Tammy Frazer | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

The Toffie Food Festival and Conference, to be held at the City Hall on 3 and 4 September, attracted my attention due to its low-key marketing, odd as it is run by an (unknown) communication agency The President, and as its organisers have had no prior visibility as bloggers or ‘foodies’. Information about the event has been scant, yet I booked immediately when I saw that Julie Powell, of the movie ‘Julie and Julia’ , is the key speaker.

The movie ‘Julie and Julia’ ran in Cape Town in my early days of blogging, and I loved it, for its humour in presenting the trials and tribulations of blogging. Julie Powell’s blog ‘Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen’ was published as a book in 2005, and that led to the movie being made, and released in 2009. Ms Powell has written a second book ‘Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession’, which was published two years ago.

I asked Hannerie Visser of The President why they were organising the Toffie Festival, with no credentials in the food industry. This was her reply: “Toffie is a series of conference festivals and because food is so linked to cultural heritage it allowed for an interesting conference that everyone can relate to”. Other speakers are:

* Kobus van der Merwe, chef/owner of Oep ve Eet in Paternoster, and previous web editor of Food24 and Eat Out.

* Eloise Alemany, ex-editor of ID magazine and now cookbook specialist, from Argentina (leading a Toffie food tour of Buenos Aires in October).

* Dr Anna Trapido, editor of ‘Hunger for Freedom’, the book that documented Nelson Mandela’s food likes and dislikes in the different phases of his life, is organising a lunch inspired by the book, in association with Woolworths’ TASTE magazine.

* Lin Tung-Yuan of Café GABEE, ‘multi-award winner of the Taiwan Barista Championship, who is renowned for the delicacy and finesse of his coffee and coffee-inspired dishes’

* Renata Coetzee, winner of a 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for her book ‘Koekemakranka: Khoi-Khoin Kultuurgoed en Kom-kuier-Kos’

* Tammy Frazer, a perfumist (an odd link to a food conference!)

* Wolfgang Koedel of Paulaner (a last minute addition, only announced on Twitter yesterday)

Running alongside the Conference are a number of events (oddly this programme has only just been finalised, a week before the Festival), which are free of charge, unless otherwise indicated below:

* Spier vertical tasting

* a SAB beer and food pairing led by Chef Pete Goffe-Wood of Kitchen Cowboys and Denis da Silva

* a workshop by Eloise Alemany (R250)

* a perfume workshop by Tammy Frazer (R350)

* Tung-Yuan Lin barista workshop

The Toffie Festival, with a price tag of R 1710, also includes a Braai lunch, as well as a ‘secret home dinner’, breakfast and two Woolworths coffee vouchers. The home dinners will be held on 3 September, and one will be allocated to dinner at the home of one of the following:

* Cameron Munro from Superette

* Gerhard Greyvenstein and Herman Lampen of Grey Lamp, a ‘pop-up’ supper club

* Sumien Brink, editor of Woolworths’ TASTE magazine, and Cara Brink

* Callie Maritz and Mari-Louis Guy of Cakebread boutique bakery

* Alma Viviers, managing editor of VISI magazine and Kobus van der Merwe, chef/owner of Oep ve Koep in Paternoster

* Tina Bester of Queen of Tarts

* Cleon and Kate Romano of Maria’s Greek Café/Restaurant

* Philip and Lisa Key of African Relish

* Laureen Rossouw, editor of ELLE Decoration

* Will Hobson of fieldoffice, a sandwich-maker

* Aletta Lintveld, food editor of Weg magazine

* Fabio and Luan Lauro of House of Pasta

* Brendon and Suzette Bell-Roberts of art south africa magazine.

Toffie Food Festival and Conference delegates receive a copy of Cape Town ‘MENU’, an interesting book of restaurants and recipes, and is a listing of the Toffie Festival’s ‘guide of the best meals in Cape Town’. Included, for example, is:

* Greek and African food: recommending Maria’s, and Bebe Rose

* Portuguese and Italian food: recommending The Villa Tavern, Giovanni’s, Pizzeria Napoletana, House of Pasta, Hildebrand Restaurant, Chop, Fork Tapa, Meloncino, and Il Cappero.

* Asian food: recommending Hesheng Chinese Takeaway, Chef Pon’s, Yindee’s, Mr Chan Chinese Restaurant, and Takumi

* Cakes and desserts, recommending C’est La Vie, Keenwä, Arno Arpin, Biesmiellah, Queen of Tarts, Cassis Paris, Bird’s Boutique Café (may no longer be relevant with new chef opening with new menu on 1 September), Cakebread, Giovanni’s, Willoughby’s, fieldoffice, Lindt Chocolate Studio, San Julian, and Il Cappero.

Worrying is the low key marketing of the event, which is not yet sold out, and that speakers are still being added to the programme. The printed programme delivered on Friday looks different to the one on the website, and some international speakers seem to have fallen off the programme. There appears to be no theme to the Conference, and it looks like a randomly thrown together collection of speakers. Surprising is that no local foodies are on the programme, be they food bloggers or journalists.

POSTCRIPT: The Toffie Food Festival was all about over-promise and under-delivery. Read our report.

Toffie Food Festival and Conference, City Hall, 3 – 4 September. www.toffie.co.za

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

Cape Town’s finest Art Nouveau building, at 34 Long Street, has been given a new lease of life, and has opened as ‘salon store’ Merchants on Long, a most wonderful showcase not only of the architecture of 114 years ago, but also of the talent of design from Africa.

Merchants on Long belongs to Hanneli Rupert jnr, and the renovation was driven by her, with input by interior designer Graham Viney. The walls have been left as rough stonework in places, being coffee stone walls made from slate taken from Table Mountain, the first stages of the building having been built between 1652 – 1700. The ceilings are original Oregon Pine timber beams.

Outside the store, a collection of vintage cars from the family collection at the Franschhoek Motor Museum lined the block in Long Street for the opening on Thursday. Two live models showed off swim and summer ware in the shop window, to the amusement and interest of shoppers passing by.

Beautiful marine-inspired silver jewellery by Patrick Mavros, as well as the finest leather handbags under the Okapi brand name by Hanli Rupert, and Ardmore Ceramics were on display on the opening night. In general fair trade goods as well as products made from organic materials, where possible, are sold.

To accommodate the large number of guests, all of whom had been sent personalised calligraphy invitations, and were welcomed with Mumm champagne, many of the displays were removed from the floor. Other products that are stocked at Merchants on Long are Suno clothes hand-made in Kenya from designs originating from New York; Frazer Parfum soaps made by organic perfumer Tammy Frazer; The Letterpress Company, ‘purveyors of bespoke stationery’; La Lesso, who make khangas in Kenya; SAWA, making sneakers in Cameroon; LemLem clothing and accessories from Ethiopia; Sika shoes and dresses from Ghana; and Madwa contemporary craft and functional art.

Said Ms Rupert: “I wanted to create an environment that has the ability to transport you, it is meant to remind our visitors why the world’s bravest explorers and pioneers of the arts and sciences came to Africa in the first place”. In welcoming her guests, Ms Rupert highlighted that her merchandise will inspire job creation, helping to uplift local communities whilst highlighting the best of design in Africa.

The shop has a coffee bar, serving Fairtrade coffees from different African countries, as well as home-made cake. African music adds to the ambiance. Wonderful snacks were served on beautifully styled trays.

Tourists will love the quality of the African design, art and fashion experience at Merchants on Long, compared to the flood of bead items they can find on many a street corner in Cape Town, whilst locals will also be impressed with the quality and variety of design from Africa. All shoppers at Merchants on Long will love the character of the building.

Merchants on Long, 34 Long Street. Tel (021) 422-2828. www.merchantsonlong.com. Open Monday – Friday 10h00 – 18h00, and Saturdays 10h00 – 14h00.

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