Today Makers Landing opens in the V&A Waterfront, at the Cape Town Cruise Terminal, it offering ‘authentic South African food and its diversity is shared and celebrated’.
In an over-written post the Waterfront describes the new Food market as ‘a place where people can meet, eat, drink, shop and work’. Continue reading →
What excellent news it was to see on Twitter yesterday afternoon that now former Councillor Grant Pascoe has defected to the ANC for ‘personal reasons’, a decision Mayor Patricia de Lille (who appeared to be a close friend), said caught her by surprise. She announced that he has been stripped of his position as Councillor and as Mayoral Committee member of Tourism, Events, and Marketing with immediate effect. We have been very critical of Pascoe’s lack of marketing knowledge and leadership, once again leaving our City’s tourism industry without a marketing plan for the forthcoming winter, which kicked in earlier than usual last week!
The announcement was made by the ANC, and not by Pascoe himself. The political party said: ‘Councillor Pascoe joins an overwhelming number of South Africans, who despite finding themselves in other political parties, recognise the ANC as the only organisation with the track record, capacity, and determination to build a South Africa’. Pascoe explained that he was unhappy with the direction which the DA was taking, and had discussed this internally. To avoid a fight, he decided to leave. He said he feels ‘at home‘ in the ANC, EWN reported! Yet on Pascoe’s Facebook page for his ‘political organisation‘, his ‘About Grant Pascoe’ still states: ‘The Democratic Alliance is South Africa and Cape Town’s best hope for a better future for all our people‘!
Pascoe served as a City of Cape Town DA Councillor for 13 years, and as a Mayoral Committee member for eight years, the last four of which were heading up the Tourism, Events, and Marketing portfolio. Two years ago he initiated the creation of a Tourism, Events and Marketing directorate, which reported to him and is headed up by Anton Groenewald. Pascoe’s sole contribution was to bring soccer events to Cape Town, which made no impact on the tourism industry in terms of bookings, reflecting his personal interest in soccer. From the outset we have criticised Pascoe’s incompetence in the Tourism portfolio: Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Construction of the new tourist-friendly cruise terminal in the Cape Town port could begin at the end of this year, with tenders being sought.
* The Cape Town International Jazz Festival is estimated to generate R520 million for the economy of the country this weekend, with 35000 jazz lovers attending two nights of local and international jazz, sold out two months ago already, reports The New Age.
* OR Thambo International handled more international passenger arrivals (3,9 million out of 4,8 million) in 2013 than all other local airports combined, reports The New Age. International arrivals at Cape Town International were reported to be 750000 in the past year. While Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth are both designated as ‘International Airport’, they only handled 31 and 216 international passengers, respectively, in the past year!
* The 20th anniversary of our country’s democracy will be celebrated in April with a month-long celebration of South African wines in Hong Kong. On 16 April a South African Wine Festival will offer 150 wines to taste at Hotel ICON. South African Sommelier Association Chairman Neil Grant will lead a wine pairing dinner at Above & Beyond restaurant on 25 April. The Continue reading →
Yesterday we visited the Anthonij Rupert Tasting Room, one of two tasting rooms at Anthonij Rupert Wines, which previously belonged to Graham Beck Wines, and was bought by Johan Rupert from L’Ormarins next door, to enhance his access to water. Anthonij Rupert Wines has five wine brands, and 25 sub-brands, the largest range in Franschhoek, to our knowledge. Our invitation via PR consultancy Smart Communications & Events was to see the new tasting room and to try their new High Tea.
It was a grey wintry day, and the lit fire in the lounge was welcome and made the room cosy. Hospitality Manager Gidi Caetano, whom we know from her days as Manager of Salt Restaurant at the Ambassador Hotel, and then as GM of the previous French Toast Wine & Tapas Bar, explained the tasting room and company structure to us while we enjoyed the treats from the three tier High Tea stand, 
which consisted of scones, cream and jam, chocolate cupcakes, and candied orange and gooseberry tarts, prepared by Chef HW Pieterse and his team, beautifully decorated with rose buds, lavender, and pansies. We were served The Wellness Group teas, with its tea leaves in muslin bags. A range of flavours is available. One can book the High Tea with 24 hour notice, and organise a tea party to celebrate a special birthday, anniversary, stork tea, or just a special spoiling. 
The High Tea will usually include smoked salmon blinis, and cucumber, dill and horseradish sandwiches too. The treats offered change regularly, and could also include orange infused koeksisters, mini chocolate and hazelnut mousse pots, chocolate salami, and red berry tarts. Gidi told us about the herb garden growing alongside the manor house, with 32 medicinal (for educational use) and cooking herbs, the latter used in the food preparation on the estate. It was started from scratch a year ago.