I had not been to Stellenbosch since the beginning of Lockdown in March 2020. Last week I spent a day in the town, to walk through its centre, and updating my information of restaurants that have opened and closed in the town since my last visit.
I discovered multiple new coffee shops and informal eateries, and a growing number of wine bars. And the start of a challenge to Chef Bertus Basson’s dominance of the university town as far as fine-dining goes.
After 8 years of opening Chefs Warehouse & Canteen on Bree Street, the second venue of Chef Liam Tomlin’s first Cape Town restaurant, and despite undergoing a name change more recently, the Tapas restaurant closed down yesterday.
The closure of Chefs Warehouse & Canteen Winebar & Pinchos brings to an end the presence of Chef Liam’s businesses in Heritage Square, having walked away from Local, his Lebanese restaurant Mazza, and La Cantina earlier this year. Continue reading →
After a big fanfare about taking over the former HQ on Shortmarket Street, adjacent to his Chefs Warehouse Pinchos and Winebar in the same building, and turning it into a Local market of mini restaurants, an Italian restaurant La Cantina, and a Lebanese restaurant Mazza on the mezzanine level of the building in 2020, Chef Liam Tomlin has admitted defeat and walked away from all three restaurant projects, all in Heritage Square in town, he announced on his Social Media accounts last month! Continue reading →
It was a surprise announcement to read that Chef Bertus Basson has been exorcised from Spice Route wine estate outside of Paarl, and that Chef Liam Tomlin with Neil and Tina Jewell are taking over this space. It makes for an interesting discussion as to why the top chefs of our country are so determined to open one restaurant after the other, and to ask if they make any money out of it! Continue reading →