I have been to The Silo Hotel four times since it opened a month ago, and the best eating experience of the four visits thus far was the Afternoon Tea, which I enjoyed with Madge Kruger, a friend visiting from Pretoria, last week. It reflected the creativity of the talented Pastry Chef Devin Jones, formerly at Ellerman House. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: The Royal Portfolio
Restaurant Review: The Granary Café at The Silo Hotel far more than a Café, serves contemporary classics in luxury dining room!
Even if the Cambridge English dictionary definition of a ‘Café‘ as an inexpensive (‘a restaurant where simple and usually quite cheap meals are served‘) eatery is accepted, The Granary Café still does not deserve its ‘Café‘ name, as nothing about the contemporary classic dishes served in the sophisticated dining area is ‘simple‘. It is a showcase of Executive Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert’s playful interpretation of her favorite classic dishes.
Opulent The Silo Hotel in the V&A Waterfront elevates Cape Town hospitality to a new high!
Ten days ago, on its third day of operation, hotelier and writer Llewellyn Lambert, architect Jan de Wet, and I went to visit The Silo Hotel in the commercial side of the V & A Waterfront. We were blown away by the luxury of the interior decor, the generosity of spaciousness, and the extreme friendliness of the staff, hallmarks of the operations of The Royal Portfolio. I returned nine days later, to have a second lunch at The Silo Rooftop. Continue reading →
Whale Tales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7 May
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has seen only a minimal improvement in the growth in revenue passenger kilometers of 5,6% in the first quarter of this year, compared to 5,2 % for the same quarter in 2013. Global passenger growth in March 2014 was half that in February. Most regions showed minimal growth in March compared to February, with the exception of the Middle East, which had a 10% passenger growth and Latin America a 4,7% passenger growth in March relative to February. Africa was the only region with an outright passenger decline (2,6%), and South Africa’s passenger decline is said to be to blame due to poor economic conditions in our country.
* TripAdvisor is negotiating to buy lafourchette, an European restaurant booking platform representing 12000 restaurants in France, Switzerland, and Spain. At the World Travel Market Africa Conference held in Cape Town last week the audience was told that TripAdvisor would strongly focus on restaurants, this purchase being a reflection of the planned restaurant drive.
* De Grendel Merlot 2011 has won a Gold and its Shiraz 2012 a Silver Award at the SAKURA Awards held in Tokyo. Entries were received from 33 countries, and 1900 wines were evaluated on a 100 point scoring system. Continue reading →