Friday 24 December 2021, Day 85 of Level 1, Christmas Eve đđˇ
Corona Lockdown Gratitude đ
#grateful for no enhanced Lockdown restrictions over the Festive days đ; for the excellent news that the USA is dropping its travel ban from 31 December, and that Belgium too has reduced its restrictions relative to the southern African countries; for getting up early to finish most of my work by lunchtime; for a Bakoven walk; for taking Henry for Christmas Lunch at Zest, his first visit there, my Christmas Feast for today, and lucky to be served by the bubbly Josie Milner đš ; for the efficient Continue reading →
The Sweet Service Award goes to Woolworths for removing all plastic shopping bags from its stores from 9 November. Shoppers will have to bring their own bags along when they go shopping from that date onwards, a commendable environmental step forward!
The South African Restaurant industry is very close to collapse, and is in urgent need of a cash flow injection to survive, a major finding of a study conducted last month, as a follow-up to a survey which the Esus-Group conducted in June 2020. Â The lifting of the alcohol ban from midnight tonight is a step in the right direction but the Curfew must be lifted too and the international borders must be opened, says Restaurateur Giles Blanc, and Co-Director of the Esus-Group, which has international Hospitality interests, and owns The 41 and The Korner restaurants in Cape Town. Blanc announced on Friday that he will soon reopen The 41 for the first time since Lockdown commenced in March. Â 
A survey conducted amongst restaurants by the international hospitality Esus-Group, has found that many restaurants reopened for Lockdown Sit-Down Service from 30 June, as the date coincided with the end date of the Government paying employees UIF/TERS, restaurants therefore being forced to reopen to be able to pay their staff. Sadly this may lead to the death of the restaurant industry, as they are using valuable cash to run a business which now has a turnover of 20% of that of last winter, the study shows!