{"id":4048,"date":"2009-09-14T15:47:55","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T13:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=4048"},"modified":"2009-11-04T02:11:45","modified_gmt":"2009-11-04T00:11:45","slug":"restaurants-opening-up-a-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/restaurants-opening-up-a-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurants opening up a storm!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Following on from the restaurant opening news posted on the WhaleTales <\/strong>blog less than a week ago, more restaurant opening (and temporary closing) news has reached WhaleTales.<\/p>\n

Reuben Riffel, who opened a small\u00a030-seater restaurant in Robertson last month, has two new babies up his sleeve –\u00a0he and his wife Maryke are expecting the birth of their first child in the next week.\u00a0 He\u00a0is also planning his next restaurant opening, in the old Pippin farmstall building at the entrance to Franschhoek,\u00a0alongside the Franschhoek Cellars, focusing on steaks.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reuben’s has a new attractively designed menu, in A3 size, listing his starters (expensive in ranging from R 58 – R 75), mains ranging from R 89\u00a0– R 145, and desserts expensive in ranging between R 50 – R 70.\u00a0\u00a0 Interestingly,\u00a0\u00a0his new menu has a listing of the who’s who cooking in the kitchen, with Reuben listed as the “Concept chef”, and his executive chef as William Carolissen, his commis chefs as Luzette Riffel and Lizel Blanckenberg, and his pastry chef as Corien Hattingh.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately this can only mean\u00a0that Reuben will be less likely to be in the kitchen himself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The duck liver starter especially, but also the calf’s liver main course, were excellent last night, and the service good.\u00a0\u00a0 The only complaint was that a vintage of Lynx wine by the glass stated on the winelist was no longer available,\u00a0and the waiter did not inform the customers about this.\u00a0\u00a0He was ready to pour a younger vintage without communication.<\/p>\n

Adrian Buchanan, who was the chef at Monneaux restaurant at the Franschhoek Country House for many years, has recently opened\u00a0a restaurant with two partners\u00a0at Freedom Hill Country Restaurant\u00a0on the road between Paarl and Franschhoek, near the Wemmershoek Dam.<\/p>\n

In Franschhoek Allee Bleue will be a space to watch, with ambitious plans for two further restaurants to open on the estate in the summer, in addition to its Bistro.\u00a0 The estate\u00a0has re-opened for weekend dinners and brunches.\u00a0 It has also just introduced picnics 7 days a week, at R 145\u00a0per head, with delicacies such as avocado ritz, snoek pate, roast beef, and chocolate mousse.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Bombay Bicycle Club, which has a namesake in London, but is no relation, opened recently where Amigos used to be at the top of Kloof Street in the City Bowl, and Richard Griffin, previous owner of the liquidated Madame Zingara, is one of the partners.\u00a0 The opening and his involvement have been very low key.\u00a0\u00a0 The restaurant is booked out up to 3 weeks ahead over weekends, yet has received less than favourable\u00a0feedback on restaurant review websites.<\/p>\n

Chenin has opened as a restaurant and a wine bar where The Nose Bar\u00a0used to be in the Cape Quarter, with chef Daniel Heyns, previously with Zevenwacht and ZeroNineThreeTwo, reports EatOut.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Sea Point, two restaurants have opened: La Boheme on Main Road, and Duchess of Wisbeach, on Wisbeach Road.\u00a0 Reviews will be posted on the WhaleTales blog shortly.<\/p>\n

Not much is known yet about the projects that chef Bruce Robertson is\u00a0consulting on, but they are said to be a new restaurant each in Woodstock and in Franschhoek.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just six days ago, WhaleTales wrote\u00a0how the financial shenanigans of Conrad Gallagher had affected the business of Bouillabaisse and Crepe Suzette in the Rockwell Center in De Waterkant.\u00a0\u00a0 Its unfortunate location, in being hidden from view from Somerset Road, and the demise of the promised epicurean food market in the Centre, severly impacted on the business of the two restaurants, with the Main Ingredient newsletter just\u00a02 weeks ago writing a denial by Bouillabaisse that it was closing down in Cape Town.\u00a0 Today the restaurant sent an e-mail to its database, to say that both restaurants have closed in Cape Town, and are relocating to an undisclosed address in Cape Town, re-opening in November.\u00a0 The Bouillabaisse\u00a0website also carries the news, and the restaurants’ telephone rings through to a Telkom answering service.<\/p>\n

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following on from the restaurant opening news posted on the WhaleTales blog less than a week ago, more restaurant opening (and temporary closing) news has reached WhaleTales. Reuben Riffel, who opened a small\u00a030-seater restaurant in Robertson last month, has two new babies up his sleeve –\u00a0he and his wife Maryke are expecting the birth of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,14,20,31,21],"tags":[8,2120,577,1699,2130,315,484,1778,2132,2124,2123,2067,471,2623,2125,32369,585,2121,1983,2128,303,2136,1139,32384,2126,2129,13,1347,41,433,2070,1231,658,2122,32376,2133,10,49,2127,2135,1163],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t