Entries tagged with “The Food Barn”.
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Mon 12 Apr 2010
Col’Cacchio Pizzeria is running the second Celebrity Chef series from this month onwards, for the next six months, once again linking a celebrity chef to a pizza once a month, but this time around, a country is linked to the chef as well, in honour of the World Cup.
Interestingly, despite FIFA’s strict ambush marketing rules, the Col’Cacchio newsletter ‘grazie!’ is initially shy in referring to the ”World Cup”, yet has a box in the newsletter that states boldly: “The perfect place to gather pre, post or during the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP… We take the hassle out of organising your soccer party”!
This month chef Michael Broughton of Terroir in Stellenbosch, a Top 10 restaurant, is representing Italy with his Michelangelo pizza, containing an interesting mix of figs, potato, garlic braised rocket, fontina cheese, parma ham, a drizzle of truffle oil, and fresh origanum.
In May another Top 10 chef, David Higgs of Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch, will represent Mexico with his Nacho Libre pizza, containing ‘jerk spiced chicken breast strips, home-made guacamole, freshly chopped tomato chilli salsa, fresh coriander & sour cream’.
In June Jodi-Ann Pearton of The Food Design Agency, a catering company, food consultancy and cookery school in Johannesburg, represents South Africa with a Bunny Chow Calzone, which is a folded pizza containing tandoori chicken and tomato chow, served with fresh coriander and Mrs Ball’s chutney.
The names of the gourmet pizzas that the chefs will present in July - September have not yet been released, but the names of the chefs and the countries they will represent are available. Franck Dangereux, owner of The Foodbarn, and a previous Top 10 chef whilst at La Colombe, is the gourmet pizza chef in July and represents France. Chef Nicky Gibbs, from The Westcliff hotel in Johannesburg, will represent Argentina in her gourmet pizza in August. In September Top 10 chef Chantel Dartnall, who came second in the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards in November, of Restaurant Mosaic in Pretoria, will represent Denmark.
For every gourmet pizza sold at R 95, R 5 of the price goes to the Children’s Hospital Trust, the fundraising charity of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, and to its Burns’ Unit in particular. Last year Col’Cacchio ran a similar Celebrity Chef promotion, and the R 120 000 which was raised was donated to the Hospital for the purchase of specialised surgical equipment for the new operating theatre.
Col’Cacchio has eight franchise outlets in the Cape, including Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, Camps Bay, Canal Walk, Cavendish, Willowbridge and Blouberg, as well as eight outlets in Gauteng and one in KwaZulu-Natal.
For more details about Col’Cacchio’s Celebrity Chef series, see www.colcacchio.co.za
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Blouberg, Burns' Unit, Camps Bay, Canal Walk, Cavendish, Celebrity Chef series, Chantel Dartnall, charity, Children's Hospital Trust, Chris von Ulmenstein, Col'Cacchio Pizzeria, David Higgs, FIFA's ambush marketing rules, Franck Dangereux, Franschhoek, gourmet pizza, Jodi-Ann Pearton, La Colombe, Michael Broughton, Mrs Ball's chutney, Nicky Gibbs, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Restaurant Mosaic, Rust en Vrede, Stellenbosch, The Food Barn, The Food Design Agency, The Westcliff hotel, Top 10 restaurant, Whale Cottage Portfolio, Willowbridge, World Cup
Mon 23 Nov 2009
The Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list can make, or break, restaurants, and so the tension in the ballroom of the Westin Grand Hotel in Cape Town was high when the top restaurant awards were announced last night.
Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly indicated that the choice for this year’s Top 10 was very tough, and clarified that a chef owning more than one restaurant (e.g. Reuben Riffel) could be eligible for an award, as could a chef who will spend more time away from his namesake restaurant (George Jardine), at his new Country Restaurant at Jordan winery in Stellenbosch. In recent years a Top 20 list is announced a few months prior to the November highlight, and this year the new players on this list were The Round House in Camps Bay (who bravely stated at their inception that they want to be the best restaurant in Africa, and who are very Big Brother as far as observing their patrons is concerned), the Green House in the Cellars Hohenhort hotel, and Carne.
The scoring for the restaurants was 70 % for the food, 20 % for the service and 10 % for the ambiance. Restaurants had to have operated for a minimum of a year to be considered, the owner and the chef had to show a passion for their business, they had to show a dedication to uplift the industry, they had to show that quality sourcing of their supplies is important, and consistency and excellence had to be their foundation.
The winners of the 2010 Prudential Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards are as follows, in order of rank:
1. La Colombe in Constantia
2. Restaurant Mosaic in Pretoria
3. Rust en Vrede Restaurant in Stellenbosch
4. Terroir in Stellenbosch
5. The Roundhouse in Camps Bay
6. The Restaurant at Grande Provence in Franschhoek
7. The Green House at the Cellars in Constantia
8. Roots in Johannesburg
9. 9th Avenue Bistro in Durban
10. Overture in Stellenbosch and the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek.
The tension, excitement and shock was felt by all when the winners were announced. The first surprise of the evening was that Abigail Donnelly, the editor of Eat Out magazine, had created two new Award categories, in which only she had a say in the winners. The Best Country Kitchen Award went to a perennial favourite - Marianna’s in Stanford - while, very surprisingly, the other new category was Best Bistro, which was won by Bizerca Bistro in Cape Town, a top 20 Award finalist. This made it clear that Bizerca would not make the Top 10 Eat Out Awards list for 2010. Many heads were shaking, and it sounded as if Bizerca had won a consolation prize.
The next shock was that the 10th place winner was a jointly placed Overture and the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, once again sounding as if the judges could not decide which of the two restaurants to drop into 11th position, making both these restaurants joint 10th winners, and thus creating an Eat Out Top 11 Restaurants Awards this year! The list also created a stir in that Jardine fell out of the top list completely (from number 2 last year), as did Hartford House. La Colombe, 9th Avenue Bistro, Mosaic, Terroir, The Tasting Room, Roots and Overture were all on the Top 10 restaurant list last year. Restaurants that were on the Top 20 list, but which did not make the Top 10 list, are Reubens, Carne, Aubergine, Bread and Wine, The Food Barn, Hartford House, Zachary’s, Bizerca Bistro and Jardine.
Chantel Dartnall of Mosaic won the Chef of the Year award. Rust en Vrede won the Service Excellence award.
Cape Town and the Winelands retain their reputation as the gourmet centre of South Africa, three awards going to Cape Town and Stellenbosch restaurants each, and two to Franschhoek restaurants.
The 5-star Westin Grand Hotel disappointed hugely as the venue hosting an awards evening recognising the best of gourmet cooking and service in South Africa. Its standards have dropped significantly compared to the slick function a year ago. Luke warm waters and white wines were served, the service staff were initially unable to cope, and the airconditioning did not operate at an acceptable level.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio : www.whalecottage.com
Tags: 9th Avenue, Abigail Donnelly, Aubergine, Best Bistro, Best Country Kitchen, Bizerca Bistro, Bread and Wine, Cape Town, Carne, Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel, Chantel Dartnall, Chef of the Year, Chris von Ulmenstein, Country Restaurant at Jordan winery, Franschhoek, George Jardine, Gourmet, Hartford House, La Colombe, Mariana's, Overture, Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards, Restaurant Mosiac, restaurants, Reuben Riffel, Reubens, Roots, Rust en Vrede, Service Excellence Award, Stellenbosch, terroir, The Food Barn, the Green House, The Restaurant at Grande Provence, The Roundhouse, The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, Westin Grand Hotel, Whale Cottage Portfolio, Winelands, Zachary's
Wed 10 Jun 2009
FEDHASA Cape, the hospitality association, appears to focus on the restaurants closing down on Cape Town, as opposed to saluting the new restaurants opening in these most difficult times. One of the new restaurants to open is The Quarter, the gourmet bunny-chow restaurant of Bruce Robertson, the previous owner of The Showroom, which closed in April.
FEDHASA has publicly listed restaurants that have not closed down when they went into liquidation, over-dramatising the severity of the effect of the recession on restaurants - Summerville in Camps Bay is one such example, which is alive and well and living!
Despite the recession, the hospitality industry has a lot to be grateful for - bookings are still rolling in for the summer months ahead, for World Cup 2010, and for the two British and Irish Lions’ rugby matches to be played in Cape Town on 13 and 23 June, ensuring that Cape Town will be full around these dates.
The restaurant industry has had it good for many years, and the number of new restaurants opening up is testimony to the fact that they have received good support from Capetonians. Those restaurants that are arrogant, that do not deliver good service, and that do not understand that value for money is key for customers, will feel the economic pinch. Cape Town has a seasonality problem, and guest houses led the way many years ago in reducing their rates by up to 50 % in the winter months. For the first time ever, restaurants are offering excellent winter specials. An e-mail doing the rounds lists 30 restaurants with winter specials. These include specials at Aubergine, Beluga, Bungalow, Cafe Caprice, Catharina’s, Five Flies, Myoga, Sinns, Pepenero, Tank, The Food Barn, The Kove, Tuscany Beach, Buitenverwachting, Constantia Uitsig, Cuvee, La Colombe, Terroir, Cape Colony and Salt.
Statements made by Rey Franco of FEDHASA are publicity opportunities for the four restaurants that he is the commercial manager of, rather than in providing a balanced view of the whole hospitality industry. They also do not offer advice as to how businesses in the hospitality industry can stay alive in this recession.
Tags: Aubergine, Beluga, Bruce Robertson, Buitenverwachting, Bungalow, Cafe Caprice, Camps Bay, Cape Colony, Cape Town, Catharina's, Constantia Uitsig, Cuvee, FEDHASA, Five Flies, hospitality industry, La Colombe, Lions' rugby tour, Myoga, pepenero, restaurants, Rey Franco, Salt, Sinns, Summerville, Tank, terroir, The Food Barn, The KOve, The Quarter, The Showroom, Tuscany Beach, World Cup 2010
Col’Cacchio Pizzeria is running the second Celebrity Chef series from this month onwards, for the next six months, once again linking a celebrity chef to a pizza once a month, but this time around, a country is linked to the chef as well, in honour of the World Cup. 
