{"id":4973,"date":"2009-10-29T10:09:50","date_gmt":"2009-10-29T08:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2009-10-31T00:41:20","modified_gmt":"2009-10-30T22:41:20","slug":"week-of-restaurant-openings-in-the-cape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/week-of-restaurant-openings-in-the-cape\/","title":{"rendered":"Week of restaurant openings in the Cape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This week marks the official launch of two competing but neighbouring restaurants in the new Cape Quarter extension on Somerset Road in De Waterkant.\u00a0\u00a0 Cru Cafe’ (see review here<\/a><\/strong>) has been open since the beginning of the month, but celebrated its launch\u00a0on Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0Vanilla has also opened,\u00a0and its launch evening is on Friday.\u00a0\u00a0 In general, these are the two ‘serious’ restaurants in this new lifestyle centre, that is set to take off as Capetonians discover its unique combination of high quality shops.\u00a0\u00a0 Lazari is a restaurant that disappointed on a first visit, with a shrieking pink interior, and the restaurant staff and the patrons being unsure as to which of their two terraces are for smokers and non-smokers!\u00a0\u00a0 The visible food preparation area when one enters the restaurant is enough to put one off from entering and sitting down!<\/p>\n

This week saw the opening of the long-awaited Crepe et Cidre in Franschhoek, near Huguenot Fine Chocolates.\u00a0 It belongs to Robert Maingard, the largest hospitality owner in the village, also owning Le Franschhoek, and Dieu Donne, and\u00a0he is also set to open a sports bar in the old station building soon.\u00a0 He is opening two further restaurants in Franschhoek, on opposite sides of the main road, when he completes the malls next year, one being on the current Pick ‘n Pay site and the other on the site where the Huguenot Hotel was located.\u00a0\u00a0 Crepe et Cidre will be run by Gerhard van Staden, previously chef of the Le Franschhoek.\u00a0 The creperie has “imported” Yann Guyonvarch from Brittany in France to train the staff in crepe-making.\u00a0 His true French accent is a delight, but his stay will be a short 2 weeks.\u00a0 Imported French cider\u00a0is served.<\/p>\n

At La Brasserie in Franschhoek, the Friday jazz evenings will start again tomorrow (30 October), and the opening session will be dedicated to the launch of a CD ‘Tribute to Alex van Heerden’, who played with the Cape Dutch Connection, and passed away tragically.<\/p>\n

In Hermanus the new Hermanos restaurant has opened in the building in which Joubert restaurant operated before closing down earlier this year, with a new chef and owner Wayne Spencer.\u00a0 He was originally the Executive Chef at Birkenhead House in Hermanus, and at Phinda Game Reserve, and worked at the Michelin-starred Port Palace in Monaco.\u00a0\u00a0 He says of his new restaurant that it is fine-dining but that it\u00a0is not intimidating, and he will not place a lot of emphasis on plating the food.\u00a0 He intends to come out of the kitchen, to chat to his guests, which is commendable – too few chefs do so.\u00a0\u00a0 The menu is small, with 5 starters (R36 – 48), 7 mains (R68 – R 110), and 4 desserts (ranging betwen R 30 – R 40), and sounds interesting.\u00a0The winelist is more extensive, and is very proudly-Hermanus.\u00a0 The restaurant is open Mondays to Saturdays for dinner only initially, and can be\u00a0booked at tel 028 313-1916.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Seafood at The Marine restaurant in Hermanus was a pleasant surprise earlier this week, when the most delicious kingklip was served.\u00a0 The restaurant offers a choice of two courses at R 180 and 3 courses cost R 215.\u00a0\u00a0 A number of irritations on arrival – struggling to find the booking on the reservation list and a wobbly table – were sorted out when addressed, and the Relais & Chateaux crested butter arrived rock hard, so much so that it was unspreadable.\u00a0\u00a0The restaurant has no ambiance, it being too brightly lit and it not having any attempt at a decor focus.\u00a0 But the food cooks,\u00a0and the hand of Executive Chef Peter Tempelhoff, a previous Eat Out Top Ten chef whilst at Grande Provence, is evident.\u00a0 The biggest surprise was the presentation of three scoops of ice cream on a block of ice, serving a functional as well as an aesthetic role.\u00a0\u00a0 The whale-shaped biscuit served with the coffee, whilst not new,\u00a0remains a cute and clever touch.\u00a0\u00a0 The service is friendly and willing,\u00a0and a miscommunication between the\u00a0waiter and the kitchen was quickly rectified.\u00a0\u00a0 No senior management was visible all evening.\u00a0\u00a0 The cloakrooms\u00a0are most disappointing for a five-star hotel, and the owner Liz McGrath would do well to\u00a0invest some monies in upgrading these at The Marine.<\/p>\n

The speculation in a previous WhaleTales <\/strong>blog post that Ginja is to move to New\u00a0Church Street (between Buitengracht and Kloofnek Roads), into the previous Relish and Nova restaurant space, has been confirmed by the\u00a0EatOut <\/strong>website.<\/strong>\u00a0 “Executive Chef Chris\u00a0Erasmus will continue the Ginja legacy with his playful take\u00a0on gastronomy, abundant with colour, texture and taste – using the finest local produce”, the website says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allee Bleue in Franschhoek is hosting its first Sushi and wine-pairing evening on Friday 6 November, at R 195, with a miso soup and tempura prawn starter, and\u00a0five main sushi courses, each paired with a different Allee Bleue wine.\u00a0\u00a0 The dessert is a green tea brulee.\u00a0 Chef Dane Newton, previously at Chamonix, is known in Franschhoek for his sushi.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In addition to Allee Bleue’s Bistro, the new Winetasting Courtyard 5-item menu, and the scrumptious picnic baskets, a small beer garden menu is also available to be enjoyed with the Paulaner draught beer served at the\u00a0lower end of the estate.<\/p>\n

Jordan wine estate is opening its The Restaurant at Jordan on 21 November.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The e-mail sent to announce the opening looks amateurish, and is an instant turn-off, as one is asked to commit to the food one would like to eat on that day, and the exact time slot in which one would like to eat it in.\u00a0\u00a0Payment must also be done by bank transfer prior to arrival.\u00a0 For a weekend treat, a visit to a wine estate is enjoyed in leisurely fashion, without being so prescriptive!\u00a0 George Jardine of Jardine is the new chef of the country restaurant.<\/p>\n

Cafe’ Sofia is boldly advertising its seven branches (Green Point, Camps Bay, Sea Point, Rondebosch, Gardens, Greenside and Blouberg) in a striking half-page advertisement: “Come and experience our new\u00a02010 menu, the best breakfast in town or Happy Hour\u00a0Cocktails.\u00a0 You may be in for a surprise”.\u00a0 The Happy Hour cocktails are priced at R 25 for cocktails and R 15 for beer on tap between 17h00 – 19h00, while breakfasts range from R 19 – R 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a food book launch week last week, with“Franschhoek Food”,<\/strong> <\/a>written by Myrna Robbins, featuring the main chefs of Franschhoek’s restaurants, and some of their favourite restaurant menu recipes, as well as wine pairing suggestions.\u00a0\u00a0 “South Africa On a Plate” was also launched, a book featuring restaurants that deduct R 5 off the patron’s bill to go toward the Streetsmart charity.\u00a0\u00a0 A three-course dinner suggestion, with the recipes,\u00a0is featured for each restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0 Grande Provence, Cafe’ 1999, Jewel of India, Auberge Michel, Ginga, Haiku, Rust en Vrede, Jardine, La Colombe, Ninth Avenue Bistro, Myoga, Mosaic, Bosman’s, Hartford House, Roots, The Saxon, Ile Maurice,\u00a0and Terroir are some of the restaurants included in the book.\u00a0\u00a0 The inspiration for the book comes from Jess Meredith-Watts and his fiance’ Louise, who were touched by beggars on the streets, and felt that they could make a difference, by giving all the profits of the book sales\u00a0to the Streetsmart charity.\u00a0\u00a0 More details about the book are available here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

This week marks the official launch of two competing but neighbouring restaurants in the new Cape Quarter extension on Somerset Road in De Waterkant.\u00a0\u00a0 Cru Cafe’ (see review here) has been open since the beginning of the month, but celebrated its launch\u00a0on Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0Vanilla has also opened,\u00a0and its launch evening is on Friday.\u00a0\u00a0 In general, these […]<\/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":[3,124,75,20,21],"tags":[2461,2558,2545,577,2562,2549,143,2560,2557,2546,1778,1386,2552,32378,2543,2432,2077,2351,250,32369,2185,2544,141,140,142,554,2547,32377,1825,2565,2556,2566,2561,1211,2323,39,2412,896,2564,35,2463,2563,488,2542,2554,2551,2550,957,489,13,2433,1606,34,1202,2559,2553,447,2555,2293,1775,2548,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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