Tag Archives: Northern Cape

Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen finally opens his Restaurant KLEIN JAN in the Kalahari, most expensive restaurant in SA!

 

One of the most popular stories on my Blog currently is one I wrote just over a year ago, announcing the planned opening by Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen of Restaurant KLEIN JAN, the baby brother restaurant to its well-known and Michelin one-star  JAN Restaurant in Nice in France.

Last week Restaurant KLEIN JAN opened its doors in the Tswalu Private Game Reserve in the Kalahari Desert, between Hotazel and Vanzylsrus in the Northern Cape. It plans to showcase the food highlights of the Kalahari.

The restaurant building Boscia House is almost a hundred years old, lovingly restored for this restaurant project. Adrian Davidson was the project architect.

‘Kleinjan’ was the name given to Chef Jan-Hendrik by his grandmother Maria.

At R2500 per person for an eight-course Tasting Menu Restaurant KLEIN JAN must be our country’s most expensive restaurant!

Continue reading →

‘My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide’ launched, after qualifying as a Tourist Guide during Lockdown!

 

In January I attended a Tourist Guiding course run by the Tourist Guiding Institute, with a theoretical as well as a practical content, and received my Certificate last week, the issuing thereof much delayed due to the Covid-19 Lockdown. I am qualified as a Cultural Tourist Guide, as well as a Wine Tourist Guide, for the Western Cape as well as Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route, and guide in English and in German. I have created a Facebook page, calling my Guiding Service ‘My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide’. Continue reading →

SA Brandy Foundation launches ‘Brandy Homes’ in the Cape, but not in homes!

imageNot to be confused with a private home in which one can drink Brandy, the new ‘Brandy Homes‘ are in fact Brandy producers in the Cape Winelands, the Karoo, and Northern Cape, which have been designed to make its visitors ‘sit back, relax, and learn all there is to know about Brandy‘. The ‘Brandy Homes‘ are an initiative created by the South African Brandy Foundation, allowing Brandy lovers 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 →