On my latest Restaurant Closure list I have more than 70 Restaurants in Cape Town and the Winelands which have closed down, an increase of 20 Restaurant Closures in the past month. Sadly the unbanning of Alcohol has not prevented further Restaurant Closures in Cape Town and the Winelands in the past month.

The Restaurant Closure and Opening Lists are updated continuously throughout the month.

The Restaurant industry is one of the hardest hit due to the Corona Virus in South Africa, having had to endure five weeks of complete closure, then restricted to Food Deliveries in May, allowed to offer Alcohol Sales and Food Collections during June, and now allowed to offer Sit-Down Service without on-site alcohol consumption since Monday 29 June.  As an industry employing an estimated 800000 employees, the UIF and TERS problems it has had to endure in receiving (or not) staff payment has exacerbated the state of the restaurant industry, described by Chefs Warehouse Chef Liam Tomlin earlier this week as being reduced to nothing more than one of Coffee shops! A number of restaurants have decided to reopen for Sit-Down Service for the first time since the Lockdown, given that they can now offer on-site consumption of alcoholic beverages, while some will continue to offer the Delivery and Collection of Food.

A shock closure announced by Chef Luke Dale Roberts during Lockdown Level 5 was that of The Shortmarket Club.  Myoga at the Vineyard Hotel, Buitenverwachting Restaurant (under the guidance of Chef Edgar Osojnik for the past 20 years), The Stack, Clarke’s, Exhibit A of top chef Rikku O’Donnchü, Terroir at Klein’s Zalze, and The Kitchen of Karen Dudley have also thrown in the towel, with many other Restaurants too.  (see below)

New restaurant openings seem unlikely in the next few months, with winter lying ahead, and restaurant cash flows depleted due to the Corona Lockdown. Chef Peter Tempelhoff announced the opening of a new ‘funky’ restaurant in Cape Town on Kfm a few months ago, but no further details of its name, location, or opening date are known. A good news story is the reopening of Tintswalo Kitchen, with a new name, new menu, and headed up by Executive Chef Sean Klebbe, formerly of The Shortmarket Club. Surprisingly Chef Arno Janse van Rensburg has left his own restaurant Janse & Co, but his future plans have not yet been revealed, other than that his next venture will be in Cape Town. The Village n Life Group, owners of The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, Pezula in Knysna, and The Farmhouse Hotel in Langebaan, is looking for ‘dynamic operational teams to take over incredible restaurant spaces’. 

PLEASE NOTE:  The List of Restaurant Closures below is the property of WhaleTales Blog, and may not be copy-and-pasted. It may only be used and shared as a Blogpost:

Restaurant Closures since Lockdown:

#   The Shortmarket Club

#    La Bottega in Woodstock.

#    Empire Café in Muizenberg.

#    SMAK Delicatessen and Eatery.

#    Buitenverwachting Restaurant in Constantia.

#    The Deli Coffee Co in the V & A Waterfront

#    Under Oaks, Paarl (re-opened for Sit-Down, previously reported as Closed Down)

#    Craft Burger Bar, Sea Point,

#.  The Butcher, Camps Bay

#   La Franca, Gardens

#   Go Go, Bree Street

#   The Butcher, Sea Point

#.  Cold Gold Artisanal ice-cream (reopened for Delivery in partnership with For Food’s Sake) )

#   StarGarden Café, Fish Hoek

#   Oven Baked, Muizenberg

#   Noordhoek Café & Deli

#.  Kalk Bay Theatre

#   The Kitchen, Woodstock

#   Bay Expresso

#  Mugg & Bean, Constantia

#   Jessy’s Waffles, Camps Bay

#  Chi Cha in Sea Point

#   Ocean Blue in Camps Bay (reopened 18 July)

#   Black Horse, Stellenbosch

#   The Trumpet Tree, Stellenbosch

#   Tolhuis Bistro, Ceres

#   Maker’s Mark, Tulbagh

#   Thai Food Sushi, Sea Point

#   Meraki, Stellenbosch

#   All Things Good, Stellenbosch

#   Mama Cucina, Riebeeck-Kasteel

#   Brownies & Downies, City Centre

#   Dahlia on Regent, Sea Point (closed down, reopened weekends only)

#   The Larder, Claremont

#  Café Blouberg,  Bloubergstrand

#   Jason’s, Bree Street Branch

#   Koffi Terapi, Durbanville

#  Blasters Family Restaurant, Cape Gate.

#  Fláva, Wilderness

#  The Fat Greek, Table View

#   Myoga, Vineyard Hotel, Newlands

#   Schwarma Express, Sea Point Branch

#  The Stack, Gardens

#   Two and Sixpence Tavern, Simon’s Town (after 21 years)

#   Perseverance, Gardens (oldest pub in Cape Town)

#   Fire Monkey, Claremont

#   Cattle Baron, Tokai

#  Clarke’s, Bree Street

#   Masala Dosa Restaurant, Long Street

#   Vicious Virgin Bar, Wale Street

#   Exhibit A, Bree Street

Exhibit A in Cape Town the first Fine-Dining Restaurant to close down due to the Corona Lockdown!

#  Den Anker, V&A Waterfront (temporarily)

#  Frankie Fenner, Durbanville

#   Dale’s Black Angus, The Paddocks, Milnerton

#  TableThirteen, Green Point (end August)

#  Ton Khoon, Tyger Waterfront

#   Terroir, Stellenbosch.

#   Daniela’s Deliciously Decadent, Cape Quarter.

#   Batavia Café, Bo-Kaap – announced its closure and has now reopened with new owners

#   Addis in Cape Ethopian Restaurant

#  Fork on Long Street

#   Pastis, Constantia

#   Yumcious Café, Durbanville

#   Aces & Spades, City centre.

#  Guilio’s Café, Loop Street

#  De Wijnhuis, Stellenbosch

#  Café Mozart, Church Street

#  Active Sushi, Hudson Street

#  Amore, Kenilworth

#.  Primi Muizenberg

#   Primi Eden on the Bay

#   Primi Willowbridge

#   Mink & Trout, Bree Street

Restaurant Openings (During Lockdown)

#   Regent Burger Bar has opened where Craft Burger Bar was on Regent Road in Sea Point.

#  Chef Liam Tomlin is said to be working on the former HQ space, either to establish a new restaurant there, or to expand his Chefs Warehouse Canteen on Bree Street, being in the same building.

#   Ciao Pizza, Long Street.

#  The Eatery and Wine Bar at Silver Forest Boutique Lodge and Spa, Somerset West, with Chef Michael Broughton, previously with Terroir.

#   Firefly Café, Camps Bay is opening shortly.

#   Chef Chen Sushi Bar op-up, The Point Mall, Sea Point.

#   Floozies has opened on Kloof Street.

#  Chef Arno Janse van Rensburg is to open a new restaurant.

#  Fork is to open in Franschhoek later this year.

#   Entrée in Franschhoek opened today

#   Flower Café opened in Woodstock.

#   Jooma has opened in Sea Point

#   Tintswalo Kitchen, Hout Bay

New Tintswalo Kitchen just out of the ordinary, raises the food bar at Tintswalo Atlantic, with brand new kitchen team and new menu!

For a list of Restaurants currently open for Food Delivery and Collection as well as Sit-Down Service, see the Facebook Group I created at the beginning of May, updated daily: https://www.facebook.com/groups/261165661682371/?ref=share

Restaurant News

1. Chef Calvyn Metior is the new Executive Chef at Monneaux Restaurant, previously Head Chef at La Motte.
2. Chef Kayla-Ann Osborn has left The Chef’s Table in Umhlanga, now heading up the kitchen at Delaire Graff.
3. Chef Scott Armstrong has rejoined JAN Restaurant in Nice as Sous Chef.
4. Chef Nico Vorster has left La Paris Bistro outside Franschhoek.
5. Bossa Stellenbosch and Die Strandloper suffered extensive fire damage during Lockdown.
6. Chef Bell McCleod has left Bones in Woodstock, now heading up the Hemel & Aarde Brewery.
7. Chef Henry and Mari Vigar have left La Mouette, now solely owned by Gerrit Bruwer, and have moved to take over their restaurant Upper Bloem in Green Point.
8.  Chef Neill Anthony Vaughn has been appointed as the Culinary Advisor to La Mouette.
9. Chef Arno Janse van Rensburg has left his restaurant Janse & Co, his next venture not yet known.
10. Stellenbosch has introduced an innovative community-supported incentive to restaurant diners to pay by SnapScan, offering them a 50% discount, with a maximum of R400, presented as a voucher.
11. Epice will be moving to the space of Le Petite Colombe at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek.
12. Le Petite Colombe will move to Leeu Estates ‘in the coming months’.

Details of new restaurants opening, and of restaurant closures, are highly appreciated. chrisvonulmenstein@gmail.com

Photograph: The spectacular view onto Hout Bay from Tintswalo Kitchen at Tintswalo Atlantic. (Own photograph)

About Chris von Ulmenstein

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein

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