Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

What Spill Blog had predicted three weeks ago, but what Reuben Riffel had denied vehemently to the media and to ourselves, has been announced in the Sunday Times today - Reuben Riffel will take over the helm of one of the restaurants at the One&Only Cape Town, establishing a Reuben’s restaurant in the space vacated by Gordon Ramsay’s maze at the end of July, on 1 October.  This will be the third Reuben’s, joining the restaurant family in Franschhoek and Robertson.   Reuben has committed to spending three days a week at the Hotel, to look after the restaurant.

Following speculation about him taking over the restaurant, which he denied, Riffel had warned restaurateurs to heed the example of Ramsay spreading himself too thin, and in not having a hands-on control over one’s restaurants, as quoted in sake24.  

We congratulate Reuben and his team, and wish them huge success in a very large space of 170 seats to fill, with all eyes from the Cape Town and international market focused on how he will fill Ramsay’s shoes.  Reuben’s largest challenge will be the service level offered, it not having been a strength of his restaurants in more recent times. 

The full Sunday Times story follows:  

“One of South Africa’s top chefs, Reuben Riffel, has been picked to be the apple of hospitality tycoon Sol Kerzner’s eye.

Riffel - who has gone from eating pig’s head as a youngster to feeding well-heeled patrons his signature ginger and caramel pork belly - will replace famed UK chef Gordon Ramsay at Kerzner’s One&Only hotel in Cape Town. Ramsay’s Maze restaurant was expelled from the premises following rumours of crisis talks earlier this month. In an exclusive interview this week, Riffel recalled the day Kerzner, his daughter, Andrea Kerzner, and Alan Leibman, the president of Kerzner International, visited Reuben’s, his restaurant in Franschhoek. The high-profile party feasted on chilli salt squid starters, blue cheese tomato jam tarts, tomato soup with coconut sorbet and lamb shanks with waterblommetjies. Afterwards, Kerzner made Riffel a business offer he could not refuse. “I was flabbergasted. I mean, to be asked this by such a massive industry person. So I told him I’d think about it,” said Riffel. Leibman was full of praise: “Mr Kerzner enjoyed the experience tremendously, he described the food as bursting with local ingredients, extremely tasty and heart-warming. He was also impressed with the extensive wine selection.”

Riffel’s contract, signed on Tuesday, stipulates that he will man the restaurant at the hotel at least three days a week. This follows on Ramsay’s striking absence from Maze. Reuben’s at the One&Only will be decorated in Riffel’s trademark ox-blood red with bold artworks. “I want it to be more relaxed, unlike the traditional idea of hotel restaurants being stiff, that colonial feeling,” he said. The softly-spoken chef, who was raised in Groendal outside Franschhoek, got his big break when he landed a job at the Chamonix Restaurant in Franschhoek, where his mother worked temporarily as a kitchen hand. He has since risen to become one of South Africa’s most celebrated chefs”.  

The Food & Beverage Assistant Manager at the One&Only Hotel Cape Town has confirmed Reuben’s appointment, as has Maryke, Reuben Riffel’s wife.  Maryke has confirmed that they will take over some of the existing staff at the hotel’s restaurant, and that the Franschhoek and Robertson staff of Reubens will assist in the opening of Reuben’s at the One&Only Cape Town on a temporary basis.  She said that Reuben is itching to get into the One&Only kitchen, to “eat it and smell it”, but will be spending the next few days in Robertson to run a cookery course.

POSTSCRIPT 23/8:  The One&Only Cape Town’s media release, released today, is short and sweet, and appears rushed in containing unforgivable typing errors:

“(23 August 2010) It has been announced that Reuben Riffel - one of South Africa’s best loved celebrity chefs - will open his first urban restaurant at One&Only Cape Town later this year. The annoucement (sic) was made in Cape Town late last week by Alan Leibman, President of Kerzner International (EAME). 

Talking to the annoucement (sic) Sol Kerzner, Chairman and CEO of Kerzner International explained that he had dined at Reuben’s restaurant in Franschhoek while he was in Cape Town over World Cup. “I saw in Reuben an opportunity to capture the essence of South African spirit and pride the world saw as we hosted this major event and invited him to bring his acclaimed local flair to a new restaurant at One&Only Cape Town. We are very pleased to have him on board and feel it’s quite fitting that One&Only’s first urban resort is also the setting for Reuben’s first urban restaurant.”

“I’m really excited and proud about the pending launch of my new restaurant,” said Reuben Riffel. “Reuben’s at One&Only Cape Town will serve wholesome bistro fare, made from locally-sourced produce. With the resort’s central location, I hope to not only introduce my food to more Capetonians, but also visitors to the Mother City. The restaurant will have a sophisticated - but decidedly unfussy - brasserie feel to it, while the food will provide an exciting combination of local flavours appealing to any palette.” 

Reuben’s at One&Only Cape Town will open on Friday 1 October and reservations can be made by calling 021 431 5222 or emailing restaurantreservations@oneandonlycapetown.com“ 

POSTSCRIPT 23/8: Fin24.com writes about the appointment of Reuben Riffel at the One&Only Cape Town today, and questions his denial to them two weeks ago about expanding his Reuben’s restaurant chain: http://www.fin24.com/Business/Gordon-Ramsays-replacement-named-20100822

POSTSCRIPT 31/8: The One&Only Cape Town website describes the opening of Reubens at the One&Only Cape Town as follows:

“One&Only Cape Town is proud to launch Reuben’s first urban restaurant on 1 October 2010. Reuben’s serves deceptively simple, wholesome bistro fare, with fresh flavours, generous portions and beautifully plated dishes. The restaurant has a sophisticated, but unfussy, brasserie feel and the food provides the exciting combination of local flavours that one would expect from one of South Africa’s most loved chefs, Reuben Riffel.

Cape Town has a surplus of hotel beds, mainly at the 5-star level, and it is expected that there will be a major shake-out in this sector after the completion of the World Cup, and “only the fittest will survive”, reports Travel News Now.

Ten new hotels have opened their doors in Cape Town since last year, and include the newest, the Strand Towers, The Pepper Club, Taj Hotel Cape Town (the international monies have been well-spent on this building) , 15 on Orange (which has had money thrown at it by Protea Hotel’s African Pride Hotels), Crystal Towers Hotel, Coral International Cape Town (the first ‘dry’ hotel in the city), One&Only Cape Town (Sol Kerzner is the owner), Cape Royale Luxury Hotel, Harbour Bridge Hotel and Suites, and the Upper East Side Hotel.  Four further hotels are in the pipeline for the city.

If the new hotels were the only ones in town, other accommodation establishments would not feel the current accommodation demand decline and room oversupply so badly.  But a recent statistic shows that Cape Town currently has 84 hotels with 11 584 rooms in total, compared to the national totals of 596 hotels and 65 872 rooms. 

The oversupply of accommodation has led to price-cutting, as the hotels compete to attract declining numbers of visitors to the city.   On average, it is said that most accommodation establishments in Cape Town are 50 % full for the World Cup.

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

On the day before Sir Elton John’s 63rd birthday in Cape Town on 25 March, he expressed a wish to eat pizza after his first concert at Kirstenbosch.  He received an order from little-known pizzeria Ciao Amici in Bergvliet, which has renamed its most popular pizza “Rocket Man” in honour of their most famous customer ever, reports the Sunday Times.

The 16 pizzas he ordered to the value of R 1 490 were described by Sir John as the best pizza he has ever eaten, and therefore the house specialty pizza with rocket, mushrooms, peppers, salami, sun-dried tomatoes and mozarella will be renamed “Rocket Man”, according to the owner Alan Pluke.

Sir John and his partner David Furnish stayed in the presidential suite of the One&Only Cape Town, where he was spotted eating sushi and a club sandwich.   On Tuesday 23 March a R 10 000 a head function was held at the hotel for the Elton John Aids Foundation, which was also attended by One&Only owner Sol Kerzner, Francois Pienaar, and Annie Lennox, who was a surprise performer at Sir John’s concert on the following day, singing ‘Daniel’ to great acclaim from the rain-drenched audience.

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

Since the opening of the One&Only Cape Town last week, Capetonians are coming to check out the hotel, and are having dinner at its two branded restaurants, Nobu and maze.

maze is a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, the first to merge maze Tapas and maze Grills, which are separated elsewhere in the maze world.    Sol Kerzner, the One&Only owner, encouraged Ramsay to add a South African touch to the menu.   The touch is most visible in the dessert menu.

But, to get to the beginning.   We had dinner five days after the opening day.  We were greeted with confusion as to what we should do with the car.  Mistakenly we had assumed we could just drive in at the low key entrance (at night), and a lit up One&Only sign was the only branding one saw upon entering the grounds, surprising for one of the world’s leading hotel operations.   The car problem was quickly solved, when it was valet parked, organised by a most impressive looking and charming doorman, wearing a waistcoat with leopard print over his smart black suit - it looked superb.   Unfortunately this dress theme was not carried through once one steps inside the foyer.  One’s first impression is the stunning chandelier in the Vista Bar.  The Bar has a magnificent view onto Table Mountain in the day, but it is not visible at night.   Staff were on hand, proactively assisting in providing directions for the two restaurants, to the left and right of the bar.

As one comes down the staircase to maze, a manager comes to greet his guests with the reservations list, and one is quickly seated.   The menu is cream-coloured, and its cover understated, with the zen-like maze logo on the outside.   The menu pages number three in total, with a surprising small selection of starters, mains and desserts.   The pleasant surprise was the affordability of the dishes - not inexpensive, but on a par with the more expensive restaurants in Cape Town:  R 160 for a 250 gram South African or Namibian fillet, Karoo lamb at R 130, kingklip at R 90, and dessert prices range from R 60 - R 90.   All side dishes for the main course are charged extra, at R 25 - at that price, the portion sizes are small.   Interesting is that a side order of bobotie can be ordered with one’s steak or fish.   In addition to chips, one can have side orders of sherry mushrooms, mash, braised carrots, french beans, etc.    We learnt that the signature dish of maze is the beetroot salad.

Staff in the hotel wear uniforms designed by local fashion designer Jenni Button.   A strong turquoise blue is used throughout - in the waistcoats of the bar staff, the ties of the male managers, in the scarves/sashes of the female managers.   The less blue the staff member wears in the uniform, the more senior he/she is.

The restaurant interior is very brown, earthy, chocolatey and darkish, with dark woods, and oval-shaped orange lights.  With only a little tea light on the table, it was very hard to read the menu.   Special clip-on reading lights are available, but this was not communicated in advance.   Turquoise is not reflected in the decor at all.   The restaurant carpet had massive geometric blocks on it - garish, hotel-like, but fortunately one’s attention is not on the floor.   Tables for two are on the side, with one person sitting on a fixed bench, not well matched to the height of the table, making this an uncomfortable seat.    The cutlery is beautiful and new, and no table cloths or overlays decorate the tables.    The use of slate as coasters and underplates is unusual but practical.

The winelist is impressive, with 35 pages of varietals of 150 international and  450 local wines, and more than hundred wines-by-the-glass.   Irritating for a winedrinker preferring wines by variety, is the winelist that is arranged by Wine of Origin region.   So, for example, one has to check every region to find a preferred Shiraz.  Complicating this further is the Wine of Origin grouping, so that  Boekenhoutskloof will be found under Paarl, and Franschhoek does not appear at all.   The prices are reasonable - R 590 for the Boekenhoutskloof Shiraz 2006, Meerlust Rubicon is available per vintage, ranging in price from R 560 for the 2004 to R 1 850 for the 1993.

If one compares the service from the superb One&Only sommelier Steven Towler with the waiters at maze, the former wins hands-down.  His personal approach,  extensive knowledge, and ability to assist in selecting a suitable wine could not be matched by his maze counterparts.   The recommendation of a Rijk’s 2004 Shiraz, which had been enjoyed by Nelson Mandela and Sol Kerzner at their lunch in the hotel last week, was spot on, and was priced at a reasonable R 320.   After the main course, a special invitation was extended to show the customers the Wine Loft, with 6 000 beautifully displayed bottles of wine on silver racks in a glass-enclosed space, with its own tasting table, and wines cooled at 18 C.   The cherry on top was the complimentary Joostenberg Chenin Blanc sent to the table with the desserts. 

On the maze side, things were a little slow.   The crayfish starter, priced at R 65 per 100 gram, was beautifully presented on ice, with the meat displayed on the open tail.   It took an hour after the starter was cleared (2 hours after arrival) to be served the main course of a steak and kingklip.   The kingklip was very bland and boring, and served with the skin side up, not very attractive.  It had bones, which was an immediate no-no.   The steak was juicy and good, but served on a Spur-style wooden board that captures the juices.   The main course certainly was a disappointment, in terms of the reasonably small portions, and the bland display of the food, by comparison to the attractive presentation of the starters and desserts.

The dessert list is interesting, with unusual combinations, and almost overdone-South African touches (”melktert, pink grapefruit granite, lemon curd” and ”malva pudding with poached apricots, gingerbread ice cream”).   The most interesting sounding dessert was the “maze peanut butter and cherry jam sandwich with cherry sorbet”.   A delectable range of sorbets (including lime, cream cheese, basil) and ice creams (including gingerbread, honey and milk, smoked salt and almond) can also be ordered, costing only R 15 for three small scoops.   The melktert dessert was disappointing, in that the milk part of it was soft and runny, and not set, as one is accustomed to in South Africa.  Ramsay’s chefs will have to learn how to make their South African dishes.  

The maze waiters are supported by local waiters, and the gap between the service levels is understandable, and will need more training to reduce.   It was encouraging to learn that former Grand Roche sommelier, and ex-Steenberg and Singita staffer Kent Scheermeyer is the Food & Beverage Director of One&Only Cape Town.

The food preparation is largely done inside the restaurant, and electric equipment is used, sounding just like a vacuum cleaner, disturbing the ambiance of the restaurant.

The bill took a long time to come, and had a price error for the crayfish, it being charged at R 500 instead of at the R 130 for the 200 gram ordered.    It took two revisions to get the bill fixed to reflect the correct amount.

The cloakrooms are bizarre, with a glass panel on one wall, and blown-up photographs of a woman’s fishnet stockinged legs, plastered on all the toilet doors.   Bins holding the toweling cloths overflowed and only two of the nine toilets had toilet paper.

maze will improve, and needs to meet the standard of the One&Only Cape Town service levels as far as the wine side of the hotel goes.    Impressive was Assistant Manager Phillip, who came to the table, to request feedback about the evening.

The car was returned promptly, and ten out of ten for the driver for moving the seat back to its original position before getting out of the car.

Sol Kerzner, celebrating his 40 th anniversary of hospitality with the opening of his new One&Only Cape Town last week, told students of the University of Johannesburg that excellent service is one of the most important ways in which hospitality establishments can combat the credit crunch, reports Business Day.   He also recommended patience, in weathering the financial crisis.

Kerzner started his career in South Africa in 1969, and made his mark when he developed Sun City and the Palace of the Lost City in the Eighties.   He left the country when potential legal action was threatened in relation to casino hotels he set up in the then independent “homelands”.    He attracted attention when he opened the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, setting himself up as one of the world’s most successful hotel and casino operators.   He created the One&Only brand, standing for so-called “6 star” service, with hotels in Mauritius, Dubai, Maldives, Mexico, the Bahamas, and now also in Cape Town.

Stating that he made the decision to erect a One&Only in Cape Town in 2003, he speculated that he may not have gone ahead had he known that the world would be in a credit crunch at the time of his hotel’s opening,   “….if I’d known that we’d be 10 to 15 percentage points down on occupancy.”   Some of the One&Only projects have been put on hold due to the world economic crisis, but the Cape Town and Mexico hotel projects went ahead.

Kerzner stated that it was vital that international service standards be maintained at South African hotels.    Therefore well-trained hotel staff is vital for the hospitality industry, as the best planned and best designed hotels can only be as good as the staff that run them, he said.

Many of Kerzner’s staff have been attracted from other leading hotels in Cape Town, including The Table Bay, the Cape Grace, the Mount Nelson, the Grand Roche, and Steenberg Hotel.

The One&Only Cape Town will be launched today, a day ahead of its official opening, with a star-studded cast of VIP’s, but at a ”relatively low key” function of only 400 invited guests, compared to the $20 million owner Sol Kerzner splashed out for the re-opening of his One&Only in Dubai.

Sharon Stone,  Thandie Newton, Robert de Niro and Naomi Campbell head the star-studded VIP list, reports The Times.   Guests at the cocktail-like launch party will be spoiled with a “moveable feast” between Gordon Ramsay’s maze and Nobu Matsuhisa’s Nobu restaurants.    Both chefs have adapted their menus to add South African dishes.    The Banquet Room will be turned into a disco, with international stars, as yet unannounced, performing.

Rates at the One&Only Cape Town in the V&A Waterfront, with 131 rooms, will range between R 6 000 - R 50 000 per night.   Staff uniforms have been designed by local designer Jenni Button, and are made from pure silk.

Sol Kerzner, owner of the luxury hotel group One&Only,  is turning on his PR campaign to publicise the opening of his newest hotel in the Waterfront in April.

On Thursday evening Kerzner had 40 guests over for dinner, at his Leeukoppie Estate in Hout Bay, to give leaders in tourism, fashion and media a taste of the new restaurants that are set to open in the new One&Only.    maze and Nobu, two top international restaurants, owned by Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa, respectively, will be two major attractions in the hotel.   The guests were also introduced to the New York-based interior designer Adam Tihany.

In an article about the networking dinner in The TImes, the writer states Kerzner’s home could do with some of Tihany’s decor, the African curios being described by a guest as “bad, bad Greenmarket Square”.

 The opening function will not match that of the recent spectacular One&Only opening in Dubai, the newspaper reports.

Sol Kerzner’s One&Only in the Waterfront is set to open on 4 April, the construction work to be completed in an unheard of four months ahead of schedule.

The new Gordon Ramsay restaurant Maze will also open that day, reports TravelHub.  The restaurant has 170 seats and the menu will include seafood, game and organic foods.   More than 6 000 South African wines will be available to patrons.

Camps Bay became the temporary home and eating place to a number of celebrity visitors to Cape Town over the festive season, reports The Times.

The Grand Cafe was the dinner venue for John Cleese (of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame), Adrian Brophy (Oscar winning actor), Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings), Sir Richard Branson, and Queen drummer Roger Taylor.  Cleese left a card behind which praised the restaurant’s “wonderful lobster and CHEAP”!

Sir Richard Branson also entertained 13 ladies at Blues, and 30 guests at Paranga for New Year’s eve lunch.   He rented a six-bedroom house in Camps Bay, as did the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and her two daughters, the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.  

Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, former SA TV talk-show queen and ex-South African Tourism representative in the USA, partied with her daughters in Camps Bay, before seeing in the New Year at Sol Kerzner’s estate in Hout Bay, a party attended by Sarah Ferguson and her princess daughters as well.

Sir Elton John and Jamie Oliver were spotted in Cape Town over this period as well.

Sol Kerzner, owner of the One&Only hotel group, which is opening a new hotel in the Waterfront in May, and was the visionary creator of Sun City and the Palace of the Lost City, celebrated the new year with 300 friends and family at his Leeukoppie Estate in Hout Bay on New Year’s Eve.

While Kerzner lives in the UK now, he chose sunny Cape Town to entertain VIP guests including John Cleese, spotted at The Grand Cafe in Camps Bay the week before, Sir Richard Branson, and Sarah, Duchess of York and her two daughters, the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, reports The Times (renamed from the Sunday Times).

The newspaper reports that “showgirls” served the Moet & Chandon, while guests dined on Beluga caviar, oysters, crayfish, braaied chops and chicken, and pancakes.  The crowning glory was a “magnificent” fireworks display at midnight.