Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

The Department of Tourism has awarded 29 South African beaches blue flag status, up from 19 beaches last year, reports Southern African Tourism Update. 

Six of the beaches are in Cape Town (Camps Bay, Big Bay in Blouberg, Muizenberg, Clifton 5th beach, Mnandi beach, and Strandfontein) and sixteen beaches are in other areas of the Western Cape, meaning that more than half of the blue flag beaches are in the Western Cape.

Blue flag beaches in the rest of the Western Cape are MacDougall’s Bay in Port Nolloth, Bikini beach in Gordon’s Bay, Hawston and Grotto beaches in Hermanus, Yzerfontein beach, Kleinmond beach, Lappiesbaai beach in Stilbaai, Santos beach in Mossel Bay, Robberg beach in Plettenberg Bay and Dolphin beach in Jeffrey’s Bay.

Municipalities have seen the benefits to tourism in their areas of being awarded blue-flag beach status,  ensuring that the beaches in their areas are clean, safe and well-managed.   South Africa is one of 38 countries participating in the Blue Flag programme.

The full list of South African Blue Flag beaches is as follows:

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

The Sweet Service Award  goes to Haute Cabriere in Franschhoek, for hosting the guest house owners of Franschhoek for a cellar tour of Cabriere, and a generous lunch, as a way of saying thank you for the support they have received from the accommodation establishments, and to introduce their new menu for summer.  Matthew Gordon is the chef who prepared the lovely meal, and his wife Nicky looked after the guests.  All courses were paired with Cabriere wines, and Huguenot Fine Chocolates gave each guest a gift pack of chocolate footballs. 

The Sour Service Award  goes to Rocketseed and its sales executive Sam.  Sam recently called Whale Cottage Franschhoek to sell the Rocketseed banner advertising.  She started her call by stating that she was calling on behalf of the Franschhoek Tourism Bureau, who had made use of the banner advert of the company.  She then proactively said she was not calling to sell advertising.  However, she launched into a sales call for the company’s banner advertising.  When she was asked how she could say that she was not selling advertising, she stated that she was selling ‘banner advertising’ which differs from ‘advertising’, in her opinion.  The Franschhoek Tourism Bureau confirmed that they had not instructed Rocketseed to call members of the Franschhoek Tourism Bureau.   Later that day Whale Cottage received an e-mail from Johan Huisamen, a Director of Rocketseed. He was told about the interaction with Sam, but had been contacted by the Franschhoek tourism bureau already, and had been asked to desist from implying that the bureau was endorsing the sales calls.   On Twitter Whale Cottage picked up three Tweets sent by Sam about the incident, defaming Protea Hotels and Whale Cottage (she had thought she was speaking to the Franschhoek Inn, now the Protea Hotel Franschhoek).  A half-hearted apology was made by Sam on Twitter under pressure from her bosses, but no further direct apology has been received from Sam nor the company.  Rocketseed in fact refused to take responsibility for the Twitter communication, saying that it was done in Sam’s private capacity - however they were made after her business sales call!    This is the second Sour Service Award Rocketseed has received - previously it was for the rude interaction with a Director of Rocketseed, when Whale Cottage pointed out that the banner advertising is highly spam sensitive, and does not always reach its intended recipients, and that it has a design problem as to where it places the ‘footer’ of the banner advertisement when one replies to enquiries coming from accommodation websites.

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.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

This week marks the official launch of two competing but neighbouring restaurants in the new Cape Quarter extension on Somerset Road in De Waterkant.   Cru Cafe’ (see review here) has been open since the beginning of the month, but celebrated its launch on Tuesday.  Vanilla has also opened, and its launch evening is on Friday.   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.   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!   The visible food preparation area when one enters the restaurant is enough to put one off from entering and sitting down!

This week saw the opening of the long-awaited Crepe et Cidre in Franschhoek, near Huguenot Fine Chocolates.  It belongs to Robert Maingard, the largest hospitality owner in the village, also owning Le Franschhoek, and Dieu Donne, and he is also set to open a sports bar in the old station building soon.  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.   Crepe et Cidre will be run by Gerhard van Staden, previously chef of the Le Franschhoek.  The creperie has “imported” Yann Guyonvarch from Brittany in France to train the staff in crepe-making.  His true French accent is a delight, but his stay will be a short 2 weeks.  Imported French cider is served.

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.

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.  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.   He says of his new restaurant that it is fine-dining but that it is not intimidating, and he will not place a lot of emphasis on plating the food.  He intends to come out of the kitchen, to chat to his guests, which is commendable - too few chefs do so.   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. The winelist is more extensive, and is very proudly-Hermanus.  The restaurant is open Mondays to Saturdays for dinner only initially, and can be booked at tel 028 313-1916.  

The Seafood at The Marine restaurant in Hermanus was a pleasant surprise earlier this week, when the most delicious kingklip was served.  The restaurant offers a choice of two courses at R 180 and 3 courses cost R 215.   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.  The restaurant has no ambiance, it being too brightly lit and it not having any attempt at a decor focus.  But the food cooks, and the hand of Executive Chef Peter Tempelhoff, a previous Eat Out Top Ten chef whilst at Grande Provence, is evident.  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.   The whale-shaped biscuit served with the coffee, whilst not new, remains a cute and clever touch.   The service is friendly and willing, and a miscommunication between the waiter and the kitchen was quickly rectified.   No senior management was visible all evening.   The cloakrooms are most disappointing for a five-star hotel, and the owner Liz McGrath would do well to invest some monies in upgrading these at The Marine.

The speculation in a previous WhaleTales blog post that Ginja is to move to New Church Street (between Buitengracht and Kloofnek Roads), into the previous Relish and Nova restaurant space, has been confirmed by the EatOut website.  “Executive Chef Chris Erasmus will continue the Ginja legacy with his playful take on gastronomy, abundant with colour, texture and taste - using the finest local produce”, the website says. 

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 five main sushi courses, each paired with a different Allee Bleue wine.   The dessert is a green tea brulee.  Chef Dane Newton, previously at Chamonix, is known in Franschhoek for his sushi.    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 lower end of the estate.

Jordan wine estate is opening its The Restaurant at Jordan on 21 November.   The 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.  Payment must also be done by bank transfer prior to arrival.  For a weekend treat, a visit to a wine estate is enjoyed in leisurely fashion, without being so prescriptive!  George Jardine of Jardine is the new chef of the country restaurant.

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 2010 menu, the best breakfast in town or Happy Hour Cocktails.  You may be in for a surprise”.  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. 

It was a food book launch week last week, with“Franschhoek Food”, 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.   “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.   A three-course dinner suggestion, with the recipes, is featured for each restaurant.   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, and Terroir are some of the restaurants included in the book.   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 to the Streetsmart charity.   More details about the book are available here.

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

The La Motte Classic Music Festival takes place this coming weekend, and offers locals as well as visitors to Franschhoek a magnificent musical feast all weekend long.

The brainchild of Christopher Duigan, a gifted pianist who lives in Pietermaritzburg and who organises the classical music festivals in Franschhoek twice a year, the sponsorship by La Motte is a first.  

The Music Festival opens on Friday evening 30 October with a choice of concerts, an Evening of Song with Bronwen Forbay singing opera arias and songs in the NG Church at 19h30, or clarinetist Mathew Reid and the Camerata Tinta Barocca performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto at 19h00.

On Saturday 31 October Jacqueline Wedderburn-Maxwell, talented young teenage violinist, will play sonatas by Beethoven and Cesar Franck, and concert pieces by Sarasate and Paganini in the NG Church at 12h00.  At the same venue a concert showcases “Rising Stars: young artists in concert” at 14h00, followed by a fun explanation session about classic music and its instruments, hosted by Christopher Duigan, at the Dennegeur Hall at 16h00.   At 19h00 on the same day Ben Schoeman, an award-winning young pianist, will play music by Beethoven, Franck and Mendelssohn.   At 19h30 Belle Voci takes over La Brasserie for an evening of operatic delights served with La Motte wines and a three-course meal.

On Sunday 1 November the music day starts at 9h30 with a unique combination of text and music, performed in the NG Church by pianist Anneke Lamont, Flautist Handri Loots and Violinist Elmarie van der Vyver.     The pace hots up at 11h30, when Christopher Duigan plays Haendel, Beethoven, Debussy and Liszt in the NG Church.   An hour later talented piano duo Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhaes perform Rachmaninoff and Arensky.   At 15h30 the Stellenbosch LIbertas Choir will sing in the NG Church, and the programme includes a work called Jericho, as well as music by Haendel, Mendelssohn and Bach.   At 15h30 the Festival comes to an end with performances by many of the Festival musicians at Cafe’ Bon Bon.

Ticket prices range from free to R 80 for the concerts at the NG Church.  The concerts serving food and/or wine cost more.  Details about the Franschhoek La Motte Classic Music Festival can be obtained at www.la-motte.com.  Tickets can be bought at www.webtickets.co.za.

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

The Hermanus Hemel & Aarde Valley has some of the country’s best wines, and its pinot noir and chardonnays are legend.   The growing number of wine producers in this fertile valley at the entrance to Hermanus have formed the Hemel en Aarde Winegrowers’ Association, a blend of the Hemel-en -Aarde Valley, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge wine wards in the Walker Bay Wine District.   A new Hermanus Wine Route has been created.

The wine estates in the new Association are Hamilton Russell Vineyards, Southern Right, Ashbourne, Bouchard Finlayson, Vrede, La Vierge, Sumaridge, Newton Johnson, Lelienfontein, Pearly Gates, Southend, Tokara - Siberia Vineyards, Hemel-en-Aarde Country Retreat, Deja Vu, Hemelzicht, Klein Hemel, Spookfontein, Ataraxia, Babylon Farm Vineyards, Creation, Mount Babylon, Jakob’s Vineyards, and Domaine des Dieux.

The area is characterised by small production runs and produces cool-climate wines of exceptional quality.  Wines from the region are characterised by their above average natural acidity and below average pH, a below than average alcohol level, and more ‘tightness and minerality’.    It is strongly influenced by its close proximity to the ocean - interestingly defined as the Atlantic (rather than the Indian Ocean) in the media release of the newly formed association.

Johan Holtzhausen of Mount Babylon is the first Chairman of the new Hemel-en-Aarde Winegrowers’ Association.

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

Cru Cafe’ is the first restaurant to have opened in the new extension to the Cape Quarter, and is a wine bar serving meals, rather than a restaurant that has a winelist!   With more than 120 wines and 20 wines-by-the-glass on its extensive winelist, handpicked by its director Elsie Pells, a Cape Wine Master, it makes a serious statement about its commitment to wine.  A wine shop forms part of the restaurant.   The restaurant space is their “terroir”, says Elsie.

Elsie Pells is charming, and a first meeting at the Portofino launch forms the foundation for a chat when she sits down at the table, and tells us about the wines and the restaurant.  She has a strong hand on the wine and food serving.   Previously with NMK Premium Global, she now works as a wine consultant, sourcing wines, designing wine lists, and is soon to jet off to Prague, where she will help a local importer select the best South African wines to import.   She explains that Cru Cafe’ has selected twelve wine partners, who will provide wines to Cru Cafe’ for the next year, in return for more than one variety of the estate being carried, and these include Delheim, Boekenhoutskloof, Meerlust, Laibach, Joubert Tradouw, Kaapzicht, Paul Cluver, Graham Beck, Klein Constantia and Cederberg.  She is proud to have selected a number of Platter 5-star wines on the winelist, before Platters announced its  2010 5-star list.

White wines range from R 80 for the Vergelegen Vin de Florence to R 460 for a Sterhuis Astra Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay.   The red wines range from R 90 for the Delheim Cabernet Shiraz to R 580 for the Kanonkop Paul Sauer.   Boekenhoutskloof’s 2006 Syrah costs R 480, and the Meerluct Rubicon 2004 costs R 490.

Elsie explains that in wine, “cru” is usually linked to “grand”, meaning ‘great growth’, and this is what Cru Cafe’ hopes to achieve: serving high quality food, wines and offering quality service.  

The chef Wesley Petterson is from the Twelve Apostles Hotel and Vineyard Hotel, and Elsie is clear that only lunches and dinners will be served, to match their wines.   Breakfasts are to be eaten at other restaurants in the Cape Quarter, she says.  The menu has a smallish selection of about 6 starters, salads, mains and desserts each, as well as about ten tasty-sounding tapas choices. 

The most more-ish homemade cheese sticks are served prior to the meal coming to the table.  The steak was good and the dried seaweed on the steak was a reminder of steaks enjoyed at Tank across the road many moons ago.   The Delheim Shiraz by the glass was excellent.   The waitron service still needs some help, especially on the wine side.

A most annoying discovery was an automatic addition of 10 % “commission” to the bill.   The manager graciously took it off the bill.   The service is not yet at the level to deserve a 10 % tip.  Tips should be a discretionary payment by the diner anyway.

Tom and Jacques Castelein are the owners of the restaurant, which has a name-sake in Chicago, and they previously owned Tasca de Belem in the V & A Waterfront.

Cru Cafe’ is in the Cape Quarter extension at 27 Somerset Road, De Waterkant, tel 021 418 6293, www.thecrucafe.com.  Parking is available in the building, and is currently free of charge.

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

For the first time this past week Capetonians saw the Cape Town Stadium in its lit-up glory, while the lighting checks were being done.   With such a magnificent photograph, taken from the V&A Waterfront looking on to the Stadium, there surely cannot be a single Cape Town sceptic left, who cannot see the benefit of the 2010 World Cup for Cape Town?!

The roadworks on the N1 and N2 are painful, but driving in and out of Cape Town is a lot easier than it has been during the road construction over the past few months. Ultimately our roads will be fantastic once June/July 2010 arrives!  

The World Cup 2010 is a unique event that will be to the benefit of all - for Capetonians and our soccer fan tourists.

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

A new coffee table book, called “Franschhoek Food” and written by Myrna Robbins, was launched in Franschhoek earlier this week.

Focusing on top Franschhoek restaurants, including Reubens, Haute Cabriere, Grande Provence, Bouillabaisse, La Residence, Genot and Dieu Donne, a number of recipes of each restaurant are included in the book.   Each dish also has wine pairing suggestions.  

Myrna Robbins is a wine writer for the Weekend Argus, started the Cape Town Slow Food Convivium, has published five other books, and contributes to ‘Fodor’s Guide to Southern Africa’.

“Franschhoek Food” is published by Random Struik and costs R 340.

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

The Sweet Service Award goes to the charming ladies who helped at Plaisir de Merle wine estate over the weekend of Franschhoek Uncorked, in serving crepes, wine and water.  They were smartly dressed in red, and all had a friendly smile, making their visitors feel most welcome, despite the rainy weather on Sunday.

The Sour Service Award goes to Chamonix, for not offering their advertised ‘Marche de Bourgogne’ on the Sunday of the Franschhoek Uncorked weekend.   This market was an attractive event and was different to the other offerings of the wine estates, in that true French foods such as terrines, snails, puff pastries, cheeses and breads were advertised for sale.   On arrival, the visitors were told that, due to the rain, the tables with the French foods could not be set up.  However, by the time the visitors arrived in the early afternoon, the sun was shining again.   The attitude of the Chamonix staff was unfriendly and aggressive.   It had been one of the major attractions for the visitors to Franschhoek Uncorked, and they felt very let down.   It has rained for the last three years of Franschhoek Uncorked, so Chamonix should have known to have a plan B ready for the rain, which had been forecast for Sunday earlier in the week already.

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.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

Cape Town has been voted as the second favourite holiday city in the world by more than 19 000 UK Guardian and Observer readers.   The Mother City ranked 7th last year, and has made a fantastic leap to follow Sydney, as the favourite overseas city, into second place.  New York, San Francisco and Berlin followed as 3rd, 4th and 5th favourite overseas cities.

South Africa did less well on the vote for favourite long-haul overseas country, especially with the 2010 World Cup coming up, and was not included in the top 5 list of New Zealand, Cambodia, Chile, Vietnam and Japan.

Switzerland, Norway, Austria, Sweden and Italy were the top five European countries voted for by the British readers.

Swiss was voted the best short-haul airline, and Singapore Airlines the best long-haul and best business airline.   Silversea Cruises won the best cruise line vote.   Eurostar was voted the best train company.   Taj Hotels won the best international hotel vote - a Taj Hotel is due to open in Cape Town soon.

In the “Ethical travel award category”, Bulungula Lodge in the Eastern Cape won second place.   It is located on the Wild Coast, and was one of the first Fair Trade accredited lodges, and runs on solar power, reports sagoodnews.co.za.  www.kayak.com won the vote for the best travel website.

The full list of awards can be read here.

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