Tag Archives: Stables

Cape Town and Winelands restaurant and chef changes continue!

Borage Bistro Interior 2 Whale CottageAn unusually high number of new restaurants has opened or will do so in the next month or two.  There have never been so many chefs leaving their employers to start their own restaurants, or to join other employers!  This list of restaurant openings and closings and restaurant staff movements is updated continuously, as we receive new information:

Restaurant Openings

*    Borage Bistro has opened in Portside, with Chef Frank Marks, previously of The Fat Duck, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, La Colombe, The Test Kitchen, and The Pot Luck Club

*   Chef Chris Erasmus has opened his own restaurant Foliage in Franschhoek, having previously been at Pierneef à La Motte.

*   Idiom Wines is said to be opening a restaurant.

*   The Butcher Shop & Grill has opened next to Sotano in Mouille Point.

*   Michael Townsend (La Parada, Lucky Fish, Harbour House emporium) is opening a steak restaurant in Muizenberg in November.

*   Neil Grant and his business partner Barry Engelbrecht (of Burrata) are opening a new restaurant Bocca on the corner of Bree Continue reading →

High Chef turnover in Cape and Winelands restaurants, new restaurant openings continue!

Foliage Chef Chris Erasmus at table Whale CottageFor the first time in many years Cape Town has seen barely any restaurant closures this winter. There have never been so many chefs leaving their employers to start their own restaurants, or to join other employers! An unusually high number of new restaurants have opened or will do so in the next month or two.

This list of restaurant openings and closings, restaurant staff movements, and winter holiday closures, is updated continuously, as we receive new information:

Restaurant Openings

*     Chef Chris Erasmus has opened his own restaurant Foliage in Franschhoek, having previously been at Pierneef à La Motte.

*    Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen has opened Street Food below the neighbouring hotel, offering Deluxe coffee, pastries, and Asian-inspired lunch take-outs. Operates from 7h00 – 15h00 Monday – Friday.

*   Idiom Wines is said to be opening a restaurant.

*   The Butcher Shop & Grill is opening next to Sotano in Mouille Point.

*   Michael Townsend (La Parada, Lucky Fish, Harbour House emporium) is Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 27 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom has reacted to the changed Immigration Regulations for the first time, disappointingly so, in not taking a strong stand against the Department of Home Affairs! Minister Hanekom placed the blame for the legislation at the door of the Department of Home Affairs, but supported its actions in its attempt to stamp out child trafficking. Global best practice in this regard would be studied, he added.  He promised to evaluate the ‘well-intentioned measures‘ in their impact on international tourist arrivals.

*   The Spectator tasted two South African wines out of a selection of four ‘Politically correct wines worth drinking’, describing them both as a pleasure to drink and having an economic benefit, which the writer described as ‘philantrophic consumption‘! BlouVlei Collection (from Mont du Toit Cellar) Sauvignon Blanc (vintage not divulged, and not to the writer’s liking) and Springfontein Terroir Selection Chenin Blanc 2011 were supplied to the writer by Private Cellar in the UK.
*   Café Paradiso served ‘Homeland’ actress Claire Danes and actor and director Sean Penn earlier this week, and regularly attracts local and international celebrities, including Kris Kristofferson, Hilary Swank, Denzel Washington, and MasterChef Australia judge and chef Marco Pierre White. Continue reading →

Musical stoves expected in the 2015 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list!

Waterkloof dessertWill the resignation of two 2014 Eat Out Top 10 Chefs, with  a third to come it is rumoured, make it the easiest hop into the 2015 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list ever?  While it is a bit early, we speculate as to which new restaurants will make it onto the Eat Out Top 20 and Top 10 Restaurant lists later this year.

Given the strict rule of an Executive Chef having to have worked a full twelve months (November 2013 to October this year) to qualify to get onto the Eat Out Top 20 shortlist, the three restaurants with the departing chefs will not qualify to make Top 20 for the judging in the next two months or so.  Hartford House and Pierneef à La Motte should definitely be off the list, and the third Top 10 restaurant will be confirmed shortly (see Postscript below).  Chef Chris Erasmus left Pierneef à La Motte a week ago, to open his new restaurant Foliage on the main road of Franschhoek next month, while Chef Jackie Cameron is opening Jackie Cameron’s School of Food and Wine in Hilton in January next year, but leaves at the end of July.  The third chef is rumoured to move from the Winelands to Cape Town, to open his own new restaurant, and could not be reached yesterday due to the restaurant being closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.   We would not be surprised if a fourth Top 10 restaurant chef makes a move to Cape Town too, given the number of new restaurants opening in the next few months. Continue reading →