Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

“Kuzina - eat’s Greek” is the newest restaurant to open in the new Cape Quarter, and opened more than a month later than the other three restaurants in the Piazza (Vanilla, Cru Cafe and Voila!).   Its opening has been eagerly awaited, being great fans of Greek food, but a first visit for lunch on Wednesday was a disappointment.

We arrived just after 14h00, and every table at every restaurant in the piazza was taken.  We were lucky to find one vacant table at Kuzina.   A piazza setting suits Kuzina, it being a Greek style restaurant.   Lovely white square tables from Greece and white chairs placed close together create a cozy atmosphere.

A strong marketing hand is evident, with the staff all wearing a turquoise blue T-shirt or golf-shirt, and the menus are attractive, well-laid out and easy to understand, despite listing about 100 items.

Our waitress Jennifer tried really hard to look after us and to give good service, but one suspects that she had to battle to get the orders from the overloaded kitchen.   She wears beautiful blue “sapphire” earrings to match her shirt.

The menu is divided in sections:  Feta (four options, including peppers stuffed with feta and olives, and the pips of the peppers as well, not tasty at all, R 45 for three smallish peppers; feta sesame; feta balls; and bougiourti- feta baked with tomato, onion, peppers and chillies), Meat Mezes (soutzoukakia, beef stifatho, chicken mastiha, keftethes, pork fillet, chicken souvlaki, yiros and sheftalia, ranging from R 35 - R 48), Vegetable Mezes (include spanakopita, tyroptika, haloumopita, cheese croquettes, keftethes, dolmades and haloumi, ranging from R 27 - R 35), Seafood Mezes (include oysters, prawn saganaki, octupus, kingklip, and mussels, ranging from R 39 - R 65, the oysters being SQ), Dips (ten dips include the traditional tzatziki, hummous, and taramo salata, R 24 each), Salads (include interesting ones in addition to the traditional village salad, such as a watermelon salad, strawberry salad, and an endive salad, ranging from R 42 - R 62),  Pasta (6 dishes include seafood pasta, hiloptes and strifto, ranging from R 52 - R 78), “Greekooking” (including an unexciting and expensive Moussaka at R 79, yemista and kleftiko, ranging from R 59 - R 129); Grill dishes (includes chops, prawns and beef fillet, prices ranging from R 68 - R 179 for the prawns), shared platters (including seafood at R 450, and two lobster ones at R 320 - R 350), and desserts (including baklava, halva ice creams and six others, all costing R 38).

The pita bread was rubbery, the feta sesame and haloumi good, but the latter rubbery when it became cold.   The tyroptika was also proclaimed good.

The menu contains quite some fine print (literally), including the usual 10 % service fee for tables of 6 or more, that prices can change without notice, that 15 minutes should be allowed for dishes requiring client amendments, and strangely, “Most major foreign currency accepted” (is this legal?) and “Please note that during our peak times a minimum charge of R 80 for non-diners will apply”!   It is unclear what the latter means!

It is likely that Kuzina will become the definitive Greek restaurant in Cape Town, as few Greek restaurants -  other than the low-key Marieka’s in Bakoven - are known in Cape Town.   A good sign is when Greeks come to a Greek restaurant, which is what we observed when we popped in for a coffee one evening a week prior.   That day had been a nightmare, the Manager Ian told us, with teething problems, being the second day of opening.   Monique was the Manager on duty at our lunchtime visit, and she apologised for the lukewarm feedback we gave her, begging us to come back.   The extensive menu does beckon one again, but one hopes that some real Greek chefs - or even better a Greek Mama or two - are in the kitchen to “kook” the traditional Greek dishes.

Kuzina, Cape Quarter, tel     021 418 8000    , www.kuzina.co.za (still under construction!)

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

The Sweet Service Award goes to Debbie Hall, owner of The Hall Collection, suppliers of bespoke beds and bedding, imported from the UK.   The customer had met Mrs Hall previously at a Slow Food lunch and reconnected with her recently at the launch of Cru Cafe’.   Mrs Hall has built up a reputation for her wonderful cakes and cooking.   Having established the Hall Collection two years ago, run from a house in Tamboerskloof, she hosts a lunch for customers wishing to pop in on Wednesdays, and offers coffee and cake on weekdays.   A request to buy some chicken pieces from the lunch buffet led Mrs Hall to generously give the customer what was left over, refusing payment for it.  In addition, she added two cupcakes to the “take-home” package.   Such generosity is seldom experienced!  

The Sour Service Award goes to ID Solutions, a supplier of contract furniture for the retail, corporate, leisure and hospitality industries, “South Africa’s leading lifestyle furniture specialist”, its website says.  An advertised sale in the Cape Times attracted attention, the customer wanting a new office chair.   Armed with the ad, she arrived at Black River Park in pouring rain, drew a parking ticket, and then looked for the building, denoted as “C1″ in the ad.   Driving to the building in the complex where the company had been located previously, no such number was visible on the building.   She called the company, who explained that they were no longer in that building.   The switchboard assistant Naomi was unable to clearly direct the customer out of the Black River Park complex, did not tell her about the exit being different to the entrance, and was generally unhelpful in guiding the customer to their new location, ultimately saying that she did not need the customer to buy a chair from ID Solutions, and finally putting down the phone!   She had refused to pass the call on to one of her colleagues, for better driving guidance and directions, when requested.   On arrival at the offices, the customer was ignored.   The same staff member Naomi walked past, and did not greet or react to the customer.  The customer walked along the whole length of the shop and back, and not one person acknowledged her presence nor offered to help her.   When the customer asked for help, the receptionist Naomi said that she refused to help the customer.   On request, a sweet lady called Carmen got up to help.   The customer was told that all office chairs had been sold, even though the sale had only been advertised the day before, and there were no customers in the store.  The customer found the ideal chair standing at a computer console, and was allowed to buy the chair.   She took out her credit card, only to be told that the company does not accept credit cards!   She was offered the chair, and was asked to make an internet transfer on return to her business.   In the process of hand-writing the invoice (one wonders why the sale chairs go through a manual hand-written system, and not the company’s usual computerised invoicing system), Carmen was told that the chair could not be taken along by the customer until the payment had been done, contrary to her earlier communication.  Carmen promised delivery the following day, on receipt of the proof of payment.  A matter of concern was the price of the chair, as it did not have a price tag.   The owner of the company, Sean Weldon, was contacted once the very unhappy customer left ID Solutions, thinking that the company did not deserve her business.   She told Mr Weldon about her bad service experience at ID Solutions.  He said that he was on his way to the office, and would get back to her.  The customer called again after two hours, not having heard from Mr Weldon, and he said he was still on his way back and would contact the customer the following day.    Mr Weldon’s tone was very unfriendly and unapologetic the following day, even though the payment had been made, and he protected the rude behaviour of Naomi, his staff member of 10 years, he said   He was inflexible about the time of delivery, despite the customer’s request for it to be delivered before 11h00, as she was going out.    It became very clear that everything is done in the ID Solutions way, and that the customer is unimportant.   The customer told Mr Weldon that she would collect the chair herself.   About an hour before collection , a worker from the warehouse called, asking in broken English what the delivery address was for the chair.  He could not understand that the customer had arranged to fetch the chair.    When the customer fetched the chair, no attempt had been made to wrap it in bubble wrap or with any other protective packaging for the trip in the car.  The customer called Mr Weldon four times, to report the unwrapped chair and the warehouse call, but he did not bother to return the calls on that day, depite his cellphone message promising that he would so promptly.  The customer felt shocked that such poor service was possible, but remembered that Mr Weldon’s previous company Innovation had gone into liquidation, and perhaps poor service delivery could have been the cause of the closure of that company!   The customer will never fall for an ID Solutions sale ad ever again, or buy from the company again!

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

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

The Cape Town restaurant scene has been buzzing this month, with a number of new restaurants opening, and an e-mail exchange creating the biggest restaurant stir ever experienced in the city.

The opening of the Cape Quarter extension on Somerset Road in De Waterkant has seen two restaurants open in the centre to date: Cru Cafe, a restaurant which has created “its own terroir” in the centre, says director Elsie Pells, in serving a selection of 150 wines hand-picked by Pells, a Cape Wine Master.   Voila, an all day breakfast and light meal restaurant, owned by the owners of Wakame, is a friendly addition, with cakes, muffins, croissants, fudge, toffee apples and many more treats prepared on site.   A clever touch is that glass domes presenting the treats are placed upon stacks of cookery books!  Downstairs, at the entrance, is an Andiamo Espresso, which is a sister coffee shop to the one in the original Cape Quarter, but on a very much reduced scale, only selling coffee, ice creams, juices, sandwiches and muffins.  It belongs to the same owners as the amazing Spar Gourmet Food Store at the entrance to the center.   Vanilla will open at the end of the month, and is owned by father and son duo Nigel and Simon Newhouse from Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay.   It will be the lead restaurant in this centre, with 180 diners catered for on two levels.   The chef  Evan Coosner worked at Reuben’s  and Ginja previously.   Kuzina - Greekooking, LAZARI, and BICCCS (Bread, Ice Cream, Cakes, Coffee, Croissants, Sandwiches) are restaurants still set to open in the centre.    To celebrate its opening, the Cape Quarter has organised a Food & Brandy Festival on 13 and 14 November, with Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris, in conjunction with the Alchemy of Gold (Klipdrift, Flight of the Fish Eagle, Oude Meester, Nederburg, Uitkyk and Van Ryn’s brandies), talking and preparing food all day long.

The talk and tweet of the town has been an e-mail exchange between Cormac Keane, owner of new restaurant Portofino, and a client, who cancelled a 5 pm dinner reservation one hour before time of arrival.  Keane expressed his frustration to the client in no uncertain terms and with true Irish directness.  The client was not happy with the replies he received from Portofino, and made contact with some websites that had written favourable reviews of the restaurant, including WhaleTales.    He also sent it to a hip website called 2oceansvibe, which decided to post the e-mail exchange on its blog, leading to an outburst of mainly critical and at times extremely crass and defamatory attacks against Keane.  On the other hand, many readers of the exchange admired Keane for standing up to an inconsiderate customer, and lauded him for his bold and direct stand. The end result:  the customer has gone into hiding, and has requested that his name be deleted from the exchange on the 2oceansvibe website.  For Portofino, it has meant a fully booked restaurant ever since the e-mail exchange was circulated around the city, reinforcing that there is no such thing as bad publicity!   The WhaleTales’ review of Portofino, which was written shortly after Portofino opened, was offered as a link in some of the website comments, and the review attracted more than 2000 readers in the past week, a record readership.   A vindictive customer tried to show up what he felt was a rude restaurateur, and got more than he bargained for.  Instead of spreading the word to prevent others from going to Portofino, he has done the restaurant the best possible favour by creating wide-spread exposure for it, a bonus for a restaurant which only opened 6 weeks ago, and now has become the best known restaurant in town!   Portofino is not the first restaurant to have told a customer to not return: Le Quartier Francais, Carne, Beluga and Sevruga are known to have done so too!    Carne and Le Quartier Francais are finalists for the Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards, and it begs the question whether such poor restaurant customer care should make them eligible for such a sought-after award.  

Another restaurant that is on the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant shortlist is The Roundhouse in Camps Bay, which has demonstrated its arrogance almost since its inception, stating at the outset that its goal is to become the best restaurant in Africa.  A response of the owner Fasie Malherbe to a customer comment on the Eat Out website is a scary reflection of what one might encounter at this ‘Big Brother’ restaurant: “every guest that has ever walked through our door and dined with us is on record to the extent that I will outline your exact time of arrival, what you ate, what you drank as aperitif’s, digestif’s wine that was served to you, the guests comments made on each dish, positive or negative feedback, special dietry (sic) requirements, the guest interaction between staff is noted, what car you drove, whether you smoked or not, how many times you went to the restroom and any other details that we could use to ensure that when you return that we may ensure consistency in offering or if you have complaints as we have here that we have all our ducks in a row and can learn from the ordeal”!

Bruce Robertson, the previous owner of The Showroom, which is where Portofino is now located, has confirmed that the Franschhoek restaurant that he is consulting on is that of La Motte, which is due to open in May.   The wine estate has just opened its new tasting room.   Robertson is also working with Warwick wine estate outside Stellenbosch on their gourmet picnic offering, which will be available from 1 December.  Robertson is also a gourmet food tour guide now, and he led the editor and 8 readers of USA foodie magazine Bon Appetit around the culinary delights of the Cape, including Reuben preparing a meal at Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek; a winepairing dinner at Grand Roche with Cederberg Wines; a malas tasting at Paul Cluver matched to organic farm foods; a seafood braai paired with Hamilton-Russell wines at Birkenhead in Hermanus, with the Southern Right whales frolicking in the ocean as a backdrop; and an interactive Cape Malay cooking demonstration with Cass Abrahams and paired with L’Omarins wines. 

OYO, the restaurant in the V&A Hotel in the Waterfront, is offering a crayfish special at R 185 for 500 grams.  A choice of hot or cold crayfish is offered.  Sister restaurant SALT at the Ambassador Hotel in Bantry Bay is also offering this special.

Alle’e Bleue wine estate has opened its beautiful top class winetasting room, and has a new outside courtyard restaurant seating about 80 linked to it, serving only five options:   Flammkuchen, Bobotie, a cheese platter, a chicken/spinach salad and a mixed grill.

Delaire Graff has made three changes after only being open for four months:  its prices have increased, its staff have changed, losing their exceptional Maitre’d, and their menu has changed.   Read a report on the latest visit here.

New Italian restaurant Alla Posta is to open at 51 Kloof Street shortly.  It will not only offer Italian delicacies, but also Italian furniture, decor and books, and show Italian movies.

Two new restaurants are set to open in Franschhoek soon, both owned by one of Franschhoek’s largest retail and hospitality landowners Robert Maingard.   In the old station building once hosting the Tourism Bureau, a sports bar is set to open, while a creperie should have opened a few months ago already close to the Huguenot Fine Chocolate shop.   A Franschhoek branch of Gelato Mania, which already exists on Somerset Road, in Green Point, opened recently and is tucked away alongside Col’Cacchio.

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

The Cape Quarter extension on the block of Somerset/Napier/Dixon/Jarvis Roads in De Waterkant in Cape Town will become a focal point of Cape Town entertainment, and of decor and design shopping, especially as the nearby V & A Waterfront is turning more and more shoppers off with its exorbitant parking fees and its lack of airconditioning for the next month in half of Victoria Wharf.  It also will be on the route of 2010 World Cup soccer fans walking to the new Cape Town Stadium from the city center transport and parking hub.  It opened at the beginning of the month.

An extension to the original Cape Quarter design and decor center across the road, the new extension has been developed on a far larger and grander scale, with 10 000 sq. meters of retail space and 8 700 sq. meters of office space, reports the Weekend Argus.  Deloitte’s have already taken 5 000 sq. meters of office space.

Impressively a modern building has been built against the facades of beautiful historic buildings which are erstwhile industrial buildings and warehouses, on Somerset Road, which have been spruced up and repainted.  The center offers 1 000 parking bays, an important requirement due to the shortage of parking in De Waterkant in general.  Currently parking is free of charge.

A collection of non-franchised restaurants has been signed up, and includes Cru Cafe (see separate review to come on this blog) and Voila, which have opened already.  Vanilla will be the largest and grandest restaurant in the centre, on two levels, and opens at the end of the month.   It is being set up by the owners of Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay.   Other restaurants to open are Kuzina - Greekooking, LAZARI, and BICCCS (Bread, Ice Cream, Cakes, Coffee, Croissants, Sandwiches).   Andiamo, which has a large presence in the original Cape Quarter, has a coffee shop Espresso at the entrance.

The star of the centre at the moment is the most amazing Spar Gourmet Food Store at the entrance, with 1 600 sq. meters.  The retail outlet stuns with its fresh look, large variety of products stocked, including wines, and its fresh foods and bakery products.

Furniture and decor shops to open include Gonsenhauser’s Fine Rugs, Victorian Bathrooms, Bank’s Kitchen Boutique, EuroCasa, Pierre Cronje, and homeware shops.  It will have a Hilton Spa, a gym, hairdresser, a range of 15 fashion shops, 4 arts and curio shops, a Tops liquor store, and a pet shop.  

A programme of live entertainmnet is planned from November.

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

Restaurant closures seem to have ground to a halt, the last being the final liquidation of celebrity chef Conrad Gallagher’s Geisha Wok in the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel, and his Sundance coffee shops.   His departure from Cape Town and his shady business dealings have also influenced the operation of Crepe Suzette and Bouillabaisse in the Rockwell Centre in De Waterkant, which opened on the basis of Gallagher setting up an Epicurean Food Market on the ground floor, around the two new restaurants.   This deal fell flat earlier this year already, just as the restaurants were moving into the building.

Last month Reuben Riffel opened his second Reuben’s restaurant, in the new Small Hotel in Robertson.   Nook is the cutest ’cosy eatery that specialises in homemade pastries, cakes, sandwiches and a wide variety of daily specials’,  that also opened last month in Stellenbosch’s Van Reyneveld Street, where the Greek Kitchen used to be.  The owners Luke and Jessica are young, and this is their first restaurant venture.  They are refreshing in the way they connect with their clients, and understand customer relationships. 

Last week Portofino opened where the Showroom used to be in De Waterkant, by fun and hands-on owner Cormac Keane with chef Stephen Kruger, previously working with Richard Carstens, in the kitchen.   See the review on this blog.

Yesterday the 12th branch of Doppio Zero opened on Somerset Road, Green Point, in a lovely renovated Victorian building with modern lighting, and is fantastically positioned opposite the Green Point stadium. Doppio Zero is a franchise operation, which has an impressive website that is upfront about what the company stands for.  Its promise is “to consistently deliver beyond your expectations”.   The company’s vision is to be a “leader in our industry and in the market in which we trade, and to imprint the Doppio experience in the culture of our guests.”   Its mission is to ensure that guest satisfaction is “number 1″, to offer staff growth opportunities, to offer uncompromising best quality food, service and people, to develop lasting relationships with guests, to continuously improve, and to make a “fair profit.”   Its values are passion and enthusiasm, integrity and honesty, an unconditional commitment to the brand, and individual responsibility and accountability.  These are strong words, and one hopes that the company can keep its promises, especially as they are stated so publicly.

Bruce Robertson’s Showroom Cafe and The Quarter on Long Street are doing well, and he was bubbling last week about four restaurant openings he is consulting on, all scheduled for October.   October also sees the opening of Vanilla, owned by the Newhouse father and son duo from Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay, in the new Cape Quarter building on Somerset Road.   Cru Cafe will also open in the center.

Kathy and Gary Jordan from Jordan Wines in Stellenbosch will also open a restaurant for light lunches in October, on their wine estate, reports The Sunday Independent.   Critically, they comment:”Too many people chase Michelin stars, but I am not a fan of that system.  To win those stars, you have to throw away your food from one sitting, and start again in the evening.  To me, it is just a waste.  It adds a huge cost to the restaurant bill.  Almost all the food rejected is still perfectly good.  I can’t stand seeing food wasted.”  Their restaurant will “offer simple, well-cooked, wholesome food”.  The Jordans are co-owners of the High Timber restaurant in London, with Neleen Strauss, and “a significant percentage” of the 40 000 wines in the restaurant are Jordan wines. 

The Waterkloof wine estate in Somerset West, which belongs to one of the largest wine importers in the UK, Paul Boutinot, and who calls himself the “Custodian” of the wine estate, according to its website, will open its restaurant in November, with chef Gregory Czarnecki in the kitchen and Julian Smith from Grande Provence managing the restaurant.  Czarnecki was previously at The BIg Easy in Stellenbosch, the restaurant belonging to Johan Rupert and Ernie Els, amongst others, and left when he was expected to cook hamburgers, it is said.    He worked with 3*** Michelin chef Alain Senderens at Lucas Carton.   Waterkloof’s website states that it makes ’slow wines’, with fermentation taking place between one to eleven months instead of the usual 20 days, and it would be excellent if its new restaurant embodies “slow food”.

Little has been said or written about maze and Nobu locally lately, and one wonders what the effect of the poor reviews Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in the UK got in the 2010 edition of The Harden’s restaurant guide will be on the local restaurant in the OneandOnly Cape Town hotel.  According to a report in the Daily Mail, the guide has placed four of Ramsays’ restaurants on the “10 most disappointing restaurants” list.    Three of the restaurants also featured on the ‘most overpriced’ list.  The author of the guide, Richard Harden, said of maze and of Ramsay that it is suffering from “imperial over-reach” and feels that ‘it has deep-seated problems’.   Harden continues about Ramsay: ”He wants to be an international film star and be accorded Beckham levels of international fame yet he wants to run this internationally recognised group of restaurants.”   Ramsay’s profits fell by 90 %, according to the report, in the last year, and received negative feedback when it was discovered that some of his restaurants serve mass-produced food, prepared off-site and delivered to the restaurants.

Word about Stellenbosch town is that Etienne Bonthuys will not be at Tokara restaurant in the Helshoogte Pass for much longer.   He is opening up a new restaurant in Stellenbosch later this year, it is rumoured. No doubt Tokara owner GT Ferriera will look for a heavyweight chef to counteract the competition from Delaire Graff across the road.

A late-comer to social media marketing is Le Quartier Francais, which announced with fanfare that it was starting a blog at the beginning of this month.  It has only posted two posts, of which one has already been removed again.   Perhaps the owner does not know that a blog needs a dedicated commitment to regular posting to be credible and to help with search engine optimisation.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com