Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

The Sweet Service Award goes to the Greek Fisherman restaurant in the V & A Waterfront, which generously hosted members of the Camps Bay Accommodation association, as well as other guest house owners, for a dinner earlier this week.   Partnering with Asara wine estate, who sponsored the wines, the restaurant kept a steady flow of Greek specialities such as souvlaki, calamari, mussels, spinach and ricotta ravioli, haloumi cheese, and prawns coming to the tables.   Efaristo!

The Sour Service Award goes to the V & A Waterfront, for its lack of customer care.  As if its lack of concern about the regular feedback in newspapers about its high parking fees, and the resultant public declarations from locals that they will not return to the shopping centre, is not enough, it now has a new way to ensure that Capetonians will stay away from the Waterfront for the next month.  An upgrade of its airconditioning, which commenced last week without warning to customers and tenants, is scheduled to last until 16 November.   During this period an operational level of 20 % airconditioning has been promised.   On Sunday evening a customer picked up the incredible heat in the passage near Melissa’s, as if one had entered an oven, and was told by the Melissa’s staff that the airconditioner was broken.  Thereafter the customer bought a movie ticket for the 3,5 hour long ‘Last Night of the Proms’ at the Cinema Nouveau, and was not told by the staff that the airconditioning was not working there too.  The staff referred the cinema-goer to the notice from the Waterfront’s retail management company Lexshell 44 General Trading (Pty) Ltd., which was stuck on each movie house door.   The Manager at Cinema Nouveau, Liziwe Maningjwa,  was not interested in discussing the matter with the cinema-goer, and in fact told the customer to go to the media, as she was not interested in sorting out the problem.   A visit to Belthazar on Wednesday evening was unbearable, in terms of the extreme heat inside the restaurant, despite all efforts by the restaurant to open all its doors to cool things down.  The restaurant’s biggest concern is keeping its customers, but also importantly its large and expensive stock of wines, cool.  A call from the V & A Marketing department expressed surprise that the customer’s message should go to the media, and communicated that a media campaign is to be launched, to explain to customers that there is a problem with the airconditioning, and that the retail center will set up 25 temporary airconditioners for the next month.   These units have yet to be installed!   The aircon problem affects the whole of the “old” section of the shopping centre - i.e. the wing that was developed originally.  This includes the Red Shed, the food court, both the Nu Metro and Cinema Nouveau movie houses, the offices, restaurants such as Belthezar, Cape Town Fish Market, Krugman’s Grill, Haagen-Dasz, San Marco, Sevruga, Santa Ana Spur, Wang Thai, 221 Waterfront, and Ocean Basket, the Post Office, and all the shops in this wing.   Not only is the V & A Waterfront ripping customers off in terms of parking fees (it cost R 30 for the parking fee to see the movie), but now one can also endure a free unwanted sauna in the V & A Waterfront!

The Sweet Service Award goes to Ian Halfon and his team at Belthazar restaurant, a consistent winner of the Best Restaurant in the V & A Waterfront Award.   Halfon is a busy man, also owning Balducci’s in the V & A Waterfront, and a franchised collection of St Elmo’s woodfired pizza branches around the country.   However, he is not too busy to be hands-on at Belthazar, last evening even helping in the kitchen, complete with his chef’s uniform, and to make time to chat to his customers, and to offer them a glass of wine.   Belthazar offers one of the largest collections of wines-by-the-glass in South African restaurants, and serves excellent quality steaks in particular.   The food, service and wine range offered is exemplary. 

The Sour Service Award goes to Robben Island, for closing just before the Heritage Day long weekend, due to a technical problem with its ferry.   The company announced the “indefinite” suspension of the service, while it waited for a replacement part to be flown in from Germany.   Tourists who had booked tickets were met with a notice, and were not contacted by the company.   No contingency planning had taken place, over a weekend that saw the first signs of a recovery from the poor tourism weeks preceding Heritage Day.   The ferry trips appear to not have been re-instated, judging by Robben Island’s website.   Robben Island’s management is regularly in the news, for alleged financial irregularities and overspending.   The Island is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cape Town, and it reflects badly on the professionalism of Cape Town as a tourist destination, especially given the 2010 World Cup being just over 200 days away.

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.

The Western Cape province and the BBC have signed a deal, which allows the BBC to set up its broadcasting headquarters on top of the Somerset Hospital close to the new Cape Town stadium, and adjacent to the V & A Waterfront, reports the Cape Times.

A special glass top roof will be constructed on top of the hospital building, allowing the BBC to broadcast the 2010 World Cup from Cape Town with a view of Table Mountain, and of the Cape Town Stadium.  Soccer star Gary Lineker will be the BBC’s host for the soccer event.    The studio will not interfere with the operation of the hospital.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed, the agreement between the two parties prohibiting this information from being supplied.

The official FIFA Media Centre will be in Johannesburg, but Cape Town is a popular location for international broadcasters, says the province’s 2010 World Cup co-ordinator Dr Laurine Platzky.

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

More restaurant opening and movement news continues to reach WhaleTales.

Klein Genot is ending its relationship with Mark Radnay, of the Overture partnership with Top 10 chef Bertus Basson, after a one-year marriage, due to the restaurant not being financially viable, says Basson.   Angie Diamond, the owner of the luxury 5-star Klein Genot boutique hotel and winery called WhaleTales to say that she is taking over the Genot restaurant, with a name refinement to Genot Restaurant Cigar Bar, from 1 November, and is celebrating the opening with a Frank Sinatra tribute evening on 5 November, and a jazz evening on 6 November.    Diamond says her new restaurant model is Baia, the upmarket seafood restaurant in the V & A Waterfront, but at far reduced prices.  Starters range in price from R 38 for sardines to R 68 for parma ham and melon, with mussel and prawn starters costing R 58.   Salads average R 48, and the fish main courses range between R 78 for the calamari and sole to R 98 for baby kingklip.   Meat dishes range from R 78 for a spatchcock chicken to R 138 for rack of lamb. Pasta dishes are available at R 48 - 58, and desserts cost R 48 each.  Live music will be offered on Friday and Saturday evenings.   The restaurant is also offering a new service to guest houses, with complimentary transfers to the restaurant.   Genot is also offering picnic baskets, to be enjoyed at 20 picnic spots along the riverbank of the wine estate.

Overture restaurant on the Hidden Valley wine estate outside Stellenbosch is going from strength to strength, and chef Bertus Basson says a younger more affluent clientele is booking at the restaurant.   A sommelier starts at Overture at the beginning of October.   The sister catering company has been awarded the catering for all events at Lourensford, and will be moving its operation to the Somerset West wine estate.

Chef Bruce Robertson has revealed that two of his current restaurant consulting projects are for two hotels managed by Queensgate Holdings.  The Upper East Side Hotel is opening as a 4-star conference hotel in Woodstock in May 2010, and Robertson is setting up a 260-seater restaurant and kitchen.   He is also setting up the 160-seater restaurant and kitchen for the hotel Queensgate is opening in Pearl House on Adderley Street,   Furthermore, Robertson is setting up a gourmet picnic service at Warwick Estate in November, according to a recent tweet from Mike Ratcliffe (”Gourmet picnic project with Chef Bruce Robertson taking shape”).   About the Franschhoek restaurant that he is helping to set up, Robertson is staying mum, only revealing that it is on a wine estate.   Robertson has also become a gourmet tour guide, and has teamed up with Bon Appetit magazine and Ryan Hilton from AdmiralityTravel to bring tour groups from the USA to South Africa, with Robertson taking them to unusual gourmet highlights, including slowfood, outstanding herb gardens, wine biodiversity, and cooking for his guests.

More than seventy restaurants received 2010 American Express Platinum Fine Dining Awards this month, 13 of these going to new restaurants winners, reports TravelWires.   The new restaurant winners in the Western Cape include Bizerca, Gold, Salt, The Pavilion in Hermanus, Grande Provence, and Rust en Vrede.  Those from other parts of the country, receiving the Awards for the first time, include Mastrantonio, Osteria Tre Nonni, Sel et Poivre, Harvey’s, Roma Revolving Restaurant, and Orange.   The Award winners are judged on the basis of cuisine, service, wine list, decor, ambiance and overall excellence and consistency.   Standards are checked regularly, says American Express.

The Caviar Group of restaurants, which already includes Beluga and Sevruga, as well as the Caviar deli in the V & A Waterfront, is opening its first non-caviar named restaurant, to be called Blonde.   Its newsletter is keeping the location of the new restaurant a secret, but hints at the decor and style as follows:  it will be a 120-seater restaurant offering ‘fine-dining cuisine’, and will only be open in the evenings.  It is in a Victorian building, it has a ’seductive interior of bar and lounge’, it has ’couches covered in rich fabrics, the gorgeous wooden floors and high ceilings, to the crisp white linen, designer chairs, beautiful staircase, and romantic balcony”  They gush on : “One thing’s for sure.  Blonde will be in a class of its own.   We love Blonde!”   It refers one to the website www.blondedining.co.za for more information, but there is none!  Caviar’s design agency Malossol has tweeted on Twitter that they are currently designing a Caviar “group menu”, which means that Blonde could be opening soon.

Ginja restaurant, currently located off Buitengracht Street, in a building which has not benefited the image of the restaurant, and once a national top 10 restaurant, is said to move to the building in which Nova restaurant was, on New Union Street in the City Bowl.

George Jardine of Jardines is said to be opening the new restaurant on Jordan Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, and to be moving to the Winelands, for a lifestyle change.

Allee Bleue’s plans to open a fine dining restaurant lower down on the Franschhoek estate appear to be on ice, due to the economic climate.   However, construction work on its second informal restaurant linked to its wine tasting venue, adjacent to the security entrance, is almost complete.

Few details are available about the restaurant which is opening at La Motte wine estate. About ten days ago Hein Koegelenberg, the owner, posted the following blog post: “Construction of La Motte’s restaurant and art gallery is coming along nicely on the grounds of the estate in Franschhoek….A bridge will connect the restaurant and the tasting room.  Whilst the team …is working hard to build the structure, other teams are equally busy to make sure that the restaurant and gallery are going to be world class and offer unforgettable experiences”. 

Reuben and Maryke Riffel’s baby daughter Latika was born last Monday.   Congratulations go to them from all at Whale Cottage.

DoppioZero in Main Road, Green Point, has an impressive decor, with the luxury of space.  It has opened a bakery in the restaurant, with breads, rolls, croissants, cakes and other sweet treats for sale.   The franchisor was hands-on in the restaurant last weekend, serving customers, and checking customer satisfaction, to ensure the success of this newest restaurant in the franchise chain, having opened less than 2 weeks ago.   An interesting and clever service offered by the restaurant is a “mess-bib”, Doppio branded, which is put around patrons eating pasta or any dishes with a sauce.

New restaurant Le Tique opens in the Sugar Hotel on Main Road in Green Point tomorrow.   Restaurant-lovers can pay R 250 each to attend the opening.  “Entice yourself with the finest gourmet from the earliest renaissance, contemporary twisted, French with a hint of European Influences. Featuring South Africa’s Finest Venison.  Platinum wines of this worlds, proudly South African viticulture. Bellini’s & cocktails to lure your fantasies” is the copy contained in the invitation.

Basil O’Hagan, whose O’Hagan’s pub chain was liquidated 8 years ago, is reinventing himself and has launched a new pub and restaurant chain called Brazen Head, with 23 pubs planned for the greater Cape Town area in the next ten years, including the city center, Hermanus, Paarl, Somerset West, George, Knysna, and Tygervalley.   An outlet is already trading in Stellenbosch, reports Cape Business News, and other Brazen Head pubs are already operating in Gauteng.

Bukhara was to have re-opened its restaurant in Burg Street, but the person answering the call yesterday said that there is no opening date in sight yet, it probably being another 2 - 3 weeks.   Bukhara is doing renovations and repairwork after a fire caused damage in the restaurant some time ago.   A restricted Bukhara menu is available at Haiku, the sister restaurant downstairs from Bukhara.

Late casualties of the credit crunch are Aqua D’or and the Franschhoek Water Company, both of which have closed down.  The Franschhoek Water Company was the supplier of the L’Aubade and Franschhoek mineral water brands.  Earlier this year the Franschhoek Water Company had handed over the distribution of its water brands to Aqua D’or, but took the distribution back when customers complained about the poor service from Aqua D’or. NOTE: SINCE THIS POST WAS WRITTEN, AQUAD’OR HAVE CONTACTED WHALETALES TO DENY THEIR CLOSURE.  THE INFORMATION OF THE CLOSURE WAS INDUSTRY TALK, AND WHEN THE COMPANY WAS CALLED FOR CONFIRMATION, THE SALES AND ADMIN DEPARTMENT LINES JUST RANG, WHICH WAS TAKEN AS A CONFIRMATION OF THE CLOSURE OF THE COMPANY.  EARLIER THIS YEAR AQUA D’OR FACED PROVISIONAL LIQUIDATION.   WE APOLOGISE TO AQUA D’OR FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE WHICH THIS POST MAY HAVE CREATED.

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

The Sweet Service Award  goes to Mark, the Manager at Willoughby & Co in the V & A Waterfront, for reversing a potential Sour Award into a Sweet Award.   A customer went to Willoughby’s just after 22h00, after seeing a movie, wanting a quick calamari meal.  Initially she was completely ignored.  A waiter then asked how she could be assisted, and when she said what she wanted to eat, he apologised, saying that the restaurant was closed, even though all the doors were wide open.   He was adamant that the kitchen had been cleaned up already.  According to him, the kitchen closes promptly at 22h00.   The customer asked whether it was possible to have sushi instead, and the sushi chef agreed immediately and made a hand roll most promptly.   Just at that point Mark arrived at the restaurant, and had heard that there was a problem, and came to the customer.  He expressed surprise that the closing time had been communicated as 22h00, as it is 22h30.  He immediately offered to have the calamari dish prepared.  It was delicious.  The “crowning glory” was that Mark refused to accept payment for the meal, a most generous make-good, and a sure way to build brand loyalty.  

The Sour Service Award  goes to Daniel of Planet Fitness in Durbanville, for calling a guest house in Camps Bay at 15h00 on a Sunday afternoon, to check if it had received undefined vouchers.   Daniel made it sound as if he was a long-lost friend, and as if the recipient of the call would know who he is.   He was told that direct marketing calls on a Sunday afternoon for business purposes were not professional.   His boss Heinrich agreed and apologised.  However, a day later, another person from Planet Fitness in Durbanville called, with the same question.   The recipient of the call had to explain to the caller that it was extremely unlikely that a Camps Bay resident or guest house guest would drive all the way to Durbanville, a journey of 30 - 45 minutes, depending on traffic, to use the gym!

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.

The movie ‘Disgrace’, which is based on Nobel prize winner JM Coetzee’s Booker Prize winning book by the same title, is a beautifully shot movie, depicting South Africa’s beauty, as well as its social complexity, and should stimulate tourism to this country, if the viewers can look past the shocking depiction of the crime stereotype associated with South Africa.  The movie is set in Cape Town, Grahamstown and on a farm in the Eastern Cape.  It has just started screening locally.

Starring John Malkovitch as UCT Professor David Lurie, fortunately without any attempt to speak with a South African accent, all other actors are South African, and make one feel that one knows characters such as those depicted in the movie, and that one can empathise with them.   At all times the Malkovitch character feels to be the odd one out.

A Cape Argus review summarises the book and the movie as follows: “Like the book, there’s a definite sense that the person who created this piece of art loves the country and doesn’t understand the people.”  Local actress  and radio presenter Natalie Becker also stars in the film, as does South African actress Jessica Haines.  DO Productions in Cape Town co-produced the movie.

The book originally caused an outcry, being criticised for reinforcing racial stereotypes, despite the new South Africa.    Coetzee left for Australia soon after writing the book, and now lives there.   The director and screenwriter are an Australian couple, yet seem to have an excellent grip in representing life in South Africa.

The movie is showing at the Cinema Nouveau movie houses at Cavendish Square and the V&A Waterfront, as well as at Canal Walk, and was a winner at the Toronto and Middle East Film Festivals.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com 

Reubens opened a branch in Robertson yesterday, when The Robertson Small Hotel opened, with Reubens as its restaurant.   It is housed in the Zandvliet building, a National Monument built in 1909, reports wine.co.za. The hotel belongs to Tim Rands of Franschhoek, who is one of Reuben Riffel’s partners in the Reubens Franschhoek restaurant.

Another new restaurant set to open in October in the new Cape Quarter extension in De Waterkant is Vanilla, belonging to Nigel and Simon Newhouse of Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay.   Boldly they are opening a 180-seater fine-dining restaurant in the new top one-stop design and decor centre on Somerset Road.    Matthew Gordon, owner of Haute Cabriere and the French Connection and co-owner of Cotage Fromage, is the consultant chef for the new restaurant.  It will sport a baby grand, and will serve musical treats as well.

Balducci’s in the V & A Waterfront has radically amended its menu, now in a small magazine size format and carrying ads for its suppliers’ products, and has a strong Italian flavour, strengthening its heritage with more pizza (27 unique combinations to  choose from, ranging in price from R 59 - R 75) and pasta, retaining its antipasti starters and salads, its seafood, steak (R 130 for a fillet), and expensive desserts (R 49 - 59).    A non-Italian addition is a range of burgers, from R 55 for a classic to R 75 for a luxury lamb burger and guacamole, with other burger variations including ostrich, chicken, vegetarian, swiss cheese, bacon guacamole, and gorgonzola.   The new menu looks far less pretentious than before, and is more comfort food-orientated, to suit the credit crunch times.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Caviar is the third outlet to be opened by the industrious team owning Beluga and Sevruga restaurants, in De Waterkant and the V & A Waterfront respectively.

Having just opened as a retail outlet in the V & A Waterfront, next to Vida e’ Caffe and in the place of a chocolate shop, Caviar does not live up to its name in terms of the image its brand name represents, nor in terms of its stock sold.   The unimaginatively designed mini-deli has a number of fridges with a higgeldy-piggeldy selection of vacuum-packed steak and other meat cuts; of delicious pates; cheeses; flavoured butters, a selection of desserts; a selection of salads, all with the base ingredient of pasta and a few bits of duck or chicken; colddrinks; oh, and of course, a few containers of caviar! The prices appear reasonable, at around R 20 a dessert portion, and R 30 for the salads.

It is hard to see a focus in the outlet.  Two staff members seem uncertain about how to deal with customers.   There is so little space, that two staff seem one too many.  As a customer one is not sure if one may look at and open the fridges oneself.   No pricelist is available - the staff say it may be finalised in mid-August.

It will be interesting to see how Caviar and Melissa’s, diagonally opposite each other, compete against each other, in that some products they sell are similar.

The packaging for Caviar has its website printed as www.caviar.co.za, but the website is still under construction.   It would appear that the ‘Caviar Group of restaurants’ will be the company’s collective name, a branding problem when one of the outlets carries the same name, and is not a restaurant at all, even though a few tables and chairs allow one to eat the products there and then, probably out of the plastic containers.   Nothing encourages one to sit down.

Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com

Two celebrities, David Hasselhoff and Orlando Bloom, have been spotted in Camps Bay in the past two days, reports the Life is Savage blogsite.

Orlando Bloom was spotted at Cafe Caprice, one of Camps Bay’s hottest spots, on Sunday, while David Hasselhoff was spotted joining a game of volleyball in a red swimsuit on Camps Bay beach yesterday.   The weekend winter weather has been summer-like at about 26 C.

Camps Bay is one of the most desirable locations for tourists to stay in Cape Town - it has beautiful views, a selection of 25 restaurants, two hotels and a collection of top guest houses and B & B’s, and is 10 minutes to town and 15 minutes to the V & A Waterfront.

Photographs of both stars can be seen at http://mcsavage.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/orlandos-bloom-seen-caprice/

Whale Cottage Portfolio :  www.whalecottage.com

The owners of the QE2 have applied to the Cape Town port authorities for permission to berth in the harbour, reports MailOnline.

The owners of the luxury liner,  Dubai World, also own the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.   Given the poor economic conditions in Dubai currently, and the need for accommodation in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the owners have planned to bring the ship to Cape Town.   The ship would also serve as a tourist attraction, with tours on-board for tourists planned.

The liner was set to have become a floating hotel on Dubai’s man-made Palm Jumeirah island.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com