{"id":74099,"date":"2015-10-31T12:43:22","date_gmt":"2015-10-31T10:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=74099"},"modified":"2015-11-14T23:48:06","modified_gmt":"2015-11-14T21:48:06","slug":"rossouws-restaurants-confirms-dominance-of-western-cape-restaurants-in-new-2016-restaurant-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/rossouws-restaurants-confirms-dominance-of-western-cape-restaurants-in-new-2016-restaurant-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Rossouw’s Restaurants confirms dominance of Western Cape restaurants in new 2016 Restaurant Guide!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>It was a surprise that the Rossouw’s by Diners Club International 2016 South African Restaurant Guide was launched on such a low-key level at the Platter’s Wine Guide launch in Cape Town on Thursday evening. \u00a0They might wish that they hadn’t launched it at all!<\/span><\/p>\n

Publishing Editor JP Rossouw showed us the cover of the book briefly when he revealed the new blue cover of the 2016 Platter’s Wine Guide<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0That was it! Last year the Restaurant Guide<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(with twenty 5-star restaurants\u00a0then)\u00a0was surprisingly only launched in Johannesburg, when it was run by then-editor Anna Trapido, who left Rossouw’s earlier this year to jump ship to the American Express Platinum Restaurant Awards<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

It is immediately evident that the system of evaluation has changed, restaurants now rated in one of three categories: Highly Recommended, Recommended, and listed but with no rating evaluation! There is therefore no comparison with results from previous years. The methodology too has changed: Rossouw’s subscribers via Facebook and its website, as well as Diners Club members, a 1000 respondents collectively, were asked to ‘say about your favorite eateries’.<\/em> Rossouw’s visited restaurants too, unannounced and with bills paid. ‘Establishments that were identified as favorites were flagged with a ‘recommended’ tag and those that really stood out from the rest received a ‘highly recommended’ tag. These are South Africa’s best restaurants overall – and not only in the ‘fine dining’ style<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

Rossouw found a high overlap between what were the public’s ‘Best of<\/em>‘ and those restaurants rated most highly by the Rossouw’s reviewers, suggesting ‘that the one quality that better restaurants have is consistency<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

The Highly Recommended list consists of 30 restaurants, of which 24 are in the Western Cape, 5 in Gauteng, and only one in KwaZulu-Natal. Comparing the Eat Out<\/strong> Top 20 Restaurant shortlist with the Highly Recomended list, there are 17 restaurants in common. Notable absences in the Rossouw’s Highly Recommended list relative to Eat Out<\/strong> are Indochine, DW Eleven-13, and The Kitchen at Maison. The 2016 Highly Recommended restaurant list is as follows (Eat Out<\/strong> Top 20 shortlist restaurants identified with an asterisk):<\/p>\n

Western Cape<\/strong> : Aubergine, Bombay Brasserie, Bread & Wine, Burrata, Camphors at Vergelegen*, Carne, Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen*, \u00a0Foliage*, Greenhouse*, Ile de Pain, Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine*, Kyoto Garden Sushi, La Colombe*, Marianna’s, Nobu, Overture*, The Pot Luck Club*, The Restaurant at Newton Johnson*, The Restaurant at Waterkloof*, Rust en Vrede*, The Tasting Room*, Terroir *, The Test Kitchen*, and Tokara*. (List amended, see Postscript).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gauteng:<\/strong> Cube Tasting Kitchen, five hundred*, The Local Grill, Restaurant Mosaic*, Ritrovo<\/p>\n

KwaZulu-Natal<\/strong>: Little Havana.<\/p>\n

It is a shock to see that Hartford House is not included in the Highly Recommended list, given the excellent work which its new Chef Constantijn Hahndiek is doing there, receiving Recommended only. A bigger surprise even, but reflecting Eat Out<\/strong>‘s Top 20 exclusion, is that both Franschhoek restaurants Grande Provence and Pierneef \u00e0 la Motte did not receive a rating at all!<\/p>\n

A surprise is to see Ile de Pain on the list, which has been closed for the past six months due to a devastating fire, and will remain closed for another six months or longer while the restaurant is being rebuilt!; Bread & Wine, which did not receive a nod from Eat Out<\/strong> this year; Aubergine has not been recognized by Eat Out<\/strong> for a while, while Carne and Bombay Brasserie are a surprise too! \u00a0Burrata has a Highly Recommended in the Guide, but is not listed in the Media Release! \u00a0Reuben’s restaurant in Paternoster is not noted in the Guide. The errors detract from the credibility of the Rossouw’s Guide!<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 1\/11<\/strong>: I have had more time to take a second look at the Rossouw’s Restaurant Guide, and can make more comments:<\/p>\n