Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

On Friday I received the second edition of Crush!, “South Africa’s finest digital food & wine magazine”, says the e-mail providing the link.  To make sure one knows how good it is, it promises “yet more brilliance for you in this issue” - that is if you thought that the first issue was brilliant!   I did not think it was, and wrote a blog post about Crush1, which respected food and wine guru and Crush! editor Michael Olivier was not happy about, but I am happy to see that he has taken note of some of the feedback (we did invite Michael to comment, but he declined).   Crush!2 is much improved, but it is not there yet.  Let me tell you why:

1.   The cover design of Crush!2 is much better, with barely any distracting design features on it - it reflects the best story of the issue, a wonderful chocolate spread, with the most beautiful photography.

2.   On the “editorial page” Michael’s face is covered by the play button of the video again.  The video was shot in Sophie Lindop’s kitchen while she was preparing the Chocolate article, he says in the video, and one can hear the ‘kitchen clanging’ in the background.   I could only get the video to run halfway, and then it broke off abruptly.  I re-tried it numerous times.

3.  Michael has addressed the feedback about providing details of his editorial team (the button for it being very subtle), and a block can be opened to read this detail - Petaldesign is the design company, with Matthew Ibbotson the Art Director, and Graham van de Ruit responsible for Flash animation.   The Crush! team is thin, it being mainly Michael and his wife on the editorial side, with guest input from JP Rossouw, David Cope and Andy Fenner.   The block is so small that one struggles to read all the names.

4.   A “How to Use this digital magazine” block is welcome, but contains numerous symbols that one must remember to be able to read the digital magazine more effectively.

5.   The magazine has grown to 36 pages, and the multi-page Lindt Chocolate feature is wonderful, proving that the content does not have to be crammed onto one page, which happens on the “Michael Says” page.  On this page, there are 3 book reviews, a focus on a Vineyard dog, “Michael’s Wine Finds”, a focus on Lynne and John Ford of Main Ingredient, and a “Wine Myth”, despite there being numerous other wine pages on which the wine stories could have been featured.

6.   Advertiser support by Old Mutual, Pick ‘n Pay, Pongracz, Arabella Wines, and the Paranga/Zenzero/Kove/Pepenero group has been retained, with new ads for Welgemoed, Arumdale and an advertorial for Spier.  Michael has assured me that Pick ‘n Pay is not the owner of the magazine.

7.   On the “Essentials” page one cannot read the labels on the Dalla Cia Grappa, NoMu and Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil packs, making pack recognition difficult.   If you click onto the packs, they are a little bigger.  A green i-sign provides more information.  When one has clicked on a section to blow up the size, it does not guide one as to how to reduce the size again, so one has to click to a previous page to get back on the page one was on, making this repeat process tedious over time.

8.   The Spier double-page advertorial is weak, in being an illustration of the Spier estate.  One assumes that if one clicks onto each of the “noticeboards”, that one can obtain information.  If, however, one has opened one such information block, and not closed it, one cannot open the next block.    The worst problem about this page is the dominant Uwe Koetter competition announcement, which clashes with the Spier promotion.

9.   The brand names of the wines presented with the recipe for Vegetable Cauliflower Cream Soup are unreadable, with the exception of Glen Carlou.  When one clicks onto the “Rollover” flash, it enlarges the packs a little, but does not make the labels more readable.   Once again, when one has enlarged the labels to such an extent that one can read them, one cannot get back to the full page, and has to go ‘backwards’ to get back to where one was.  A different recipe is matched to each brand of wine when one moves the mouse over it.  However, the Glen Carlou recipe rollover provides no details about serving numbers, difficulty of preparation, and prep and cook times.

10.   The “JamieWho?” page is really odd, in that Michael is clearly trying to add a younger and more hip touch to Crush!.  Blogger Andy Fenner, who recently “outed” himself as being “JamieWho?”, when he relaunched his blogsite, has almost two pages to himself, with his branding in the centre.  As an ueber-brand and marketing conscious person, I am sure he must be shocked at the presentation of his page, with the funny petal-shaped buttons, inviting readers to read his La Mouette review, his muesli recipe, his visits to L’Avenir and Delaire Graff (very disappointing short one-paragraph summaries), and a lovely feature on Roxanne Floquet, the “Queen of Cakes”.  I am not sure if the thousands of readers Michael claims his magazines go to will know who “JamieWho?”/Andy Fenner is, and will be impressed by his involvement.

11.  The “High Five” wine page has the same problem with label readability, as described above.

12.  The “Eating Out” page is interesting in that it is prominently branded with JP Rossouw’s name over two pages, but has a flash in the top right corner saying “The Foodie Fast Eats”, which is a short write-up by “The Foodie” (see below) of the Sunrise Chip ‘n Ranch (I did not pick up that there were mini write-ups about Jardine’s Bakery and Cookshop too, until alerted to these).  However, “The Foodie” has his own pages in the magazine elsewhere.   A review of Johannesburg-based DW Eleven-13 by Rossouw is of no interest to Cape Town readers, probably making up a large proportion of the magazine subscribers.   A competition block blocks the readability of the restaurant review.   At the bottom of the page it mentions four restaurants under the heading “Crush also liked”, listing Blue Water Cafe, Wild Woods, Casa Labia and Foodbarn (the name of this restaurant is barely visible), with only a telephone number and address, but no review, or summary about what these restaurants stand for.  One is not sure if they are recommended by JP or by Michael.

13.  The “Quaff Now” and “Cellar for Later” wine pages have the same problems with pack recognition and branding, but a neat label at each bottle helps one to identify each brand name.  One wonders why this approach is not used throughout the magazine to assist one in reading the pack names, rather than using so many different design styles.  An Old Mutual information block seems out of place on this page, other than to communicate that Old Mutual encourages one to drink a lot, with an inevitable outcome, requiring insurance cover!

14.   The “Quick & Delicious” page has recipes for a week ahead, nicely presented as ‘recipe cards’.   But the content is blocked in part by a block asking if one has subscribed.

15.   As stated above, the “4 Ways with Chocolate” feature is fantastic, with mouth-watering photography by Russel Wasserfall.  One wonders why Russel does not do all the photography for Crush!

16.  By contrast to the “JamieWho?” pages, “The Foodie”’s pages are a disappointment - “The Foodie” does not receive the same branding and identity treatment compared to that of his friend Andy Fenner, and his pages look more messy and unfocused.  What is a huge surprise is that “The Foodie” is outed as being David Cope, an identity which David has been at great pains to protect.  David’s blog “The Foodie” does not even identify his surname!   David works at a PR agency, and writes for such clients as the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School.   He, like Andy Fenner, likes to hang out at &Union, and one wonders if Michael’s readers have heard of ”The Foodie”.   He writes about a Houseboat stay at Langebaan and has a recipe for making “Perfect Guacomole”.  I wonder why Michael has chosen two “man’s men” bloggers to contribute to Crush! when there are many talented (lady) food bloggers who may have far greater credibility and be of greater interest to the readers of Crush!

17.  Crush!2 was sent out early on Friday, a bad day of the week for distributing newsletters, and getting them read.   This is evident by the few comments made about it on Twitter (many Twitter users read their Tweets on their phones, and Blackberry and iPhone do not support Adobe Flash required to open the magazine on their phones).  Also, Crush! does not appear to have editorial deadlines - Crush!1 was a month late in being launched, and this edition was published 7 weeks thereafter, not at the beginning of a month, if it is meant to be monthly or bi-monthly.

My overall impression: the “style over substance” approach to this digital magazine will not win it loyal readers - if only the style were good - and that has huge potential to improve.  Its “journalism” is light-weight,  and as someone said to me: ”this is not an online magazine  - it is a picturebook”!  Harsh words, but perhaps he is right.  Crush!2 says it is “Food & Wine with Passion” - the passion is there, but the execution is not yet!

Once again, I invite Michael to comment, which I am more than happy to post.  Read Crush!2

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

South Africa’s first digital food and wine magazine Crush! was launched last Friday, a long-awaited online publication under the editorship of respected food and wine guru Michael Olivier.

Olivier studied at the Cordon Bleue Cookery School in London, has done PR for the Lanzerac Hotel, has owned restaurants (Paddagang, Burgundy and Parks), has been a wine consultant to Pick ‘n Pay, has published books (including one called ‘Crush! 100 wines to drink now’), and presents wine programmes on Classic FM and on FMR radio stations.  He announced the launch of Crush! at the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting in May, with an original launch date of 3 June.  The actual publication date was a month later.

Digital magazines have been published in the United Kingdom for a number of years already, but have not made it into South Africa until now due to the lack of ample broadband capacity.   Crush! is published with software bought from Redonline, a British company which publishes GQ, Tesco, FHM and many other digital titles.  It is available for free to what is projected will be just under 1 million readers, and its production is funded by advertising, sponsorships and product placements.  The advertising rates seem reasonable, at a discounted R 7548 for a double page spread for the first three issues.

For me Crush! is a let-down, not only technically, in navigating the 26 pages of the digital magazine, but also in terms of its content:

1.   Its size is smaller than the full screen size, giving the impression of an A5 magazine, something one takes less seriously than an A4 size.

2.  One has to click to the top right hand corner of the right page to turn the pages - it will take some time for one to get used to doing this expertly, without feeling silly in turning the pages efficiently (luckily I saw a “fools’ guide” to turning the pages at the top left, which shows arrows to the right and to the left).

3.  The cover of a magazine is what sells it - I found Crush!’s cover to be unattractive and far too busy, with all sorts of electronic “nick-nacks” to attract one’s attention, seriously lacking a good design hand.

4.  I missed an “Ed’s letter”, in which Michael should explain what Crush! stands for, remind readers of his background and strengths, and detail who is in his editorial and production team.  

5.  Michael does talk on a YouTube video on the third page, but unfortunately the “play” button is on top of his face, a design problem that can easily be addressed.

6.  Crush! has little advertising, but needs advertising support to finance the venture and to pay the royalties to Redonline.  The Pepenero/Paranga/Kove/Zenzero group, Pick ‘n Pay, Old Mutual, Constantia Glen and Pongracz are direct advertisers.   I liked the more subtle advertorial feel of the Arabella wines page.   The double page spread on Warwick is the most attractive of all pages in Crush!, in my opinion, and while I am sure that it is paid-for advertorial, it is the “cleanest” page, with the fewest “gimmicks” and pop-ups of all. 

7.  Given the cost of setting up such a venture, one wonders if it is Pick ‘n Pay financing the venture, given Olivier’s relationship with them.  

8.   Having been earmarked for launch more than a month ago, most of the copy probably was written at that time.  The danger with a delay is that the information gets dated, and the page written by JP Rossouw is dated in two respects - JP Rossouw’s image has been seriously dented by the reaction to his La Mouette review (read here).  Olivier would have done better to write the page himself.   Secondly, Rossouw chose to focus on La Colombe, and Luke Dale-Roberts, just 2 days after the La Colombe chef announced that he is no longer the Executive Chef of the San Pellegrino Top 50 Restaurant in the World restaurant!  Ironically, it was Rossouw that alerted the industry to this news, but the information about Luke Dale-Roberts’ relationship with La Colombe was not updated in the two days before launching the publication.  The fact that Rossouw’s Restaurants book is offered for sale on the page commercialises the page and reduces its credibility even further.  When entering the La Colombe competition, I lost the link to the page I was on, and had to go back to the Homepage, and run through all the pages again.   In the running link it mentions, amongst others, that JP Rossouw has reviewed La Colombe, but there is no review!  The next issue of Crush! is to feature a review of a Johannesburg restaurant - while I understand that Crush! is a national publication, reviews about restaurants in other areas have little interest for Cape Town readers, a weakness Rossouw faces with his on-line reviews too.

9.   Alongside a recipe for Salmon Fishcakes, as well as on the “High Five” wine page, the labels of the bottles of the wine options suggested are unreadable.  One is encouraged to click onto each bottle to “roll it over”, but it only pops up with information about that particular wine. 

10.   A profile of Chef Liam Tomlin of the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School is disappointing, in that little information is provided on the page, which mainly is filled with a photograph of Tomlin.  If one clicks on a small “interview” button, Tomlin’s answers to a set of questions are provided, hardly giving one a feel for the character and personality of Tomlin, nor of his background. 

11.   Every page has a running script at the top, a little like on SkyNews and other news television stations, distracting one’s attention from the main body of the page.  

12.  The “back’ page refers to an Uwe Koetter competition, and it is not immediately clear that one does not have to do anything to stand a chance to win jewellery.

In general I found Crush! to be too superficial in that it lacks depth; it is too “thin” in terms of number of pages compared to a regular magazine; it is too hard-sell in encouraging one to buy wines via ‘Crush Cellar’ which takes one to Grapefuel, travel (never heard of Pick ‘n Pay having a travel agency), and Rossouw’s book; and it is too “busy” in terms of pop-ups, running messages and buttons one has to click to read further information.  Ultimately, a digital magazine cannot compete with a glossy printed one.  It cannot be kept for future reference, it cannot be displayed on a coffee table, one cannot tear a page out of it, and it does not offer 100 pages or so of reading joy in bed, which a magazine can do.

To read Crush!, click here.  Twitter: @Crush_online

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

The first Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting, held at the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School in Cape Town yesterday evening, was sold out, and a great success, judging by the positive feedback received from the aspirant as well as regular food and wine bloggers that attended.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club “pairs” a wine blogger and a food blogger per Club meeting, which are held monthly, and each speaker outlines his/her blog and provides blogging tips and guidelines. The Wine Blogger brings some wine for the bloggers to taste, while Chef Liam Tomlin prepares snacks to showcase his Cookery School, and reputation as a star chef in Sydney, prior to coming to Cape Town and setting up his Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School.  Liam prepared Tartar of Tuna with avocado and ponzu sauce, as well as Potato Raclette and pickled vegetables.

Anel Grobler from SpitorSwallow Blog was the first speaker, and impressed with her statistics relating to trends about blogging.  She quoted a recent survey in PR Week, which found that 20 % of bloggers do so to earn money out of it, and that 52 % of bloggers see themselves as “journalists” (surprisingly the Public Relations industry has not yet discovered the power of bloggers in promoting their clients’ brands!).   Anel and her partner Jan Laubscher are on Twitter continuously, saying it is an “easy way to get the word out”.  On Twitter @SpitorSwallow has 3900 followers and on Facebook they have 1 900 fans, a phenomenal achievement.   She indicated that from a total of 6 South African wine estates being on Twitter in 2009, there are now 209!   Anel has played an important role in encouraging wine estates to embrace social media marketing.    She indicated that they see immediate click through once they put a Tweet on Twitter.   She recommended that new bloggers focus on a niche.   A provocative name like SpitorSwallow attracts interest, and through word-of-mouth their Facebook and Twitter pages have received a huge following.   Almost 700 “wineflies” have evaluated the close to 600 wine estates they have listed.  Anel recommended that companies blog and twitter themselves, and not leave this to a PR company, as the client is passionate about his/her brand.   With a blog it is important that the bounce rate be low (i.e. readers leaving the page).  The length of time spent on a page is also important, to ensure that readers read what one has written for as long as possible.  A quick survey around the room indicated that Wordpress is the most popular blog template used.

Michael Olivier is an icon in both food and wine circles, and many of the Bloggers’ Club attendees came to meet him, having his recipe or wine books (’Michael Olivier - a Restaurateur Remembers’, ‘Crush! 100 Wines to drink now’ , and ‘The People’s Guide - navigate the winelands in a shopping trolley’, the latter with Neil Pendock).   His all-round experience in receiving his training at the Cordon Bleue Cookery School in London, working at the Lanzerac Hotel and Boschendal, having owned three restaurants (Paddagang in Tulbagh, The Burgundy in Hermanus and Parks in Constantia), having consulted on the wine side to Pick ‘n Pay, and presenting a weekly wine programme on Classic FM in Gauteng and a daily informal winetasting on Fine Music Radio in Cape Town makes him very well-connected and extremely knowledgeable.  Sending out a regular newsletter, which became a website, Michael has reinvented himself and will be launching ‘Crush’, South Africa’s first digital online food and wine magazine, he announced at the meeting.   It will go to a database of 1,7 million on 3 June.

The feedback received from the Food and Wine Bloggers that attended the meeting last night was that they enjoyed the relaxed and informal opportunity to network, to meet their mentors, seeing old friends and making new ones, the quality of the speakers, the snacks, the wine, the positive energy in the room, and the ability to learn from everyone that attended.

The next Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting will be held on Thursday 1 July, from 6 - 8 pm, and Pete Goffe-Wood of Wild Woods restaurant and Kitchen Cowboys Blog will be “paired” with Pieter Ferriera of Graham Beck and Bubbles on Wine Blog.   Pieter will bring Graham Beck wines and bubblies to taste, and these will be paired with Liam Tomlin’s food.   The cost to attend is R 150 per person, and bookings can be made by e-mailing info@whalecottage.com.

Future Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting dates and speakers are as follows:

Thursday 1 July:                  Pete Goffe-Wood of Wild Woods and Kitchen Cowboys Blog, and Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck and Bubbles on Wine Blog

Wednesday 28 July:             The Foodie of The Foodie Blog, and Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick and Vilafonte Wines Blog

Wednesday 18 August:       Sam Wilson of Food24 Blogs, and Rob Armstrong of Haut Espoir

Wednesday 22 September: Dax Villanueva of Relax-with-Dax Blog, and Hein Koegelenberg of La Motte and Hein Koegelenberg Blog

Wednesday 20 October: Clare Mack of Spill Blog, and Simon Back of Backsberg Blog

Wednesday 24 November:  Jane-Anne Hobbs of Scrumptious Blog, and Emile Joubert of Wine Goggle Blog

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

The new Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club, which has its first meeting at the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School in Cape Town next Wednesday 19 May from 18h00 - 20h00, will pair a Food Blogger and a Wine Blogger at each of the monthly meetings of the Club.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to reflect the tremendous growth in and power of food and wine blogs in forming opinion about food, restaurants and wines.  Most bloggers do not have any formal training in blogging, and learnt from others.   The Club will give fledgling as well as experienced bloggers the opportunity to learn from each other and to share one’s knowledge with others.

Michael Olivier is the first Food Blogger (although he could equally be speaking about Wine Blogging),  writing blog Michael Olivier, to speak at the Bloggers Club.  He trained at the London Cordon Bleu Cookery School, and is a well-known Cape Food and Wine guru.   Michael was a highly regarded restaurateur (Paddagang in Tulbagh, Burgundy in Hermanus, Parks in Constantia), worked at The Lanzerac Hotel, was PR Manager for Boschendal, and has written three books: “A Restaurateur Remembers”, “crush” and “The People’s Guide - navigate the winelands in a shopping trolley”.  He has been a consultant to Pick ‘n Pay on wine retailing, and presents a daily programme on Fine Music Radio (”Michael Olivier Talking Wine”) and a weekly on-air winetasting programme on ClassicFM.   Michael’s Blog focuses on People, Places, Wine and Food. (The photograph is from Michael Olivier’s blog).

Michael will share the platform of the opening meeting of the Bloggers’ Club with Anel Grobler of SpitorSwallow, a unique “website for wine enthusiasts who visit a lot of wine farms.”   Not only is the cellar door experience rated from a winelover’s perspective, but also restaurants, weddings, accommodation and other events on wine estates are rated too.  Anel started her blog with her partner Jan Laubscher 2 years ago, and won 3rd place in the 2009 Bloggers’ Awards, in the Food & Wine Category.  The site has 650 active users, and 2000 reviews of wine estates, from which a monthly eagerly-contested Top 10 list is announced.  Anel herself has visited 260 out of the 600 wine estates in South Africa, and hopes to visit the remaining ones!   She started the www.winetimes.co.za website earlier this year, with local wine news.

Other writers that will be talking at future Bloggers Club meetings are the following:

Thursday 1 July:                  Pete Goffe-Wood of Wild Woods and Kitchen Cowboys Blog, and Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck and Bubbles on Wine Blog

Wednesday 28 July:             The Foodie of The Foodie Blog, and Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick and Vilafonte Wines Blog

Wednesday 18 August:       Sam Wilson of Food24 Blogs, and Rob Armstrong of Haut Espoir 

Wednesday 22 September: Dax Villanueva of Relax-with-Dax Blog, and Hein Koegelenberg of La Motte and Hein Koegelenberg Blog

Wednesday 20 October:     Clare Mack of Spill Blog, and Simon Back of Backsberg Blog

Wednesday 24 November:  Jane-Anne Hobbs of Scrumptious Blog, and Emile Joubert of Wine Goggle Blog

Attendees can ask questions, and get to know fellow bloggers.   Only 20 bookings will be accepted for each meeting, on a first come, first served basis. 

Bloggers will be able to experience a pairing of the snacks prepared by internationally renowned chef Liam Tomlin, owner of the new Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School, at 50 New Church Street in town, with the wines brought along by the wine blogging speaker.   The cost of attendance is R 150.  Bookings can be made by e-mailing info@whalecottage.com.

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

The Department of Tourism has announced a last minute service excellence campaign “Tourism Service Excellence Initiative” (TSEI) for all front-line staff dealing with soccer fans during the World Cup, less than one month prior to the start of this world sport event.   While its intentions are extremely noble, and it will be offered for free, a two-hour session will hardly make any difference to generally poor service attitudes in Cape Town and South Africa.

The Department of Tourism has contracted The Disney Institute from Orlando to conduct a number of free two-hour seminars around the country, the Cape Town ones taking place next Thursday (at His People Center in Goodwood) and Friday (at the Cape Town International Convention Centre), at 10h00 and 14h00 on each of these days.  The same presentations will be held in Stellenbosch on 15 May, in George on 17 May, and in Knysna on 18 May.

The Disney Institute is a highly regarded “university of service excellence”, and a company like Pick ‘n Pay has regularly sent its managers to Orlando to improve its stores’ customer care and service excellence.   But it is impossible to change a service mentality in 2 hours!

The Western Cape province sent the invitation to attend the seminars in Cape Town as a Press Release, and it states that one can call to make a booking (a friendly and reasonably efficient process requiring ID numbers of staff, and more) or go the TSEI website www.tsei.co.za.    Dr Laurine Platzky, the “2010 FIFA World Cup Coordinator from Provincial Government Western Cape”, describes the seminars as “energetic” and “inspiring”, their aim being to “give all football guests an unforgettable experience in the Mother City and the Province”.

The TSEI document has the logos of the Department of Tourism, TSEI and the Disney Institute, as well as of FEDHASA, at the bottom of the document. FEDHASA’s has a web address linked to it (no other web addresses are supplied), but it is not FEDHASA’s web address - it is the web address of FEDHASA CEO Brett Dungan’s private Rooms4U booking portal, which has been criticised on this blog previously!

The TSEI document states that customer service should be improved “in anticipation of the millions of guests to the games” (our underlining).   One wonders where this statistic comes from - 3 million tickets are meant to have been sold, but this does not mean 3 million ticket holders, given that tourism consultancy Grant Thornton has estimated that each visitor will watch 5 matches on average, reducing the number of ticketholders to 600 000 on average!   Also, one talks about “games” for the Olympics, but for the World Cup they are called “matches”!   In a “mastery” of copywriting, it claims that The Department of Tourism had in 2008 already “crafted” (did they mean drafted?) the Tourism Service Excellence Strategy, to “take Service Excellence in the Tourism Service Value Chain to greater heights”. 

It then explains why service levels must be taken to greater heights, in that service excellence in the past has been hampered by (wait for it…….) “the negative impact of apartheid (!), a largely autocratic management style (!), the lack of an established culture of customer service, insufficient training, systemic educational concerns, the poor image of the service industry by most, and the harsh economic realities of many workers who remain focused on survival rather than service” (our exclamation marks).  Phew!  

Internationally, we rank in the middle, at 62nd of 124 countries, on competitiveness, in the 2007(!) World Tourism Council Competitiveness Report.   The Department says that the level of service delivery ranges from good to very poor in our country.   That is why it has appointed The Disney Institute to conduct Service Excellence Seminars, “which are designed and focused in creating a culture of service excellence”.  Come on - can a 2-hour seminar create a culture of Service Excellence, no matter if it is presented by The Disney Institute?! 

Boldly the document continues about the objectives of the Service Excellence Initiative, all defined as being for “2010 and beyond”:

1.  “Championing service transformation

2.   Creating a customer service orientated SA

3.   Crafting a ’solution-minded’ customer service culture in SA

4.   Providing human behaviour solution to SA

5.   Ensuring SA delivers world-class customer service

6.   Touch the entire service economy so that 2010 leaves a legacy”.

While it is clear that not all points are meant to be addressed by the seminars, the last one is - once again, how can they think that they can achieve this in two hours?!

The document states who should attend, and it lists immigration and customs officials, the police, tourism officials, “local government”, as well as private sector front-line staff in tourism and travel, hospitality, petrol stations, transport and banking.  Each participant is to receive a certificate and a Service Guideline Card, for which an extra half an hour has been allowed.

The best is kept for last - the value that a company’s staff will gain from attendance at the seminars:

“*   Engage employees to be personally involved in creating and delivering quality customer service

 *   Explore the significance of performance accountability, ensuring an equal weight value between business results and employee behaviors (sic) that enhances a positive work culture (straight from the Disney Institute literature no doubt)

 *   Learn the significance of creating and sustaining a corporate culture by design rather than default (?)

 *   Introduce the concept of “Common Purpose” as the organization’s chief global service driver” (we are tiny local non-global tourism related businesses in the main!)

The final best is the “dynamic” pay-off line that the copywriter ends off with : “Be Brilliant - Tourism Service Excellence Initiative” !!!!!!!!!! 

If the Department of Tourism’s Tourism Service Excellence Initiative document is anything to go by, its Service Excellence Workshops will be Mickey Mouse!  I cannot wait to attend, to experience this magical 2-hour transformation in Service Excellence!

POSTSCRIPT:  After writing this post, I found an article written earlier this week by Natalia Thomson of S A Tourism Update about the same topic.  She writes that the Disney Institute contract is worth R 9,5 million, and that 250 000 persons will be put through the workshops around the country.   Read her cynical and critical article here.

Read our follow-up article about the presentation here.

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

Marcelino The Bakery opened about a month ago, at the mountain end of Loop Street, as a big open-plan  bakery.  The owner is Marcelino Siljeur, and his mentor and colleague is Gerd Zerban, the original owner of Zerbans in Sea Point and the Garden Centre.   The bakery is already taking Cape Town by storm, with the most delectable freshly baked breads and rolls, and sweet treats, as well as for the unbelievably low prices charged.

One gives one’s age away if one admits to remembering Zerbans, which was THE coffee shop and bakery in the 1980’s, attracting patrons with a European background in particular.  Marcelino’s father worked for Zerban at that time.  Zerban sold his business to Checkers in the late Eighties, and took up a challenge from Natie Kirsch to set up eight ’Hot & Crusty’ outlets in Manhattan.  He enjoyed the taste of New York, and then became a consultant for supermarkets in New York.   Returning to South Africa, and to Cape Town, he set up the baking side of New York Bagels in Sea Point, and there he trained Marcelino as his apprentice.   They went their separate ways, and recently decided to get together to start up Marcelino The Bakery.

Marcelino moved to Belvedere in Claremont after completing his apprenticeship with Zerban at New York Bagels, and then moved to Zambia to open a bakery. He returned to Cape Town to work at the French Confectionery, before enrolling at the Chef’s School at Zevenwacht, seeing the hospitality industry as a new challenge, and wanting a formal qualification.   He worked at the Cape Town International Convention Centre after completing his course, and then worked on the QE 2 as patissier, followed by a stint as Product Developer at Pick ‘n Pay, baker at Ille de Pain in Knysna, and at Cassis, giving him an excellent rounding in baking and pastry-making.

Marcelino is a soft-spoken generous baker and businessman, yet is with it as far as Social Media Marketing is concerned, and is already marketing his business on Twitter. 

Crispy rolls cost R1,80, and other rolls (pumpkin, hotdog, mixed seed) cost R2,50.  Croissants cost R8 plain, and R12 for those filled with chocolate, cheese or almond.   Ciabattas cost R22, French and sourdough baguettes cost R 14, 66 % rye bread R22, and a seed loaf R22.  Some of the breads are available in small sizes too, at half price.

On the sweet side, chocolate, lemon, lemon meringue, pecan and apple, and baked plum tarts cost R20, cake slices range between R12 - R20,  doughnuts cost R3,99, and cakes such as Mocha Baiser, Champagne Cake, Brandy Cake, Spanish Vanilla and the Marcelino Special cost R190.   A little more expensive are Sacher Torte, Hollander Kirsch, Pfalzer Kirsch, Swedish Apple Cake and Prinzregenten Torte.   Slices of Butterkuchen, Apfelstrudel, Zwiebelkuchen, Apple Streusel and Apricot Strudel cost R10, as do danishes.  Quiche slices cost R15 for a choice of four.    The poppy seed crispy rolls are just like those baked by a German bakery, and are a million times better than those sold by Raith in the Garden Centre.

Marcelino hopes to expand into the adjacent space in about six months, and wants to set up a restaurant section there.  Currently he has a little space at the entrance to the bakery, as well as on the pavement outside, to serve his bargain lunches, and coffee and sweet treat specials. 

Marcelino The Bakery, 210 Loop Street, Cape Town.  Tel 021 422 0168. Twitter @MarcelinoBakery. www.marcelinothebakery.com. Mondays - Fridays 6h00 - 16h00, Saturdays and Sundays 7h00 - 13h00.

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

The “Taste of Cape Town” is in its third year, and its new location (it has had a different location every year) at the Rhodes High School in Mowbray is the best ever, with parking adjacent to the field on which the stands are set up.   It is a wonderfully inexpensive and convenient way to taste one’s way through 19 of Cape Town’s, Franschhoek’s and Stellenbosch’s best (and some lesser good) restaurants.

Delegates at the S A Food Bloggers’ Conference received free entrance tickets to the “Taste of Cape Town” and only had to buy the crowns, which are the wine and food tasting currency.   All wines and foods served cost between 4 - 8 crowns (R 20 - R 40).

With 18 restaurants present (as well as Camil’s serving oysters but being such a last minute stand it is not located with the other restaurants), it was not possible to taste all the dishes (each restaurant offered three choices in the main) at all the restaurant stands.  My companion was our new Brazilian trainee Muriele Stefani, and we shared portions to allow us to taste a larger variety of foods:

*   the highlight was Reuben’s prawn, rocket, yuzu dressing and wasabi cream, a mini-meal in itself, compared to the other stands, which mainly only served a piece of meat or fish without any other accompaniments.   Impressively Reuben Riffel was in the makeshift “kitchen”, doing the hands-on preparation.

*   Bistro Sixteen82, with chef Brad Ball, served a crispy panko crumbed fried crab, soft shell crab, with dressed pea shoots and smoked paprika aiolli

*   Eric Bulpitt at Jardine Restaurant offered two very tasty Kroondal duck leg patties, which also contained pomegranate, celeriac, and walnut

*   It was nice to meet hands-on Philip Carmichael from maze, who was taking orders rather than cooking.  His peppered biltong consomme was the most attractive of all the dishes eaten, with a fried quail’s egg presented on top of the biltong consomme, with shaved biltong.  The taste of the soup was disappointing, having a bean soup taste.

*   At Nobu chef Hideki Maeda’s crispy pork belly with spicy miso was simply just that - nothing to distract from the compact dish.

*   Grande Provence’s Darren Roberts served a ballantine of Elgin free-range chicken and lobster with white onion risotto.  The lobster was nowhere to be seen, and gave the chicken a less-than-nice taste.

*   From its name, Overture’s braised pig’s cheek, parsley pomme puree, carrots and gremolata was very popular, served by chef Craig Cormack.  It was a very filling tasting portion.

*   Overture’s chocolate mille-feuille and raspberry ice cream was a dreamy yet filling sweet end to a lovely tasting.

*   A bonus was a chocolate cup filled with Nutella and topped with a cherry at the Southern Sun stand, with The Cullinan pastry chef Jean hand-making the lovely sweet treats at no charge.   Macaroons and lemon meringue tartlets were also available for tasting.

Foodlovers will enjoy Pick ‘n Pay’s Fresh Living Chef’s Theatre, at which top chefs, including some of those with stands, do demonstrations, and Jenny Morris, the Giggling Gourmet, at the Checkers’ stand.   The wine stands feel like “poor cousins”, receiving less attention than the restaurant stands, despite brands such as Hermanuspietersfontein, Thelema, Boschendal, Steenberg, Spier and many others being present.

What is lovely about the “Taste of Cape Town” is meeting up with other food and wine lovers.  Some of the restaurant stands have a table and chairs, at which one can be lucky enough to sit to eat one’s tasting dish, and meet friends and acquaintances coming to the stand in this way.   Reubens’ stand had its Franschhoek black-and-white checkered floor replicated as decor on one wall of the stand, and offered very comfortable white leather dining chairs.

Given the cooler weather, being wrapped up in a white blanket by a Heineken hunk at the end of the tasting and washing down all the lovely food with a Heineken was a lovely ending to a special evening.

Taste of Cape Town, Rhodes High School, off Klipfontein Road, Mowbray.  Saturday 13h00 - 17h00, 18h30 - 22h30, and Sunday 12h00 - 17h00.

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

The Sweet Service Award goes to Ian Halfon and his team at Balducci restaurant in the V&A Waterfront for so generously hosting the members of the Camps Bay Accommodation Association to a dinner on 14 December.   Not only did they pull out all the stops to introduce the guest house owners to a wide variety of dishes on the extensive Balducci Italian-style menu, but they also presented each guest house with a most beautiful gift box, consisting of a bottle of the Balducci house wine, a packet of biscotti, and a menu for the guest house.

The Sour Service Award goes to Telkom, for not arriving for an appointment, made two months ago, to install a telephone line in an apartment in Stellenbosch on Monday a week ago, as the technician had gone to the wrong block of flats.  Even though he had the contact details of the estate agent waiting to open for him, he did not bother to call when he arrived at the incorrect address.  It has taken another 10 days for him to come to the correct address, and he has now discovered a broken cable between the block and the distribution board, which has to be repaired before the line installation can be completed.

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.

For the first time, a wine guide has been published that is aimed at the consumer rather than the wine producer or retail trade.   “The People’s Guide” has been written by Michael Olivier and Neil Pendock, both acknowledged as being knowledgeable about wines.

The book aims at making wine-buying  “easy, fun and innovative”.  It contains tasting notes of 561 wines, selected from 1 200 wines representing the Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Methode Cap Classique, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinotage varieties.   Relevant information is provided for each wine, including its “flavour profile”, what one can expect to pay, which foods to serve the wine with, and other quirky facts. 

The authors say that the wine guide “….clearly, objectively and honestly provides the wine lover with the information he or she wants to know.  And despite all the hot air surrounding  wine, the whims of the customer are simple: what wine tastes good and how much does it cost.”   They also pride themselves on having made their selection on the basis of blind wine-tasting, as opposed to the (unnamed) Platter’s wine guide, which has not chosen its 5-star wines by means of blind tastings in the past (however, in the 2010 guide the final list of 41 was chosen by blind tasting).   Wine ratings on the basis of blind/sighted tastings is a very controversial issue at the moment, and is a hobby-horse for co-author Neil Pendock specifically.

Michael Olivier is a lovable ex-restaurateur, and was Pick ‘n Pay’s wine head until recently,  He still advises the company.   Neil Pendock is a free-lance wine writer, and is best known for his wine column in the Sunday Times.   The authors worked with Anibal Coutinho, Norma Ratcliffe, Cathy Marston and David Mnoneleli Msebi in selecting and evaluating the wines.

The “People’s Guide” is published by Whisk Publications and sells for R 99.  It is available at selected wine shops, supermarkets and bookshops.  www.michaelolivier.co.za  whiskpublications@iafrica.com

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

An unlucky restaurant location for the Cape Town branch of Bouillabaisse, and new sister restaurant Crepe Suzette, in the Rockwell Centre in De Waterkant in Cape Town, in what was meant to have become Conrad Gallagher’s Epicurean Gourmet Market before he fled the country with huge debts, resulted in both the restaurants closing down in September.  These restaurants have fused, and have just opened as Camil’s Restaurant, ironically in the previous location of Gallagher’s Geisha Wok in the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel on Main Road in Green Point.   Whilst now fused into one restaurant, a creperie menu and an a la carte menu will be offered to all patrons.   Camil and Ingrid Haas are to run the operational side of the restaurant, while the new partner Jochen Buechel, previous owner of the Place on the Bay in Camps Bay, will look after the marketing of the restaurant.   It is bold to close two restaurant brands which were marketed jointly, off the base of the respected Bouillabaisse brand in Franschhoek, and to start from scratch with the new Camil’s brand.   A review of Camil’s will follow.

A new “Caffe”, which opened five weeks ago, is L’Aperitivo, a wine and cocktail bar that serves breakfast, and light lunches and dinners from “9h00 till late”, the sign on the door says.  Owners Andrea Gargiulo (Italian) and Stef Rau (Swiss) are charming hosts.  They met two years ago, on a cruise liner, and fell in love with Cape Town.   Before setting up their restaurant, they ran the Primi Piatti in the V&A Waterfront for two years.  It is located next door to the Bang Bang Club, a favoured haunt of teenage disco lovers, adding a free bonus to L’Aperitivo patrons, if they enjoy the music and watching the youngsters coming and going from the venue from Wednesdays - Saturdays.   The food menu is written onto a blackboard: the base Insalata L’Aperitivo costs R 30, and R 40 when tuna or chicken mayonnaise are added, and R 55 if salmon is added.   The Frittata costs R 40, the Chicken Parmigiana and a salad (just some green leaves) R 55, Roast Beef with baby potatoes and salad costs R 58, and sandwiches R 45.   For dessert the choices were an Affogato at R 22 and half a pineapple and ice cream at R 25.   Every day fresh ingredients are bought, and the menu changed to reflect what is available.   L’Aperitivo only stocks the very good Glen Carlou wines at the moment, Stef having a close relationship with the Swiss owner Hess.  They plan to offer 30 - 40 wines-by-the-glass, a commendable goal (Stef used to work at Belthezar, known for its wide selection of wines-by-the-glass).    Andrea was previously a ‘mixologist’, he says, a cool word for a barman!    His favourite restaurant is Aubergine.   L’Aperitivo stands for fresh quality food, and good and prompt service.  An ordered take-away Parma ham and brie roll turned out to be a salami roll when opened, a disappointment in an otherwise good experience!  Its brochure states: “L’Aperitivo is a Wine & Cocktail Bar with a Caffe providing a variety of freshly produced food, and which encapsulates a European style of life.   Enjoy the gathering of like-minded people to understand the way of life.   The setting is intimate, comfortable and relaxing, to ensure you enjoy your stay at whatever time you visit L’Aperitivo”.   L’Aperitivo, 70 Loop Street, tel 076 574 1805/082 898 7079.   Open Mondays - Saturdays.

Vanilla officially opened in the Cape Quarter just over a week ago, to a record crowd of 250 guests, the launch invitation being such a hit that the expected one-third no-show did not happen.   This created a problem for the owners initially in coping with serving the drinks and excellent snacks, but was quickly addressed.   It is a shame that the City of Cape Town cannot get the paving completed outside the main Somerset Road entrance to the Cape Quarter.   In fact, the main entrance to the centre was closed off on Thursday evening, meaning that one would have to find the entrance from the street behind the centre.  Franschhoek chef Matthew Gordon is the consultant chef to Vanilla, while its chef is Evan Coosner, previously with Reubens in Franschhoek and at Ginja.  A review of Vanilla is to follow.

The Grand Cafe’ branches in Plettenberg Bay and Camps Bay are soon to be joined by a third branch in The Water Club in Granger Bay, adjacent to the V&A Waterfront. 

Franschhoek is set to see the opening of a new bakery and cafe’ in the building which once housed the Franschhoek Tourism Bureau and, more recently, Winelands Experience.  The new La Place Vendome, a stylish center set to open at the entrance to Franschhoek soon, will house another new coffee shop, a deli and food hall, and a champagne bar.

Genot restaurant on Klein Genot wine estate in Franschhoek was relaunched last week, with the owner Angie Diamond taking over the management of the restaurant.   It is beautifully located above the wine cellar, with a view of the vineyards and surrounding Franschhoek mountains when one sits on the terrace outside.  Inside no expense has been spared in the large restaurant space, with lots of chandeliers perhaps making it too bright at night. The restaurant’s model is Baia, a well-known seafood restaurant in the V&A Waterfront, but at far more reasonable pricing.  Angie feels that Franschhoek does not offer its visitors a good selection of fish dishes.  The winelist is restricted with about five choices per variety, one of them being the Klein Genot, where applicable.  The Klein Genot Shiraz is the lowest priced, at R 158 per bottle, but is still very young, being a 2007 vintage.   The chefs come from Malawi, Mocambique and Zimbabwe, and they add an African feel to dishes, Angie says.   Eleven starters are priced from R 38 (chicken livers, sardines) to R 58 (mussels, and a delicious prawn cocktail), with oysters costing R 18 each.   Five salads (Caprese, Greek, etc) cost about R 48 and three soup choices are also offered, at R 48.   Eight seafood main courses range in price from R 78 for the calamari to R 228 for a seafood platter, and include two kingklip dishes.  The baby kingklip was huge, and came on the bone, which re-created an old childhood fear of bones. The restaurant would have filleted it, had one requested it.  Steaks cost R 138 for a 500 gram fillet, and R 78 for a stuffed chicken dish.  Eight desserts (excellent Pavlova being one of them) cost R 48 each.   On weekend nights live music will be offered, and a Frank Sinatra interpretor Andre Ahlers entertained the fully booked restaurant.   It was a pleasure to meet a fellow Twitterer @MarcKatzy, who came over to introduce himself.   Genot, Klein Genot estate, Franschhoek, tel 021 876-2738, www.kleingenot.com

Rust & Vrede has just been named the best Restaurant of all wine regions in the world, in the 2010 Best of Wine Tourism Awards, organised by the Great Wine Capitals Global Wine Network.  It was lauded for its “welcoming, top quality restaurant”.  It is the only South African entry to have won an accolade.   Will it become South Africa’s Top restaurant of the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, presented on 22 November?

Steenberg Winery is opening a new restaurant this week, called Bistro Sixteen82, serving breakfast, lunch and tapas seven days a week, its ad says.   Reservations tel 021 713 2211.  

Beefcakes is a new restaurant with a large space on Somerset Road in Green Point, close to Limnos.  It is clearly set to cater for hungry soccer fans when they walk along Somerset Road to and from the Cape Town Stadium for the 2010 World Cup!

Ginja has made the move into its new premises at the previous Nova/Relish location, at the start of New Church Street.  Chef Chris Erasmus and executive chef Michael Bassett run the restaurant, which now also serves lunches.

Bukhara has re-opened in its Burg Street location in Cape Town, after a fire necessitated a renovation lasting about three months.   “Bukhara Cape Town is proud to announce the opening of their new look restaurant”, its ad says.    Tel 021 424-0000.

Doppio Zero has a special Breakfast offer of R 35 for a cooked breakfast, or fruit and yoghurt, with toast and a cappuccino or a fruit juice, at its Main Road, Green Point branch, from Mondays to Fridays.  Tel 021 434-9581, www.doppio.co.za

Clos Malverne wine estate is one of a number of wine estates to open a restaurant this month (George Jardine opens The Restaurant at Jordan next week).  The restaurant opened last week on the Stellenbosch Devon Valley estate, simply called “The Restaurant”.   It offers a choice of five starters, ranging from R 39 - R 44, seven main courses, ranging in price from R 89 - R 98, and four desserts, at R 35 - R39.  The ad refers to the restaurant as follows: “…this Contemporary South African cuisine style restaurant will truly tantalize your taste buds”.   The Restaurant is open on Tuesdays - Sundays for lunch only. Tel 021 865-2022.

Reuben’s in Robertson was a refreshing pit stop on a trip to Plettenberg Bay last week.   The 30-seater restaurant is located in the 10-bedroom Small Robertson Hotel, a beautifully renovated historical building creating an oasis in an otherwise dreary town.    The staff at all levels were extremely friendly.   The menu design is the same as that of the Reuben’s Franschhoek branch, but the menu items differ vastly.   Four starters range in price from R 58 for a salad of beetroot and goat’s cheese to R 70 for salmon sashimi.   Five main courses start with R 78 for a gnocchi, to R 135 for the veal fillet.  Two cheese courses are offered, at around R 65, and four desserts range in price from R 30 - R 62.   Whilst our party of four loved our food and the good service, one was left with a feeling that the prices may be too high for a small town restaurant, no matter how good it is, and that its menu may not be appropriate for someone wanting a good light lunch, having a further 2 - 4 hours to travel to the Garden Route or to Cape Town.   As per the Reuben’s menu in Franschhoek, the menu lists Reuben Riffel as the Concept Chef.  The Reuben’s Robertson team are Aviv Liebenberg as the Executive Chef, and Christien van der Westhuizen as the Pastry Chef.  An interesting feature of the menu not seen on the Franschhoek menu is a listing of the suppliers of the fruit and vegetable, dairy and olive products, and the pork (including Happy Hog!).   Reuben’s Robertson is located at 58 Van Reenen Street, tel 023 626 7200. www.therobertsonsmallhotel.com.  

Reuben Riffel has been a Brand Ambassador for South African Tourism, in its campaign on CNN.   Erstwhile Top 10 chef Richard Carstens is said to be cooking at Reuben’s in Franschhoek.  Recently he was helping out at Roots restaurant in Gauteng, after Nova closed down.

Alle’e Bleue in Franschhoek has a new surprise every few weeks, and the latest is its menu for its beer garden adjacent to the picnic area at the bottom end of the wine estate.   One can order Paulaner beer and a spinach and smoked chicken salad, a quiche and salad, a Swiss sausage salad or a local cheese platter, at prices ranging from R 45 - R 59.  It hosted its first sushi/wine pairing dinner on Friday, and its first High Tea yesterday.

Grande Provence received a rave review in the Weekend Australian last month, journalist Susan Kurosawa describing it as the “best restaurant in South Africa’s winelands”.    She makes one odd comment about the Grand Provence menu: “The menu is seasonal but, for this being South Africa, expect cute wildlife to be involved. …..  I can’t pronounce much of it, let alone countenance eating Bambi’s relatives”!

Allora in Franschhoek, an Italian restaurant that is part of a chain with a number of branches in Johannesburg, has introduced a restaurant booking incentive called the Allora Miles Program.   The Allora Miles Card will be handed to accommodation staff, and they will receive points each time they make a booking for guests (who arrive!).   Prizes are awarded on the basis of points accumulated, and include airtime and Allora vouchers, vouchers for shopping at Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay, and electrical appliances.   Feedback supplied to the restaurant is that the incentive programme is ‘too Johannesburg-like’ to be a success in Franschhoek.

Col’cacchio Pizzeria makes delicious pizzas (in Camps Bay at least), and all eight branches in the greater Cape Town area, including Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, are offering a special “Mix & Match” lunch offer, with two courses on the lunch menu for R 99 on Mondays - Thursdays, between 12h00 - 17h00.

Baraza in Camps Bay is to relaunch itself next week as Sapphire.

Nando’s, South Africa’s most creative chicken restaurant chain, is turning up the heat in Turkey, when it opened its first branch in Istanbul last week, reports the Hurriyet Daily News of Turkey.   The company aims to open 60 Nando’s in Turkey, to add to its total of 850 restaurants in 26 countries.  Known for its sharp marketing and cheeky advertising campaigns in South Africa, the Nando’s co-founder Robert Brozin said at the Istanbul opening: “I think that we are representing our leader Nelson Mandela with our restaurants.  Nando’s is like a messenger of South Africa.   With each new restaurant that Nando’s launches in other countries, Mandela sends a signed letter to us”!   Nando’s in Knysna has just closed down, reports CX Express.

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