Tag Archives: self-service

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 20 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is encouraging its members to use IT to improve the customer experience, saying that airlines ‘fly people and cargo, not planes‘. Consistency of customer experience is not yet satisfactory for airlines, with little differentiation. Customers would like to use IT to check in online, tag luggage themselves, board themselves, and collect bags themselves, an IATA survey found last year.  IATA’s goal is that 80% of passengers have a ‘self-service suite based on industry standards‘ available to them by 2020.

*   PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is not known as a Tourism consultancy, so its prediction about our country’s tourism future is a surprise.  Its report presents growth of 4% in international tourists 2013, far lower than the 10% growth in 2012.  Growth is said to be solid and good, but ‘not fantastic growth‘.  Almost three quarters of international visitors to our country are from Africa, the report confirms.  Nigeria would become the leading source market for our country, the PwC study predicts.  The Guest House category is the fastest growing in respect of room availability.  South Africa’s strength is that it attracts leisure as well as business travelers.

*   France must be feeling the tourism pinch, having announced plans to become more welcoming to tourists, English speaking ones in particular.   The country hopes to increase tourist numbers to 100 million, Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Lots of goodness served at Bread Milk and Honey!

I had seen the cutest looking small coffee shop next door to 6 Spin Street restaurant on a number of occasions, but had never got to visit it.   A recent opportunity presented itself to do a day-time visit to Bread Milk and Honey, which serves lots of bread in the form of sandwiches, and little milk and honey.

The historic building exterior is cuter than its interior, which is a deep narrow space with tables closest to the street and right at the end of the restaurant.  It has a red-and-white striped back wall, one large food poster, a massive blackboard with the menu written on it, an old undated photograph of Church Square with horse wagons, a functional pinewood serving counter, and a very patchy looking cement floor that has lost a lot of its paint covering.  The coffee shop has been open for 4 years, and belongs to Michael Knipe.

It clearly is a popular place, for businesspersons working in the area, Parliamentarians and their staff, and anyone involved with the magistrate’s court close by.  It is also an extremely noisy space, the coffee machine working overtime, and because of the buzz coming from it being full.   Parking is a severe restriction for the Spin Street businesses.

The ordinary laminated menu lists Breakfast options such as bacon toasties (R24), eggs (I had a very ordinary scrambled egg) served with two thinly-sliced delicious seed bread slices of toast (R22); oats (R16); oats with fruit, almonds and honey (R25), banana muesli; healthy muesli, with fresh fruit, honey and yogurt (R30); a ‘deluxe brekkie nibble”, being toast topped with rocket, Gypsy ham, poached egg, brie and wholegrain mustard; and uitsmeijter croissant”, containing gypsy ham, scrambled egg and grilled cheddar.  One can also order sandwiches (R26 for mozzarella, tomato and basil pesto – R42 for a Deluxe Club smoked chicken.   Toasties cost R 24 – R28.  A beautiful display of unusual muffins is sold at R12, as is scones, slices of cakes, and a most interesting-looking bacon and egg pastry puff.  A large selection of ready-made rye-bread sandwiches to take away clearly is popular.  A cappuccino costs R15, and a “Big Daddy” one is available at R23, being a ‘quadruple shot” 500 ml one.

For lunch one can help oneself to a Melissa-style self-service buffet, weighed and charged at R12 for 100 gram.  When I was there two days ago, they were serving Thai chicken curry, spinach lasagne and feta, roasted vegetables, sprout salad, raw vegetables and noodles, and Oriental raw vegetable and rice salad.  Cutlery is cheap and cheerful.  Service is extremely slow and reactive, and most customers seem to go to the counter to find some! 

Bread, Milk and Honey, 10 Spin Street, Cape Town.  Tel (021) 461-8425.  No website.  Twitter: @BreadMilkHoney Open Monday – Friday    6h30 – 16h00. 

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