Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

The Rhubarb Room is the cutest decor/coffee shop hidden away on Upper Buitengracht Street in Bo-Kaap.  It attracted attention again, after previous visits, when its logo was spotted on the @2oceansvibe blog, listed as one of the sponsorship logos ”Seth Rotherham”, the blog owner who uses this pseudonym (his real name is Will Mellor), lists on his blog.  Mellor is the “king” of bloggers, and has a large following, both on his blog and on Twitter.   A @2oceansvibe sponsorship can be worth gold, given the top brands that are listed as sponsors, their fees affording Mellor to enjoy a lifestyle without work, mainly hanging out in Camps Bay in general, and at Caprice in particular.

I asked Lauren Marshall, the Rhubarb Room co-owner, how she got to get her brand on the @2oceansvibe website.   She appears to have a trade-exchange deal with Mellor, resulting from her boyfriend, Jason Slinger, being a friend of Mellor.  Slinger negotiated the use of the penthouse in the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel for Mellor.   Lauren sounds chuffed about the news of her branding on the illustrious website.   She admits that she has not yet embraced social media marketing, and Twitter in particular, and she is given a shorthand course and a set of notes!

The Rhubarb Room has more than half of its space dedicated to a decor shop, as well as a clothes shop in a separate room.   One feels at home immediately, sitting in the shop, or on the terrace looking on to Table Mountain, at non-matching eclectic tables and chairs, adding to the charm.   The far wall has a rhubarb-and-white stripe painted pattern, which is the only evidence of the name.  I asked co-owner Sone’ Jacobs how their name came about, and she explained that the building exterior was the colour of rhubarb originally, when Lauren and her mother Maureen Marshall first used the building as an interior decor shop.  The building has since been painted a brown colour.

The menu is so informal that it is not on paper.  Lauren tells you the options as far as salads and sandwiches go for lunch, as well as a selection of cakes, some of which come from Jardines, she admits.   The coffee is Illy, and the cappuccinos are excellent.   Lauren types up the menu so that I can take a copy with me.   She says that the menu changes daily.    For breakfast one can have fresh fruit and muesli at R 32, a fresh fruit smoothie at R 18, or muffins.   Sandwiches cost R 38, and a choice of Gypsy ham, cheddar cheese and onion marmalade; and roast chicken, rocket and parmesan is offered, while salads cost R 45 for two choices: parma ham, nectarine and parmesan; and roast chicken, feta, red pepper and rocket (the salad was served with balsamic vinegar, and the olive oil was optional - I would have preferred it the other way around) - yet was very tasty.  Cakes include fresh blueberry and coconut; baby chocolate cakes with pistachio chocolate icing; and apple slices, all costing R 20.

Lauren’s mother Maureen and I connect, around having a dentist (Dr Toni Bedford) in common, and knowing two persons who have just passed away.  When I left it felt as if I had spent the whole afternoon at the Rhubarb Room and not just an hour, and really enjoyed the friendliness and the connections.

Rhubarb Room, 142 Buitengracht Street (i.e. Upper Buitengracht Street), Bo-Kaap, tel 021 424 2004, www.rhubarbroom.co.za.  Open Mondays to Fridays from 9h00 - 17h00, and on Saturdays from 9h00 - 14h00.

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

Cafe Peroni is bringing Italian flair to Camps Bay in Cape Town for the next three weekends, when the cool Italian beer brand Peroni sets up its home base at Bungalow on the Camps Bay beachfront.

For the next three weekends a different Italian theme will focus on fashion elements of Italian style and design.  This weekend it is Italian dining that is the focus, fitting for the Argus Cycle Tour, if it is pasta that they serve.  

Next weekend (19 - 21 March), it is Italian movies that come into focus, and Fellini’s ‘La Dolce Vita’, ‘La Strada’ and ‘The Italian Job’ will be some of the movies featured.

On the last weekend (26 - 28 March) it is Italian fashion that will sizzle, with Peroni models wearing Fabiani and Energy, spraying Armani and Versace fragrance spritzes. 

Cafe’ Peroni will be operating from Bungalow from 12h00 - 23h00 on Fridays - Sundays for the three weekends of March.   ‘Peroni e’ l’espressione dello stile Italiano’, says the marketing e-mail, promising “style, food, flair and class - the very essence of Italy”.

Bungalow, Victoria Road, Camps Bay, tel 021 438-0007,  www.thebungalow.co.za

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

The Sweet Service Award goes to Road Mac Surfacing, the road construction company, and is nominated by Stellenbosch wine-maker Sue McNaughton.  Driving on the N1 to Paarl, where the company was doing road works, a stone hit Sue’s car windscreen, and caused a bad crack, which ran in no time.   She stopped and obtained contact details from the supervisor at the side of the road.  Within three days they had organised the replacement of the windscreen.  The glass supplier was paid directly by Road Mac.  The Manager Michael Corbin called Sue every day until the windscreen replacement was completed.

The Sour Service Award goes to the Slow Food Market at the Willowbridge centre in Cape Town, which operates on Saturdays.  The Market is a “poor cousin” to the Stellenbosch Slow Food Market at Oude Libertas, which has energy and a very large selection of fresh produce for sale, even though it is not as great as the Bosman’s Crossing market, from which it originated.   Even though the owner of the Slow Food Markets has registered them with Slow Food in Italy, the relationship of the markets to the principles of Slow Food seems tenuous, especially at Willowbridge.  The ultimate dichotomy is seeing a stand selling Tupperware at the Market.   Its launch poster advertised “Slow Wine”, but none was visible, nor was any “Slow Design”!  Whilst Slow Food does not necessarily mean organic foods, it does stand for the following, according to the international Slow Food website: “Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.“  The Slow Food Market does not reflect this. 

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.

A recent blog post by chef, Eat Out Top 10 restaurant judge and owner of Wild Woods restaurant, Pete Goffe-Wood, is the inspiration for evaluating how ready Cape Town’s restaurants are for the World Cup, a mere three months away today, and for becoming world class.

Goffe-Wood wrote that the local restaurant industry is “teetering on the brink of greatness”, and encouraged his colleagues to “make the leap” to offer the “foreign market waiting to be fed, educated and entertained and we must make sure that we give them what they came for”.    Goffe-Wood identified complaints about high food and wine prices, poor service, and inconsistent food quality as being reflective of problems facing the restaurant industry.

He explained how wine-markups of 200 %, whilst creating outrage, are the norm, and that restaurants have to follow wine producers when they increase their prices every year.   Goffe-Wood is critical about the lack of restaurant reviews in “print media”.  He believes that the industry needs “positive input from informed and educated sources”.   Service , he says “is not to be subservient”, and he seeks a “more professional attitude towards the service we provide”.

So what do we as customers say to restaurants in response to Goffe-Wood’s self-analysis, and to guide them to greatness:

1.  First, well done Pete, for acknowledging that not all is perfect, and for wanting to lift the standard for the restaurant industry in Cape Town.

2.  We expect consistency in a restaurant’s food quality, service, and value-for-money, plus an attractive and interesting decor, and an undefined feel-good factor of “I like it here - this is a restaurant for a person like me - I will be back”.

3.  Please answer your phones when we call to make a booking, rather than letting us speak to an answering machine, which may or may not return our call.  Have friendly staff that understand the language we speak, and that can spell a basic name like “Chris”!   Even better, recognise and acknowledge our voice as regulars when we call

4.   Trust us as customers when we have made bookings at your restaurants - confirmation calls are soooo irritating.  Allow a 15 - 30 minute cut-off time, for late arrivers, and then offer the table to the next walk-in.  By all means ban customers if they are habitual late-arrivers, or even worse, non-arrivers!

5.  Retain your staff - we see staff turnover even in the best of establishments, and it is often the staff relationships that maintain the relationship consistency and that influence the service perception we have of your restaurants.  Please do not let your new waiter train on me!   Start an industry initiative, to not appoint the waiter/kitchen person running off (often without notice) from one restaurant to another.

6.  Train your staff - start with the wines.  When the waiter does not understand the word “vintage”, I shudder, and wonder why you did not start at the beginning with your training, or why your winelist cannot list this important detail.

7.  Why do we as patrons have to pay the salaries of your staff via tips?  It is the only industry where the onus lies on the client to make such a payment.  Almost two years ago the Department of Labour promulgated the Sectoral Determination for the Hospitality Industry, and it demands that staff be appointed on a full-time basis, with a monthly salary.  I know of few restaurants where this legal requirement is being applied. 

8.  Charge fair prices.  It’s tough for everyone at the moment.  Price increases of up to 50% (Reubens) and exorbitant World Cup prices (Beluga and Sevruga) alienate customers and make you look greedy.  The days of hoping that tourists alone will fill your coffers because of their foreign currency are over. 

9.   The marketing of restaurants is very poor.  Blond sexy “poppies” in ads does not crack it for most of us!  Few restaurants have websites, and the fewest restaurants seem to understand search engine optimisation, in making sure that patrons can find more information about their restaurants on the internet.   If one does a Google search, restaurant websites often are ranked lower than reviews written about them by industry websites such as Eat Out, or by bloggers.   This means that prospective clients are not hearing the restaurant marketing message directly.   The fewest restaurants in Cape Town understand the power of Social Media (Pizza Club, Cafe Max, Nook Eatery, Arnold on Kloof and Jardine are the few on Twitter) and Goffe-Wood Twitters and blogs very occasionally only.  I am not aware of any restaurant which has an integrated social media marketing strategy! 

10.   Your customers have become your reviewers, horror of horrors, and they say it as it is.  No more white-washing, no more ‘incestuous’ relationships between reviewers wishing to remain best mates with the chefs.  Bloggers are evaluating restaurants as the man/woman in the street would experience them, and the more honest they are in writing about what they experience, the more their evaluations are valued.   Banning them from your restaurants, as Le Quartier Francais, Carne and Beluga have done, if they have given you a critical review or feedback, is not productive, and it means that the restaurants will not improve if they cannot accept feedback.

11.  Treat us with honesty - do not con us with a marketing claim on your website, that is not true - as does Carne, which claims that all its meat is organic and comes from the Karoo, which has proven to be not true.  The dishonest claim remains on the website!

Restaurant patrons will forgive a restaurant many sins if they feel comfortable and “at home”; if they feel respected, even if the feedback provided is not always positive, provided in the interest of making it better;  if they are kept up to date with information from the restaurant; and if restaurants learn to say thank you for regular patronage, for a review, or for business sent to them by a regular client.  Not too much to ask, is it?!

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

Renowned Irish-born and previously Australian-based chef Liam Tomlin has moved to Cape Town, and is to open a Chefs’ Warehouse and Cookery School in April on New Church Street, Gardens.

Tomlin has been in the country for a few months now, busy overseeing the renovation of the building that will become both a chefs’ school, as well as a warehouse, which will sell every ingredient and the equipment used in the preparation of the dishes when one attends a course or an event at the chefs’ school.   He is a consultant to British Airways, and also to local restaurants, La Motte’s new restaurant being one of his projects.  He is also opening a guest house in Tamboerskloof, so that he can accommodate Chefs’ School students.   I met Tomlin at Portofino at the end of January, when he first started revealing details of his new project.

Tomlin grew up in Dublin, and worked at the London Hilton, The Hotel Central in Zurich, the Regent Hotel in Melbourne, and in Sydney at the Park Lane hotel, Level 41 and Brasserie Cassis before starting Banc, named as Sydney’s top restaurant.   His staff and colleagues describe him as a tough and exacting chef, who demands perfection from all, yet lends a hand in peeling potatoes, to assist his staff.

When meeting Tomlin, he expressed his fear of writing - even though he has published two cookery books already.  I challenged him to blog about his craft, but he says he will leave this to his efficient wife Jan, who is very much his right hand in the new venture.

Tomlin’s “Basic Techniques and Methods of Cookery” courses will commence on Saturday 24 April, and will be held every second Saturday morning, from 9h30 - 13h30.  Twenty courses run through until 5 February 2011, and cover such topics such as sauces, plated desserts, eggs, shellfish, salads, stocks, potatoes and more.  The course costs R 10 500.

Local celebrity chefs will be invited as guest speakers, and the list includes Laurent Deslandes from Bizerca, Neil Jewell from Bread & Wine, Chef Bruce Robertson, Reuben Riffel of Reubens, Margot Janse of Le Quartier Francais, Topsi Venter, Pete Goffe-Wood of Wild Woods, and Malika van Reenen of Signal at the Cape Grace Hotel.  Richard Corrigan of Corrigan’s in London, and also the owner of Bentley’s in London and Dublin, will be invited to run classes, as will Brett Graham of London-based Ledbury, and The Harwood Arms, the first Michelin-starred pub.

The pay-off line for the new Chefs’ Warehouse is: “where retail and culinary education blend in perfect harmony…”.  The building will be used not only as a Cookery School and Warehouse, but also as a venue for shoots, product launches, book signings, food and wine events, and media events. 

Chefs’ Warehouse and Cookery School: 50 New Church Street, Gardens, tel 021 422 0128, www.chefswarehouse.co.za, info@chefswarehouse.co.za

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

The extreme heat in Cape Town and the Western Cape in the past week will have made one aware that climate change can affect our region too.  Record-high temperatures, touching 40C in Cape Town and 48C in Franschhoek, have affected every citizen.

The City of Cape Town’s head of environmental policy, Gregg Oelofse, has warned Capetonians that climate change will make itself felt locally, as the average temperature increase is estimated at 2-3C, “placing our coastal vulnerability as a very real concern that holds multiple implications for our city.  The risks associated with sea-level rise events can no longer be viewed as something to be addressed into the future, but must be considered as a priority in our immediate planning and management”, reports The Times.

The City’s report identifies Blouberg, Camps Bay, Kommetjie, Glencairn and the Strand to be “highly vulnerable” to a rise in sea level due to climate change.

Oelofse predicts that the Western Cape is destined to become drier, and that rain is less likely to be over a longer period of time and gentle, but shorter and more intense storms will bring the rain.   “The bigger the storm, the higher the wind velocity, and the higher the ocean swell that the wind pushes up against the coastline”.

The City is evaluating what it needs to do to protect the identified coastal areas against the rising sea levels.  It manages 307 km of coastline.

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

An extremely hot summer’s day, as well as a mouth feel urgently requiring crayfish, beckoned the writer to Salt restaurant in the Ambassador Hotel in Bantry Bay, which has been running a crayfish special at R 185 with its sister restaurant OYO in the V&A Hotel for a while now.   There was no cooler way to escape from the heat than lunch at Salt.

Parking is uncomplicated, either across the road from the hotel, or on its roof, and is complimentary if one eats at the hotel.   As the restaurant hostess sat at the computer, meaning that she had her back turned to the restaurant entrance, she did not see the customer arriving.  A yawning waitress attended to the guest but had to go to the hostess to decide which of the many tables could be allocated (only 5 tables in total were occupied)! The waiter Michael came to the rescue, and seated the customer at a table with a lovely cool breeze, and wonderful view onto the ocean.   Later on, the sliding doors were opened completely, and an even cooler breeze cooled one down.   The protective glass barrier can barely be seen, and it looks as if one is sitting at the edge of the door, making this restaurant one of the most spectacular in terms of its location, view and ocean smell.

Michael efficiently took the order for a glass of Colmant Tradition bubbly, at R 59, and agreed to organise that the ordered crayfish be served cold rather than hot.   Cold water was brought to the table regularly, and while the wait for the crayfish was long at 45 minutes, it was worth every minute.  Six small tails of crayfish were served with the most delicious jasmine rice (a bowl of chips was initially brought to the table in error, and one cannot imagine that the restaurant would serve chips with crayfish) and a salad (the only odd ingredient was mozarella cheese, which clashed with the crayfish), and a piquant mayonnaise, a little too strong.  It was the perfect Saturday afternoon lunch.

Other lunch options are salads (caesar salad at R 55); three pasta dishes ranging from R 70 - R 80; four seafood options (mussels R 70, squid R 95, fish and chips at R 115, and fish of the day R 120);  five meat dishes (including burger R 65, chicken schnitzel R 80, and rib-eye steak R 125); and desserts cost about R 55, the most expensive being a three-variation creme brulee at R 85.

The bill was brought to the table efficiently, and Michael was the perfect waiter - no small talk, efficiently answering questions and executing requests.  What is missing is the personal touch - no Manager appeared to be on duty, to check one’s satisfaction with the meal.  This is what differentiates a hotel restaurant from a stand-alone one.

The new chef at Salt restaurant at the Ambassador Hotel, Top 10 chef Jacques de Jager, who recently moved from Grande Provence in Franschhoek, has not yet made himself felt, in that the existing menu is still used.   His new dinner menu will be launched tomorrow evening.   According to Michael, the menu will be in the French cuisine style.

Salt restaurant, Ambassador Hotel, 34 Victoria Road, Bantry Bay. tel 021 439-7258,  http://www.newmarkhotels.com/newmark/salt 

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

Despite a commitment made more than six months ago that Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited would work together to market Cape Town and the Western Cape, and would work to avoid duplication in their marketing activities, little synergy between the two bodies is evident.

Now Western Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Minister Alan Winde has confirmed that the two bodies will not amalgamate, and that nothing will change in the relationship between the two bodies until the end of the World Cup in July, reports Travel News Weekly.  

Winde also stated that a new focus would be the closer co-opration between role-players at national, provincial and local government levels in the Western Cape.   When the DA took both the province and the city in the last election, Winde stated that he would ensure that he would work to the unification of tourism at provincial and City level,  and would prevent it from being vulnerable to political party changes over time. 

The return of Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold from maternity leave on 1 April should result in new vitality for the city tourism body.  Du Toit-Helmbold is a dynamic and enthusiastic marketer.  In her absence, Belinda van Niekerk has run Cape Town Tourism, but as she comes from an admin and financial background, she lacks Du Toit-Helmbold’s flair, energy and communication skills.   The new Marketing Manager of Cape Town Tourism, Leanne Burton,  has used Du Toit-Helmbold’s absence to build her own brand name, rather than that of her organisation or (more correctly) of the acting-CEO, in her PR activities for Cape Town Tourism, and has created some hostility with the media.

With the World Cup about 60 days away on her return, Du Toit-Helmbold will have a huge challenge to help fill her members’ beds, given the disappointing bookings over the World Cup to date, and to excite Capetonians about the benefit of Cape Town being one of the host cities for the world’s largest sport event. 

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

Venues that have a TV set and charge clients to view the World Cup matches in their venue, will be expected to apply for a R 50 000 liquor licence, reports Business Report.

The initial announcement by the Department of Trade and Industry about the liquor licence requirements for the World Cup was met with shock, as it sounded as if it was an additional licence that all businesses would have to apply for.  However, it appears that the Department misread FIFA’s rules, and had to backtrack, and clarify that existing liquor licence holders would not have to apply for another licence, if they do not charge an entrance fee to view the matches, and if the viewing event is not sponsored.  

The Department of Trade and Industry is hardly likely to be able to process the applications for such special licences anyway, in time for the World Cup, which starts on 11 June, says the industry.

As far as beer sales go, Budweiser, being a FIFA sponsor, will sell its beer inside the World Cup stadiums, but a no-name brand Castle is expected to be sold in the fan parks, to not clash with Budweiser’s sponsorship.

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

The Sweet Service Award goes to Hermanus Office National, a stationery shop that sells a large range of stationery items in a smallish shop opposite SupaQuick in Hermanus, at the most unbelievably low prices.  Printer and fax cartridges are generally expensive when bought at Incredible Connection.     A typical M40 cartridge for a Samsung fax machine costs R394 at Hermanus Office National, compared to R 401 at Walton’s and an incredible R 499,95 at Incredible Connection! The goods in the shop are neatly displayed, given its small space, and the owner’s son was very efficient in taking payment. 

The Sour Service Award goes to The Fugard theatre, which opened a mere 3 weeks ago.  The booking service was friendly and trusting (telephonic booking of tickets without requesting credit card details), the ticket collection process was efficient, and the ticket price was cheap at R 50.  The entrance to the theatre is via an adjoining ex-church, beautifully restored and lit, a lovely space in which to meet other theatre-goers, with a large bar, at which one can pre-order and pre-pay one’s drinks for interval, a novel idea.   Everything was fine up to this point.  An irritation relative to other Cape Town theatres is that seating is on a first-come first-served basis, like at The Labia, rather antiquated, so one had to go up to the third floor to get a seat, far from the stage, and had to sit on long benches as opposed to individual seats. No one was prepared to shift up to make space for others - meaning a shortage of seating due to gaps in between.  On the way to the seating, four different members of staff asked patrons to switch off their cellphones.  The patron was attacked when she was checking her last Twitter message, the phone having been set on silent - the hostess threatened to remove the phone.   The hostess was standing on the staircase on the aisle, next to the patrons, and kept marching up and down the aisle, berating patrons for even daring to touch their phones to check messages.  One couple arrived late (the theatre shows strangely start at 19h30) and was let in, and shown their seats with a torch, annoying all patrons on the aisle.   A patron wanted to go the cloakroom before interval, and was refused permission to leave by the hostess.  The hostess made a huge disturbance while trying to explain why she would not let the patron out.   The sneakers worn by the staff make a squeaky noise when they walk along the aisles.   At interval the patron went to find the Manager Johan Kupserburger, and only managed to get half the complaint about the disturbances to him, before being rudely cut off by him, as he had just spotted Mangusotho Buthelezi in the audience.   At interval two patrons almost came to blows, as the more assertive patrons were served first by the three bar staff trying to serve about 250 patrons, ahead of those that had stood there for longer.  After interval two hostesses were put on duty where the theatre-goer was sitting, apparently as a fire regulation (the 70-page Western Cape ‘By-Law for Community Fire Safety’ does not mention such a requirement at all) for the building.   The new hostess walked up and down too, talked to her colleague right next to the patrons during the show, and kept moving - standing up and sitting down on the steps.   Feedback presented to the Manager at the end of the show was greeted with disbelief, implying that the patron was not telling the truth!  He did admit that the staff had only been working at the Theatre for 2 weeks.  He then wanted to force the patron to speak to the Director, instead of asking the Director to come to the patron in a quiet corner.  The Theatre has the most terrible karma and the staff are fanatical about reacting to cellphones, not understanding that reading or texting a message, or Twittering, does not affect the volume of the phone.   Ironically, a bottle and plastic cups fell over during the show, for all to hear.   The end result was a horrid evening, with little enjoyment of what was a most unusual production of the Mozart opera ‘The Magic Flute’ a la township-style, with marimbas only in place of a full orchestra.  

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.