Tag Archives: Willowbridge

Restaurants with ♥ for Valentine’s Day

The following restaurants are offering Valentine’s Day specials, and the list will be updated as we receive more information about Valentine’s Day offers:

*   Franschhoek Kitchen, Holden Manz Wine Estate, Franschhoek: Picnic at R295 per couple, including bottle of Rosé;  3-course dinner with glass of Rosé R200 per person.   Tel (021) 876-2729

*   La Mouette in Sea Point: 4-course dinner R290, or R420 with wine.  Tel (021)433-0856

*   Café Chic, Breda Street, Gardens: 3-course dinner R225.  Tel (021) 465-7218

*   Allée Bleue, Franschhoek.  3-course dinner (set menu) and performance by Nianell, Sunday 13 February 18h00,  R350 per person.   Tel (021) 874-1886

*   Cosecha, Noble Hill Wine Estate, Paarl:  Valentine’s Day picnic for two costs R218 on 14 February.   3-course set menu on 13 and 14 February with bottle of Noble Hill Chardonnay, R168 per person.  Tel (021) 874-3844.

*   Brunia Wines, Stanford: 3 course dinner, dance and welcome glass of sparkling wine, R180 per person. 12 February. Tel 028 341-0432.

*   Five Flies, Keerom Street: 3 courses and a glass of sparkling wine R250 per person.  Tel (021) 424-4442.

*   Warwick Wine Estate, Stellenbosch:  Picnic basket for 2 plus bottle of Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc R 375 per couple.  13 and 14 February  Tel (021) 884-3144 

*   Salmon Bar, Franschhoek: cocktail and 3-course meal plus Porcupine Ridge wine “gift pack”, 14 February. R 265 per person.  Tel (021) 876-4591

*   Pappa Grappa, Paarl: 4 course meal plus grappa and ‘mystery gift’, R 245 per person.  Tel (021) 8633 555

*   Laborie, Paarl: Picnic plus Casablanca movie screening 12/2 R400 per couple; “Phantom of the Opera” theme, rose, glass of Rosé, 4-course dinner 14/2 R 315.  Tel (021) 807-3390

*   Buitenverwachting, Constantia:  3-course dinner R295, 5 course R 375, includes glass of sparkling wine.  Tel (021) 794-3522

*   Catharina’s, Steenberg Hotel, Constantia:   Seafood grill for two R1400; 5-course dinner R695 per person 14/2 Tel (021) 713-2222  

*   Grand Daddy Hotel Rooftop, Long Street: Picnic basket with romantic movie R190 per person, add R50 for bottle of Beyerskloof sparkling wine.  Tel (021) 424-7247

*   French Toast Wine & Tapas Bar:  7 Tapas and glass of Graham Beck Brut Rosé R470 per couple.  14 February. Tel (021) 422-3839

*   Rick’s Café, Gardens:  1 course R125, 2 courses R150, 3 courses R175 + glass of Pongracz Rosé. Tel (021) 424-1100  

*   Cape Town Hotel School, Mouille Point: 3-course dinner R250 per person.  Tel (021) 440-5736

*   Trees Restaurant, Townhouse Hotel: Glass of Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel and 3-course meal R180 per person

*   Rickety Bridge, Franschhoek: 3-course gourmet lunch, R200 per person. 13 February. Tel 083 377 4103

*   The Square Restaurant, Vineyard Hotel:  Glass of sparkling wine, red rose, 3-course dinner, departure gift R295.   Dinner at Liesbeeck River R425 per person.  Tel (021) 657-4500

*   1800 Degrees, Cape Royale Luxury Hotel: Glass of sparkling wine, amuse bouche, 3 courses  R250 per person.  14 February.  Tel (021) 430-0506.

*   Cuvée Restaurant, Simonsig wine estate, Stellenbosch: Candlelit 3-course dinner outdoors, bottle of Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, and box of chocolates.  14 February. R 350 per person.  Tel (021) 888-4932

*   Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, Stellenbosch: 6-course Tasting Menu and ‘lots of bubbly’.  R1200 per couple.  14 February.  Tel (021) 881-3612

*   Ken Forrester Vineyards, Stellenbosch: Glass of sparkling wines plus 3-course dinner R 295 per person. 14 February. Tel (021) 855-2374

*   Morgenhof, Stellenbosch: “Under the Stars Dinner Concert” – glass of wine and port, 5-course dinner, live music R 295.  14 February.  Tel (021) 889-5510

*   Hartenberg, Stellenbosch:  3-course dinner, with wine paired per course.  R280 per person.  Tel (021) 865-2541

*   Adega, Willowbridge: Glass of sparkling wine, 3-course meal, Don Pedro, R 275 per person.  Tel (021 914-5091

*   Planet Bar, Mount Nelson Hotel:  12 oysters and bottle of Pongracz Brut Rosé R 220.  Tel (021) 483-1948

*   Planet Restaurant, Mount Nelson Hotel:  4-course dinner R 395 per person. Tel (021) 483-1948

*   Il Cappero, Barrack Street: Glass of bubbly plus 3-course dinner R 300 per couple. 12, 13, 14 February.  Tel (021) 461-3168

*   Cognito Restaurant, Stellenbosch: 3-course dinner R 160. Tel (021) 882-8696

*   Glenwood wine estate, Franschhoek: Bring your own picnic, taste wine R30, wine and sweets R50, cheese platter R60, play boules. Sunday 13 February. Tel (021 876-2044

*   Pure Restaurant, Hout Bay Manor: 4-course dinner R440. 14 February.  Tel (021) 790-0116

*   Cafe Max, De Waterkant: Glass of bubbly and 3-course dinner R 220 per person. 14 February.  Tel (021) 425-5102. 

*   Bovlei Valley Retreat, Wellington: 4-course dinner R 200 per person.  14 February

*   Diemersfontein, Wellington: Glass of bubbly, picnic basket and bottle of wine R R450 per couple, lunch and dinner, 14 February

*   Krugmann’s Grill, V&A Waterfront: Glass of bubbly, 4 prawns, 200g steak and strawberry daiquiri R 95 per person. 14 February.  Tel (021) 418-9393

*   Blakes, Gardens: Masquerade theme evening – glass of bubbly, DJ, platters of tapas.  R120 (webtickets.co.za) or R150 at door.   Tel (021) 426-2369

*   Pavilion at The Marine, Hermanus: 3-course dinner, glass of sparkling wine, 2 oysrters and ‘sweet treat’ R 320.  14 February. Tel (028) 313-1000.

*   Seafood at The Marine, Hermanus: 3-course dinner, glass of sparkling wine, 2 oysters, ‘sweet treat’,  R295.  14 February. Tel (028) 313-1000.

*   Café Benedict, Franschhoek:   Glass of Dieu Donné sparkling wine and 5 course dinner R 200 per person. 14 February.   Tel (021) 876-4404

*   Trinity, Bennett Street:  3-course dinner R300 per person. Tel (021) 418-0624

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

Col’Cacchio Pizzeria goes gourmet again

Col’Cacchio Pizzeria is running the second Celebrity Chef series from this month onwards, for the next six months, once again linking a celebrity chef to a pizza once a month, but this time around, a country is linked to the chef as well, in honour of the World Cup.  

Interestingly, despite FIFA’s strict ambush marketing rules, the Col’Cacchio newsletter ‘grazie!’ is initially shy in referring to the “World Cup”, yet has a box in the newsletter that states boldly: “The perfect place to gather pre, post or during the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP…   We take the hassle out of organising your soccer party”!

This month chef Michael Broughton of Terroir in Stellenbosch, a Top 10 restaurant, is representing Italy with his Michelangelo pizza, containing an interesting mix of figs, potato, garlic braised rocket, fontina cheese, parma ham, a drizzle of truffle oil, and fresh origanum.

In May another Top 10 chef, David Higgs of Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch, will represent Mexico with his Nacho Libre pizza, containing ‘jerk spiced chicken breast strips, home-made guacamole, freshly chopped tomato chilli salsa, fresh coriander & sour cream’.

In June Jodi-Ann Pearton of The Food Design Agency, a catering company, food consultancy and cookery school in Johannesburg, represents South Africa with a Bunny Chow Calzone,  which is a folded pizza containing tandoori chicken and tomato chow, served with fresh coriander and Mrs Ball’s chutney.

The names of the gourmet pizzas that the chefs will present in July – September have not yet been released, but the names of the chefs and the countries they will represent are available.   Franck Dangereux, owner of The Foodbarn, and a previous Top 10 chef whilst at La Colombe, is the gourmet pizza chef in July and represents France.   Chef Nicky Gibbs, from The Westcliff hotel in Johannesburg, will represent Argentina in her gourmet pizza in August.   In September Top 10 chef Chantel Dartnall, who came second in the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards in November, of Restaurant Mosaic in Pretoria, will represent Denmark.

For every gourmet pizza sold at R 95, R 5 of the price goes to the Children’s Hospital Trust, the fundraising charity of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, and to its Burns’ Unit in particular.  Last year Col’Cacchio ran a similar Celebrity Chef promotion, and the R 120 000 which was raised was donated to the Hospital for the purchase of specialised surgical equipment for the new operating theatre.

Col’Cacchio has eight franchise outlets in the Cape, including Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, Camps Bay, Canal Walk, Cavendish, Willowbridge and Blouberg, as well as eight outlets in Gauteng and one in KwaZulu-Natal. 

For more details about Col’Cacchio’s Celebrity Chef series, see www.colcacchio.co.za

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

Topsi is tops!

At the ‘Tribute to Topsi’ held on 18 May at the Barnyard Theatre in the Willowbridge Centre 500 foodie and Topsi lovers gathered together to “honour a doyenne and living legend of South African food and a wonderful human being”, and to collect funds for a knee replacement operation for her.  

 

A jointly organised event by John Jackson of African Banquet Collections and the Chaine des Rotisseurs, in conjunction with the Franschhoek Lion’s Club, the evening had a strong Franschhoek presence, with many local residents attending the fabulous evening.  The food was prepared and donated by leading restaurants including Le Quartier Francais, Bruce Robertson’s new The Quarter, Cellars Hohenhort, La Colombe and many more. Delectable wines were donated.  Neil Els of Boschendal was the master of ceremonies and auctioneer.

 

A line-up of excellent performers, including Rocco de Villiers, Coenie de Villiers, Daniele Pascale, Elzabe Zietsman, boy group BRAVO and Nataniel entertained the appreciative crowd utilizing a very “gay-pink Liberace piano”, and dedicated their talent to Topsi.  Nataniel brought the house down with his stories about his 30-year friendship with Topsi, and when he presented her with a rosary (“instead of rosemary”)!

 

Topsi was praised by speakers for her generosity, having given her dog away to an American tourist who asked her for the dog, and she gave away a diamond brooch because a friend complimented her on it. Topsi answered that she was as close to heaven on earth as she could be, with all the tributes spoken and sung to her whiles she is still alive, and wished her Franschhoek friend Di Gage, who died recently, could have enjoyed such a feast of appreciation too.   Topsi was described as the “Madiba of cooking in South Africa”.

 

The who’s who of chefs attended the wonderful evening, and included Bruce Robertson, Pete Goffe-Wood, Bertus Basson, Camil Haas, Peter Veldsman, Marlene van der Westhuizen, Jenny Morris, Reuben Riffel, and Garth Stroebel.

 

This article was written by Chris von Ulmenstein, and was first published in the June 2009 issue of  The Franschhoek Month.

W Food Bar Sweet and Sunday Times Sour Service Award

Lester, the Store Manager of Woolworths in Willowbridge, receives the Sweet Service Award for coming to the rescue of a client on New Year’s Day, who wished to order breakfast at the in-house restaurant of this store.   The customer sat on a ledge, waiting for a table to come available at 11h45, and ordered a glass of water and a cappucino, and asked for the menu.  A lunch menu of sandwiches and salads only was presented.   It was visible to the customer that other patrons were having breakfast, and the waiter was asked for the breakfast menu.    Terence the waiter said it was not possible to order from the breakfast menu anymore, as breakfast closes at 12h00, even though it was 11h55 at that time. A new Manager Heinrich, who only started his first working day on that day, went inside to the food preparation section, and did not bother to communicate to the customer that he could not organise the required omelette.   A supervisor called Steven came from the preparation section, and said that breakfast had closed at 11h30, and that there was no flexibility on this, even on New Year’s Day.  Two staff members were asked to call the store manager, but it took 15 minutes for him to come to the table.   

 

Lester was most open to listening to the customer complaint and request, especially given that the Breakfast menu does not specify a closing time for serving breakfast.  Lester explained that the store had not received most of its breads on New Year’s Day, and that this affected the serving of the breakfasts.  However, a number of items on the lunch menu are sandwiches, and the waiters did not communicate problems serving any of these due to the bread shortage.

  

Lester was able to persuade Alex, the chef on duty, that the requested omelette could be prepared, even though a considerable waiting time could be anticipated, he warned, as the stoves had to be switched on again!   Twenty-five minutes later the requested omelette was served, with two slices of toasted rye bread.  Heinrich refused to divulge his name to the customer or to his colleagues, probably being worried about getting into trouble for his poor service on his first day of employment!

 

The Sour Service Award goes to the Sunday Times, which must have the most inefficient call centre in the country.  Repeated calls to the call centre, to renew existing subscriptions, as well as to start a new subscription, in the past three months have not led to one succesful renewal or new subscription.  The standard line is that one must pay first to receive delivery.  To pay, one must receive an invoice.  Each operator is provided with the postal address details, and confirmation is supplied that the invoice was typed while the call was being made. However, no invoice ever arrives.  The company is also not able to undertand that the invoice address is a postal address, which is different to the delivery addresses!    The subscription problems must cost the company thousands of Rands of lost income as a result of its subscription inefficiency. 

  

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.