Tag Archives: Savoy Cabbage

Western Cape restaurants dominate American Express Platinum Fine Dining awards!

Western Cape restaurants won 41 of the 83 American Express Platinum Fine Dining Awards at a ceremony earlier this week, with Gauteng following in second place with 29 awards.

The Awards recognise ‘quality and creativity of cuisine, service, wine list, décor,  and ambiance as well as overall excellence’, reports Food24. Acceptance of American Express credit cards is a requirement.  Judges were Victor Strugo and Anna Trapido from Johannesburg, and Tamsin Snyman from Cape Town, a similar team judging the South African entries for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Twelve first-time winners of an American Express Platinum Fine Dining award include Azure at the Twelve Apostles Hotel and Bombay Brasserie in the Taj hotel in Cape Town; The Kurland Hotel Restaurant in Plettenberg Bay; DW11-13 in Johannesburg; and Ninth Avenue Bistro in Durban.

Western Cape winners of American Express Platinum Fine Dining Awards are the following: Aubergine, Azure, Bistro Sixteen82, Bombay Brasserie, Buitenverwachting, Bukhara in Burg Street, Catharina’s at Steenberg, Constantia Uitsig, The Foodbarn, Gold, The Greenhouse, Haiku, Il Leone, La Colombe, Nobu, Planet Restaurant, The Roundhouse, Savoy Cabbage, 96 Winery Road, Boschendal, Bosman’s, Bread & Wine, Fraai Uitzicht 1798, Grande Provence (photograph), Jardine at Jordan, Mimosa Lodge, Overture, The Pavilion at The Marine hotel, Pierneef à La Motte, Reuben’s in Franschhoek, Seafood at the Marine hotel, The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, La Locanda in George, Kurland Hotel Restaurant, Sand at The Plettenberg hotel, Zinzi at Tsala in Plettenberg Bay, Serendipity in Wilderness, Trans Karoo in Great Brak, Pembreys, Zacharays at Pezula, and Kalinka Karoo Cuisine.

Obvious exclusions from the list, probably due to not accepting Amex credit cards, are The Test Kitchen, Tokara, Delaire Graff, Terroir, Babylonstoren, Waterkloof, Makaron Restaurant, and Rust en Vrede.

The list is an interesting mix of top restaurants in the running for Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, some one wonders about having made the list, and some one has never heard of before.

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

American Express Platinum restaurant list highlights Cape cuisine capital, tough economy!

The number of 2012 American Express Platinum Fine Dining Programme restaurants has dropped for the first time in its 14 year history, down from 88 restaurants in 2011 to 78 this year, with twelve of last year’s winners having closed their doors, reports Chef!.  This demonstrates the severity of the hospitality crisis.

The dominance of the Western Cape, with 33 of the 78 awards, highlights that the province is the cuisine capital of South Africa.  New award entrants are also largely from the Cape, being Nobu, Bistro Sixteen82, Planet Restaurant, Reuben’s at the One&Only, and Pierneef à La Motte, out of eight new entrants.  Three re-admissions are The Restaurant at Grande Provence (photograph), Bosman’s at the Grande Roche Hotel, and Saagries in Johannesburg.

Chefs said that the recognition is welcome, in being a member of the fine dining programme, given the difficult time of the year, after a very long and bleak winter.  The major criterion for consideration by the Programme organiser Tamsin Snyman, in partnership with restaurant critic Victor Strugo, is accepting payment by American Express, which may have disqualified many other top restaurants (such as Dash, The Test Kitchen, Casparus, Johan’s @ Longridge, Terroir, Waterkloof, Indochine, Tokara, and Delaire Graff) from being eligible for evaluation. The judges evaluated the quality and creativity of the cuisine, the service, the wine list, decor and ambiance, the overall excellence, and acceptance of a booking for a table of four on the same day.

Eight of last year’s Programme restaurants did not make the 2012 list, including Rust en Vrede (probably due to the departure of Chef David Higgs), Haute Cabriére Cellar Restaurant (probably due to the recent change in chef), Emily’s, Myoga, Bizerca and Belthazar. Snyman said that ‘there is an increasing mediocrity on the South African fine dining restaurant scene’, reports Chef! The restaurants that have closed their doors in the past year include Auberge Michel, Linger Longer, Jardine, and Hunter’s Country Restaurant.

The 2102 American Express Platinum Fine Dining Programme restaurants are as follows, according to Business Day:

CAPE PENINSULA: Aubergine, Buitenverwachting, Bukhara (city bowl), Catharina’s, Constantia Uitsig, The Food Barn, Gold, The Greenhouse, Haiku; Il Leone, La Colombe, Roundhouse, Savoy Cabbage
CAPE WINELANDS:  96 Winery Road, Boschendal, Bread & Wine, Fraai Uitzicht 1798, French Connection Bistro, Jardine at Jordan, Mimosa Lodge, Overture @ Hidden Valley, The Pavilion, Reuben’s (Franschhoek), Seafood @ The Marine, Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français
EASTERN CAPE: Hacklewood Hill (Port Elizabeth)
FREE STATE:  De Oude Kraal
KLEIN KAROO:  Kalinka Karoo Cuisine
GARDEN ROUTE: La Locanda (George), Sand @ The Plettenberg, Zinzi @ Tsala (Plettenberg Bay), Serendipity (Wilderness), Trans Karoo (Great Brak), Pembreys, Zachary’s at Pezula (Knysna)
JOHANNESBURG: Bellagio, Bellgables, Bukhara (Sandton), Butcher Shop & Grill, Byzance, La Cucina di Ciro, Gramadoelas, La Campagnola, Le Canard, Mastrantonia, Metzuyan, Osteria Tre Nonni, Piccolo Mondo, Pigalle (Sandton), Roots @ Forum Homini, Saxon, Sel et Poivre, Wombles, Yamato
PRETORIA:  Geet, La Madeleine, La Pentola, Mosaic, Ritrovo Ristorante,
KWAZULU-NATAL: Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse, Daruma, Hartford House, Harvey’s, Ile Maurice, Roma Revolving Restaurant, Spice, Sugar Club

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

Restaurant Review: Caffé Hausbrandt, Cape Town’s 4th best TripAdvisor restaurant!!!

When Cape Town was voted as the top city in the world in the Travelers’ Choice Destination Awards by TripAdvisor in April, we wrote about our scepticism about the value of the awards, given that this prestigious rank on TripAdvisor, with millions of reviewers the site brags, has not led to any increase in accommodation enquiries. 

We also wrote about the laughability of any TripAdvisor accolade, knowing how easy it is for accommodation establishments and restaurants to have reviews written by friends and family, a growing criticism that TripAdvisor has tried to address.  The height of absurdity was TripAdvisor’s list of Top 10 restaurants in Cape Town.  My eye caught the name of Caffé Hausbrandt, a restaurant which I had never heard of before, which was number 3 on the TripAdvisor list at that time, and which has now dropped to 4th position, in the Top 10 company of Le Colombe, Opal Lounge, Miller’s Thumb, San Marco in the Waterfront, Constantia Uitsig, Fork, Brio, Savoy Cabbage, and Carne, none of which have ever made the Eat Out  Top 10 Restaurant list, other than La Colombe!

A recent trip to the city centre was a good opportunity to try out this ‘top restaurant’, and I found Caffé Hausbrandt on Greenmarket Square, which opened nine months ago in a space where a competitive coffee shop to Vida e Caffé, owned by Ian Halfon, used to be.  My first impression was one of disbelief, in seeing an information bureau and ice cream/coffee shop rolled into one.  The entrance is dominated visually by the ‘Safari Information Centre’, which belongs to Searl Derman, the owner of Aquilla Game Reserve, sharing the space with Caffe Hausbrandt, but the latter’s branding is barely visible.  The interior looks reasonably smart, but an ice cream chest, a coffee making counter and cash register, a shelf of brochures for Safari, and an upstairs seating area are an odd mix.  Space is very limited inside, and that is why most customers would sit outside to enjoy the sun and the Greenmarket Square buzz.  It is not without its irritation however, with street musicians and pushy salespersons trying to flog their CD’s and other wares. 

The Manager of the outlet is Margot, and I could hear her German accent immediately.  She seemed very defensive, almost irritated, and less than friendly.   Her waiter seemed to have a greater role in attracting tourists into the shop than waitering, proactively enticing them in to try the ice cream, irritating as he was very loud and pushy.  He also was the ice cream dispenser with an attitude, and it was clear that he did not have much knowledge about the ingredients of the ice cream, only reading the labels that the customer can also see!  Margot proudly told me that she had made the Apfelstrudel herself.  When I switched to German, she seemed more friendly, and more ready to answer questions.  Odd was that the cake was served with a standard size knife and fork.

Tables are white with red chairs outside, and an all-weather couch as well.  Each table has a simple Hausbrandt menu and an Aquilla brochure in a holder.  This is clearly a coffee shop aimed at attracting tourists, with the hope that they will make use of the Safari information and booking service too.  The South African Caffe Hausbrandt branches are on Greenmarket Square, on the pedestrian mall on Waterkant Street, and in Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, and are owned by Austrian Gert Uppinger and local Jaco Viljoen. 

The menu is simple – a selection of coffees, muffins (R14,50), croissants (R11,50), chocolate croissants (R14,50), Manner Schnitten (Austrian wafers at R15), waffle and ice cream (R28), and a few cakes served with cream (R25).   Cappuccino costs R16,50, and was served on a smart silver tray, oddly with a small glass of luke-warm water.   The ice creams take center stage, it appears, and seem to be the only reason why customers enter the shop, the Icezeit Gelato flavours changing weekly.   A small cup of ice cream costs R15, and R18 on a cone.  It was delicious, very thick and creamy, and is made at the Waterkant Street location, I was told, surprising given how small it is, really just being a take-away outlet with a few chairs outside, and even smaller than the Greenmarket Square branch. 

Hausbrandt is an Italian brand of coffee established by Austrian Hermann Hausbrandt in Trieste in 1892 it would appear (the website is not very helpful in providing information), and has branches and sells its coffees around the world.  In Cape Town Lufthansa’s call centre now has a Hausbrandt vending machine, and the brand is served at Raith Gourmet shop in Garden Centre (plus its new Constantia shop), and at Andiamo in the Cape Quarter. On TripAdvisor, 14 reviews had earned the Greenmarket Square coffee shop 4th place on TripAdvisor, many reviews being in German, and almost all praised Caffé Hausbrandt for its excellent ice cream!   Most of the reviewers were from overseas, and not locals.

Caffé Hausbrandt, Greenmarket Square and 32 Waterkant Street, Cape Town, and Melrose Arch in Johannesburg.  Tel (021) 422-3308/(021) 421-0901.  www.hausbrandt.co.za.  Twitter: @Hausbrandt1892.   There is no information about the Icezeit Gelato on the local Hausbrandt website.

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

Build more hotels, open more restaurants in Cape Town: TripAdvisor tourism tsunami on its way!

Cape Town has made it to the top of the TripAdvisor 2011 Travelers’ Choice Destinations Awards, beating world cities and destinations Sydney, Machu Picchu, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York City, Rome, London, Barcelona and Hong Kong.  It is a fantastic accolade for our wonderful city, and could lead to millions of visitors to Cape Town, if the TripAdvisor numbers are to be believed!

“With beautiful scenery, great wine and gorgeous weather, it’s easy to see why Cape Town, which also played host to last year’s World Cup, has topped this year’s list” said Emma Boyle, TripAdvisor spokesperson.

I am extremely sceptical of TripAdvisor, a love-hate site for hospitality establishments, that allows users to rate hotels and restaurants around the world.  Boldly they claim to have “over 45 million trusted travel reviews and opinions”, which Cape Town Tourism promptly misinterpreted on its blog as being the number of voters for Cape Town.

 

While I am delighted at the visibility for Cape Town as a result of the top ranking of our Mother City, the market researcher in me was disappointed in TripAdvisor’s announcement not answering two key questions:

*   who participated and voted for the top destinations?

*   what methodology was used, including sample size, vote methodology, time period of vote, etc, or was it purely based on the number of Google-type searches recorded on the TripAdvisor site? 

A vague sentence in the TripAdvisor announcement stated: “honor top travel spots in the world based on millions of real and unbiased opinions from TripAdvisor travelers.  Award winners were determined based on a combination of travelers’ favourite places and overall destination popularity”.  “Millions of TripAdvisor travelers around the globe have helped identify the world’s top travel spots,” said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor. “The Travelers’ Choice Destinations awards not only recognize some of the most beloved travel destinations worldwide, but serve as inspiration for millions of travelers looking to plan their next trip.”

As a registered TripAdvisor owner for my four establishments, each with their own e-mail address, I received four e-mail announcements of the winning destinations, which means that all TripAdvisor users and product owners will have received the e-mail on Thursday, clearly a potential benefit for our city in terms of future enquiries and bookings.  Yet I was not requested to participate in a poll to choose my favourite travel destinations on any of the e-mail addresses.

When one clicks onto ‘Cape Town’ on TripAdvisor, a top ranking of B&B’s, hotels, restaurants and things to do appears.  Here the rankings are explained, in that they are based on a ranking derived from an average user score out of 5.  The number of reviewers having stayed/eaten at an establishment is also mentioned.

Once again the TripAdvisor sceptic that I am, and knowing that reviews can be written by establishments themselves (a severe criticism TripAdvisor faces continuously), by competitors wishing to disparage fellow establishments via false reviews (another severe criticism TripAdvisor faces), and by vindictive anonymous past guests, with a difficult procedure for owners/managers to respond to these, I was particularly interested in the Restaurant top 10 listing for Cape Town, as judged by TripAdvisor reviewers:

1.   La Colombe – on the 2010 Eat Out Top 20 shortlist

2.  The Opal Lounge 

3.   Caffe Hausbrandt – this is where it gets to be odd – this is a coffee shop on Green Market Square that I have never heard of

4.   Miller’s Thumb in Gardens

5.   Constantia Uitsig

6.   Savoy Cabbage

7.   Fork

8.   Willoughby’s

9.   Brio

10.  Carne

Only La Colombe made the Eat Out Top 20 shortlist, but did not make its Top 10 list in 2010, as its chef Luke Dale-Roberts left and opened his own restaurant The Test Kitchen.

The Top 10 Hotels list for Cape Town, as rated by TripAdvisor users, is as follows, ranked from 1st onwards: 2Inn1 Kensington, Derwent House Boutique Hotel (which was rated by an astounding 598 reviewers), Blackheath Lodge, Four Rosmead, An African Villa, Steenberg Hotel, dysART, Kensington Place, Villa Zest Boutique Hotel, and Table Bay Hotel.  Only two hotels are on this list, the rest being guest houses or small boutique hotels. 

The Top 10 things to do in Cape Town is an odd collection, and appears to include companies who offer tourism services: Table Mountain Walks with a guide, Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Cape Hiking and Cycling Tours, Langa Township (a strange inclusion), Lion’s Head, Boulder’s Beach, Cape of Good Hope, Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, and Abseil Africa from Table Mountain.

Time will tell whether the TripAdisor 2011 Travelers’ Choice Destination Award for Cape Town will make itself felt in terms of the benefit of ‘millions’ of TripAdvisor reviewers visiting our country and our city, something every accommodation establishment and restaurant sorely needs and hopes for for the bleak winter lying ahead.  There has been no sign of any increase in enquiries since the TripAdvisor 2011 Travelers’ Choice Awards were announced last week.

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