, and the biggest challenge for them was that so few pre-bookings were received, with walk-in guests arriving in large numbers, creating stock and staff challenges, as the the guest numbers were not predictable in advance. Guests booking tables but not arriving was the overall biggest problem restaurants experienced.  In Franschhoek staff no-shows caused severe service problems for the village.  Guests booking accommodation at this time of the year seemed nicer this festive season than in previous years, but one did get the feeling that some of them were better suited to 5-star accommodation, expecting finger-snapping 24 hour service.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portofolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage