Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

Our blog has been running a Restaurant Winter Specials list for the past few months, with more than 100 restaurant offers attempting to attract locals into restaurants in Cape Town and the Winelands towns, in what is traditionally a poor time for the hospitality trade.  The winter special of The Kove in Camps Bay only is good value relative to what the restaurant normally charges for its dishes, and does not compare favourably to many of the restaurant specials offered.

The Kove is part of a quartet of restaurants owned by Paul Kovensky (the surname being the inspiration for the naming of The Kove, no doubt), three of them being almost next door to each other in The Promenade building in Camps Bay (The Kove, Zenzero and Paranga).  Pepenero is located in Mouille Point.   The latter restaurant occupies a large space, and clearly was not able to attract enough custom to fill the space, and since last year has attracted food bargain hunters by offering specials.  The Kove is the only other restaurant in the Kovensky Quartet to be offering winter specials this year.

When we entered the restaurant on Saturday evening, after having left the over-heated and over-priced Zenzero next door, we were offered a table closest to the fireplace, which we declined, not without some attitude from the Manager Bevan (the type that knows better than you do where you would like to sit).   The first thing I noticed was the tattoos on Bevan’s arms (I am sorry, but it is the most off-putting thing, something that I experienced at Leaf Restaurant recently as well).   Waiter Casper presented himself soon thereafter, and gave me one of those looks that declares attitude without saying it.  By “mistake”, waiter Richard also presented his services to our table, and he was genuinely nice and we requested that he be our waiter, and he did a great job in looking after us with what seemed like genuine interest.  

The restaurant has a raised back section, with different chairs compared to the street level section, in which the chairs look like lawn furniture, in smart white and silver frames, with white or green chairbacks (the same grass green as at Leaf Restaurant), with green blankets over the chairs, should one still be cold inside the warm interior.  The lighting is dimmed to very low, making it difficult to read the menu.  We had flashes of white light from the World Cup TV above us, when it changed its picture!   Music was vibey, from an iPod playlist, along the lines of the Gotan Project.   Riedel glasses are on the table, and good quality linen and cutlery is used.  A faux library on both sides of the restaurant is meant to add a homely touch, I assume.  The ceiling of the street level section of the restaurant is adorned with a mock grapevine in autumn colours, and there are plastic marigolds on the table.

The menu for the Winter Specials covers two pages almost hidden at the back of the menu, and one is not told about them spontaneously (as at Five Flies and 1800 Restaurant at the Cape Royale).  One has a number of choices of specials, making it feel like one is really getting a good deal, but the Specials prices are average compared to other Cape Town restaurants.  First, one has the option of a two-course special, consisting only of a starter and a main course, and a glass of wine, at R 120.   The problem starts with the wine.   Why would a reputable restaurant offer an unlabelled unidentified white and red wine as part of the special?  It cheapens the Winter Special immediately.  They must have paid next to nothing for it, if they have to hide the wines’ origins.   Starter choices are mussels, Prawns 3 Ways, calamari, chicken livers and a house salad.   My partner had the prawns, brought to the table with a finger bowl, and the “3 ways” are 2 minute prawns each served with mustard and brandy, garlic and ginger, and orange and cumin.  It was a struggle to get them out of their shells.  The main course choices are fresh line fish, sirloin steak, baby chicken, beef burger and pork ribs.  The portion sizes are not indicated, and a starch is served with these.   (On the a la carte menu, one has to pay extra for starches, sauces and salads).   The steak was served medium rare, as ordered, but was not as tender as my partner would have liked it to be, with a tendon running through it, showing that a cheaper cut of meat had been used.   A good spicy and creamy Pepper Sauce was served with the steak.  No desserts are offered as part of this special.   Two small slices of older white bread were served, which I did not even bother to try.  To do the mathematics on the special: normal price for 1/2 prawn portion R45 + sirloin steak R85 + sauce R 20 + mash R20 = R170 (Special price charged plus glass of unidentified wine R120) - however, paying R125 for the 200 - 250 gram sirloin, mash and sauce on the a la carte menu is excessive anyway. 

In addition to the two-course special, one can order oysters at R 9 each, 1 kg of prawns or Karoo lamb chops at R99, fish and chips at R79, 400 gram ribs at R75, and a seafood platter at R129.  On the surface these prices are not bad at all, until you realise that these are standard prices elsewhere, and more expensive than some of the other specials offered elsewhere at the moment (e.g. a 6-course dinner for R150 at Myoga and at La Mouette).  I had the lamb chops, three served on a large plate with the mash served lukewarm after the meat was brought to the table, in a side dish. The steak knife provided was super in getting to the bone.  I loved the ‘braai’ taste of the chops, which Richard told us came from the special basting sauce.  I would have liked to have a finger bowl.   The chops were ordered medium, but the meat closest to the bone was raw.  Ten cocktails are part of the specials list, at R25 each, but we were given the cocktails menu (with peeling plastic cover), showing a Mojito at R40, and were not told about the specials.  As part of the Winter Special, The Kove also serves “tappas” between 3 - 7 pm, and two cost R 45 and three cost R60.  One has a choice of twelve, including hake goujons, pop-corn prawns, deep-fried halloumi, teriyaki salmon and stuffed jalapeno poppers.

The a la carte menu has starters ranging from R 50 for a mussel pot, seafood chowder, goat’s cheese tartlet and buffalo wings, to R 90 for 12 of the prawn 3-ways (having seen them on the special, and being seawater prawns, this is hugely expensive for what one gets), and salads cost R 40 - R 75.  A wide selection of steaks (fillet, sirloin, entrecote, chateaubriand), each in two weight options, is offered, a 250 g sirloin costing R85 and a 500g Chateaubriand costing R200.  Unspecified Venison costs R120 for 250g, as does baby chicken.  Starches are extra at R 20 each, as are a selection of five sauces, also at R 20 each.  A Braai section offers a 1,2kg fillet to share at R395, “kreef” at R 195, ribs, an identified skewer and fish.  A number of seafood options are available, a seafood platter costing R295, calamari costs R80, and baby kingklip R130.

For dessert we shared an odd item on the a la carte dessert menu, being waffles with syrup and cream, perfectly executed, at R 45. Other desserts include apple crumble, and pecan nut pie, costing between R35 - R45.  The Cappuccino was made with LavAzza coffee, but was thin and not the best I have had. 

The wines-by-the-glass at The Kove are very expensive, being based on three glasses out of a bottle.  The difference in price between the cheapest shiraz (Spier 2009) at R 30 and the next up at R95 per glass of Kevin Arnold made me choose the former, a grave mistake, in that it was so bad that I could not finish it.   I asked for the wine to be poured at the table, but the manager was about to refuse this, when he changed his mind.  I wondered what I would have been served (perhaps the same unlabelled wine for the special?).   No vintages are specified on the winelist, nor are the wine varietals or brands described.  The 15-page beverage list is Fleur du Cap-branded throughout, on every page, even though only two of their wines are offered out of the more than 100 wines on the winelist (and typed as “Fleur de Cap”!). 

The winelist is introduced with notes on “Matching wine with your food”, highlighting the essence of “paring” being “seeking to achieve a balance in your personal tastes”.   It indicates which wine types (e.g. “high acid wine”) go with which food types, and lists white wines with high acid as including Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and sparkling wines; and red wines with high acid level Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Gamay. The effect of adding salt to the taste of the wine was an eye-opener, in that it reduces the astringency of wines.   Riedel gets a half page punt and branding, and the benefits of decanting wine is highlighted (although not practised, in that it may have made the young Spier more palatable). 

Fifteen champagnes are offered, ranging from R1 000 for Laurent Perrier Brut Rose and Louis Roderer Brut, to R6000 for Dom Perignon Rose’.  One can order seven of these by the glass, starting at R 140 for the Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial to R 220 for Veuve Cliquot Vintage. Only five Methode Cap Classiques are offered, two Graham Beck and Pongracz each, and Boschendal, ranging from R180 - R320. The Graham Becks are served by the glass too.     A large selection of Chardonnays is offered, dominated by Hamilton Russell (R420), with Muratie Isabella at entry level (R175), and Sauvignon Blancs (between R180- R250).  Fewer red wine choices are offered by varietal - the Shiraz category costs from R200 - R280, but has the Spier at R130.  Four Organic wines (Avondale Chenin Blanc,  Reyneke Reserve white, Waverley Hills Cabernet Sauvignon and Stellar Merlot), and two Kosher wines made by Backsberg, are also available.

Bevan came to the table, to give us our Loyalty Card, and annoyed me when he told me that it is only for South Africans.  10 % of the value of one’s meal is added as points to one’s Loyalty Card ‘account’, redeemable at any time on presentation of the card.  This would bring value to dining at The Kove, but problems with the system in the past two years has made me sceptical about the accuracy of their record keeping, as they claim to have lost details of our guests having eaten there in the past, and therefore the redeemability of the points.

The Kove is one of the few places that has served a good steak in Camps Bay in the past, but the winter special does not reflect this quality.  It is expensive if one orders off the a la carte menu, and its “winter specials” are only specially priced relative to the normal high prices the Kovensky Quartet charges, and seem to be poorer quality cuts, with unacceptably poor quality wine, thus not making The Kove value for money.

The Kove, Shop 2A, The Promenade, Victoria Road, Camps Bay.  Tel (021) 438-0012.                  www.thekove.co.za (full menu and winelist featured).

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

We have been tracking recent restaurant opening, closure, and restaurant and chef change information in Cape Town and in the Winelands on our Winter Restaurant Specials blog post, but have decided to do an update for those not looking for specials necessarily.  

Restaurant openings

*   La Mouette has opened at 78 Regent Road in Sea Point.  

*    Brio is a new jazz restaurant, in half of the ex-Riboville in town (on the Adderley Street side)

*    Liquorice and Lime has taken over the other half of ex-Riboville (on the St George’s Mall side)

*   Van Hunks has opened at 1 Union Street, off Kloof Street in Gardens

*   Cafe Nood has opened in Wilderness Road, Claremont

*   shu has opened next to Doppio Zero on Main Road, Green Point. 

*    Ryan’s Kitchen has opened at Rusthof guest house in Franschhoek - the chef Ryan Smith is ex-Mont Rochelle. 

 *   Madame Zingara has re-opened at Century City, after a two-year absence.  

*   The House of Meat has opened in the Pepper Club Hotel, corner Long and Bloem Streets, offering a full braai for R 295  

*   Spiros has opened in Hout Bay

*   La Cantina has opened in the Alliance Francaise.

*   The De Leuwen Jagt restaurant on the Seidelberg wine estate outside Paarl has opened The Fabulous Bakery.  

*   Gesellig has opened on the corner of Church and Regent Roads in Sea Point, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.  

*   Indochine has opened at the Delaire Graff wine estate in Stellenbosch. 

*   The Long Table Restaurant and Cafe has opened at Haskell Vineyards in Stellenbosch. 

*   The Wild Peacock Food Emporium has opened in Stellenbosch.  

*   De Oude Bank Bakkerij has opened in Stellenbosch.  

*   Knife Restaurant has opened in the Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa, a sister restaurant to Fork.

*   Sommelier Restaurant has re-opened, after a two-year closure, at Sante Hotel & Wellness Centre

*   Illyria coffee shop has opened in the Eikestad Mall in Stellenbosch

*   Pierneef a la Motte will open at La Motte in Franschhoek on Saturday.

*   The Artisan Cafe opens inside Table Thirteen in Green Point on 30 August, with a barista

*   The Fish Shack opens in The Paddocks, Milnerton

*   Reuben’s at One&Only Cape Town opens on 1 October

*   The Satay Bar has opened where Zucca used to be on Kloof Street

Restaurant closures

*  Josephine’s Patisserie on Loop Street

*   Ginja on New Church Street

*   maze at the One&Only Cape Town 

*   Panarotti’s and Shimmi’s Bar in Hermanus

*   Bouillabaisse in Franschhoek.     

*   Yum in Vredehoek. 

*   Cape Town Fish Market in Camps Bay

*   Vista Mare in Camps Bay

*   La Table de France in Sea Point

*   Miguel’s in Plettenberg Bay

*   La Brasserie in Franschhoek

Restaurant name-changes/take-overs/chef changes

*   Leaf Restaurant and Bar has opened where The Showroom/Portofino used to be.  

*   Mason’s Cafe and Grill has opened where Cafe Gainsbourg used to be

*   On Broadway has moved to the New Space Theatre building, and is using the ex-Anytime restaurant space as one of the restaurants its patrons can eat at before the show.

*   Camil Haas, the co-owner of Camil’s in the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel, has left the restaurant and is doing wine and food pairing evenings with wineries in Franschhoek.

*   Tank in the old Cape Quarter is to get a new name.

*   Luke Dale-Roberts is no longer the Executive Chef at La Colombe, but will consult to the restaurant.  

*   Cafe Rouge in Franschhoek has been renamed Chez d’Or.

*   Richard Carstens has left Chez d’Or in Franschhoek, and will be the Executive Chef and Wilhelm Kuehn the owner of Tokara Restaurant in Stellenbosch, from October

*   Buena Vista Social Club has moved to the top end of Portswood Road in the Waterfront. 

*  The Restaurant at One&Only Cape Town has taken over from maze, until Reuben’s at One&Only Cape Town opens on 1 October.

*   Cafe Le Chocolatier has taken over from Cafe Vendome in Place Vendome in Franschhoek.

*   Dutch East has taken over from Burgundy in Franschhoek

*   Cafe des Arts has taken over Topsi’s in Franschhoek.

*    Amazink, ex-Roots, in Khayamandi in Stellenbosch, has opened, with Bertus Basson from Overture an advisor.

*   Chef School owner Kevin Warwick has taken over Kate’s Village in Hermanus, now called The Class Room

*   Luigi’s from Hout Bay is said to be opening where Vista Mare was in The Promenade in Camps Bay

*   Satay Bar has opened where Zucca was in Kloof Street

Restaurant winter break closures

*   Camil’s in Green Point re-opens on 1 September. 

*   The Mount Nelson’s Cape Colony re-opens with a new interior and new menu on 1 November. 

*   Reubens in Franschhoek is closing on certain dates: 3, 4, 10, 17, 18, 25, 26, 31 August and 1 September

*   Vaudeville is closed between August and October, and is set to re-open only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. 

*   Massimo’s Pizza Club in Hout Bay is likely to reopen in November, in a new yet-to-be-announced venue in Hout Bay. 

*   The Salmon Bar in Franschhoek is moving to a main road outlet in The Yard (part ex-Bouillabaisse and Pam Golding), and is closed for renovations, re-opening on 1 November

*   Bistro 1682 is closed until 5 September

*   The Grand in Camps Bay has closed for renovations, and re-opens on 31 August

*   Cafe Max in Green Point is closed for renovations from 23 - 31 August

*   Rust en Vrede closes between 5 - 28 September

*   Madame Zingara leaves Cape Town shortly, for Johannesburg.

*   The Sandbar in Camps Bay has closed until 16 September

NOTE: This information will be updated regularly, as we receive new information.

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

The best compliment that FIFA could pay South Africa is the declaration by Jerome Valcke, FIFA Secretary-General, two weeks ago that “South Africa will always be a Plan B for any World Cup”, reports AFP, and an amazing compliment to the Local Organising Committee (LOC), as well as to South Africans across the board, in organising the best “party” in the world and showing the “gees” of our nation to our visitors and to our fellow countrymen.

FIFA praised the country for what it believes will have been a ”perfect” World Cup.  “If on July 11, we are on the same level as we are today (3 weeks ago), I would say it’s a perfect World Cup”, he said.  Initial transport problems led to empty seats at the Opening Match in Johannesburg on 11 June, but these problems were quickly ironed out.

The World Cup has made South Africa and the continent of Africa “sexy”.  At the TIME and CNN Global Forum, which was held in Cape Town two weeks ago, and was attended by a large number of the world’s global business leaders, South Africa’s smooth hosting of the World Cup had changed perceptions about the country and the continent, speakers said, reports The Sunday Independent. TIME editor Michael Elliot said that the country is riding an “extraordinary wave of energy and optimism”, and stated that South Africa is “on the verge of tremendous opportunity”.

So how has South Africa benefited from the World Cup?    The benefits have been financial and emotional:

1.   A legacy of infrastructure - I disliked the word “legacy” initially, when I heard politicians justify the billions of Rands to be spent, but now that legacy is concrete, with ten new or upgraded stadiums around the country, fantastic roadworks leading into Host Cities, and around the stadiums, airports of an international standard (almost all, given the embarrassing fiasco at King Shaka airport in Durban), a Gautrain in Johannesburg and a modernised train station in Cape Town, new modern buses, upgraded city pavements, city greening and new city artwork to beautify the Fan Walks.

2.  The “gees” Ke Nako that was the theme of the World Cup grew throughout the World Cup into an unheard of spirit of national pride, surpassing that of the Rugby World Cup in 1995. The nation-building power of sport, first through the rugby match between the Stormers and the Blue Bulls in the Orlando Stadium, and the powerful bonding of South Africans in supporting the Bafana Bafana team, as well as them demonstrating the pride in their country via mirror socks, flags on the cars, and flags on their homes and businesses, has been one of the most wonderful benefits of the World Cup, and is likely to last well beyond the end of the World Cup. For the first time the country became proud citizens of their continent too, in supporting “BaGhana BaGhana”, when they were the final African team to play in the tournament.   Many South Africans doubted their nation’s ability to host an event of this magnitude across nine different locations around the large country, but she has done her country proud.  Locals are already calling for a regular way of displaying unity, by putting up flags, wearing the Bafana Bafana colours, or those of our country’s flag. 

3.  The improvement in South Africa’s image world-wide is the best legacy of all, and perhaps we needed to hear bluntly at the start of the World Cup how dimly we were viewed by the world.   Whilst we hated her broadcasts, Emma Hurd of SkyNews was the wet blanket that reminded us day in and day out about how dreadful life can be for many of our citizens, but even then the TV station changed its tune, its broadcasts became more and more positive, and Ms Hurd’s focus moved more to the soccer and less on the social imbalances.   Maybe it was a blessing that England fell out of the tournament so early on, which led to less interest in the World Cup reporting by the station.   Reporter after reporter has written about how they feared coming to the country, having heard about its reputation of crime, AIDS, poverty, and even apartheid, but all wrote about how pleasantly surprised they were about the spirited and united nation they saw, and about the first class facilities they encountered.   Not only South Africa but Africa benefited in image, as written above already.   Africa has been the step-child of the world, and it was the “social responsibility ” of the world, and FIFA in particular, that saw South Africa awarded the rights to hosting the 2010 World Cup - a tremendous leap in faith for the body at the time, but a dividend that has paid off richly for FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his team, not just in terms of their revenue earned, but also in their image for having the faith and in sticking behind South Africa, denying that they ever had a Plan B and a Plan C.

4.   The control over crime was a surprise even for South Africans.  The cancellation of the contract between the FIFA Local Organising Committee and Stallion Security at the Cape Town and Durban stadiums was no security loss at all, and the police did an outstanding job in handling the security of the stadiums, as well as of the Host Cities in general, with high police visibility, and a marked reduction in crime in general.  Western Cape Premier Helen Zille told the Cape Town Press Club that a BBC interviewer had expressed his surprise to her about not seeing the “expected crime wave”, reports the Weekend Argus.  Never before had such visible policing been seen, not only in and around the stadiums, but generally in city streets and in shopping malls.  One wondered where they had been hidden all these years, and hopes they will remain.  South Africa was not prepared to compromise safety, its biggest vulnerability, and I experienced what I first thought was a crazy safety procedure to have my car security-checked at the Green Point Traffic Department, with a car search, a sniffer dog search,  a search underneath the car, and a personal security check, then a blue light escort into the stadium.   Special World Cup law courts also acted immediately on World Cup-related crimes, and meted out harsh fines and penalties for theft and other crimes, and the incident of the British fan entering the England team changing room, and the subsequent admission of guilt payment by the Sunday Mirror reporter related to this matter, attracted varying reaction to the harshness of the fines. 

5.   Whilst South Africa was shunned as a “rip-off” country for its cost of flights, accommodation, transport  and World Cup packages prior to the World Cup, due to the 30 % commission add-on by FIFA hospitality and ticketing agency MATCH to already high prices of flights, accommodation and transport, the prices of all of these aspects of the World Cup quickly dropped when MATCH cancelled the bulk of its booked rooms, and SAA cancelled the seats MATCH had booked.   It was unheard of that accommodation rates dropped during a world event, but pricing is about supply and demand, and the lower than expected demand necessitated the decrease in rates, which did increase last-minute bookings to some extent.  It was gratifying to see soccer fans book their own accommodation, preferring to book more reasonably priced guest houses.  It is hoped that the world will forget its initial image of our country in this regard.

6.   The biggest surprise for locals was the power and fun of the Fan Walk in Cape Town.  It appeared that this may have been the only city in South Africa to have one.  Despite one’s scepticism of the concept initially, given Cape Town’s winter weather, not even rain could deter ticket holders and even towards the end, on a sunny afternoon, Capetonians without tickets from walking the Walk.    The flags put up everywhere became a trademark, and made Cape Town look festive, and one hopes they will stay, and give a nostalgic memory of the biggest party Cape Town has ever experienced.

7.   South Africa has new tourism icons, the very beautifully designed stadiums becoming tourism assets in their own rights.   The Soccer City, Durban, Cape Town and Nelspruit stadiums in particular are beautifully designed.  Cape Town had a Big Six it marketed - now it has the Big Seven, the Cape Town Stadium added, which became the backdrop to most broadcasts from the city.

8.   If it has not been said above, the interpersonal tolerance between South Africans seems to have improved, and small courtesies towards other pedestrians, motorists and shoppers are manifestations of the wonderful spirit of “South Africanism”.

9.   “White” South Africans have caught the soccer spirit, and the majority never were interested in this sport.   One never thought that locals would rush off in such large numbers to buy their match tickets online, and to queue for tickets at FIFA outlets in Host Cities, even camping outside the doors the night before.  More than 3 million tickets were sold, and about two-thirds went to South Africans.  We all became enraptured with the game, and all learnt new terminology about soccer (although most of us still do not know if it is ’soccer’ or ‘football’ that we have been watching!).  We got to know the names of new soccer heroes - Diego Forlan, Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, and many more, for their performance on the pitches.

10.  School children but also adults learnt about geography in terms of the participating nations, so that Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the South American countries of Uruguay and Paraguay could be placed.  Nestle ran a “Children of the World” promotion, with information about different participating countries on their Smarties boxes.   Hopefully South Africa featured on the atlas of children and residents of the world community whilst they watched the many matches in the past month, and saw their countries’ TV stations present documentaries about our country.   We got to know the flags of participating nations. 

11.  Musically, life will never be the same, the vuvuzela being synonymous with the 2010 World Cup, and will no doubt be the “spirit maker” at future sporting events around the world.   Loved and hated, the “toot toot” during broadcasts and live matches were part of this sporting event.  FIFA President Blatter refused to have it banned, when called upon to do so by the world media and by players, who said that they could not hear their coaches and the referees.  The world’s largest vuvuzela was erected on Cape Town’s unfinished highway for World Cup sponsor Hyundai.   Two songs will go down in World Cup history - “Waka Waka” by Shakira, much scorned when it first received airplay on radio, but now synonymous with the event, South Africa, and even Africa - as well as K’Naan’s “Waving Flags”.

12.   It is the future tourism legacy that will hopefully benefit the country, in that it will attract tourists to our country in future.  Due to the improvement in South Africa’s image and the wonderful documentaries about South Africa (for example German TV station ZDF dedicated hours of coverage of South Africa, using our ex-Miss South Africa Jo-Ann Strauss, speaking her best possible German - she is engaged to a German), one can hope for an influx of tourists for years to come, but one must be realistic about the depressed economy internationally, and even locally, said our Governor of the Reserve Bank Gill Marcus last week.

13.  If there is one name we will never forget in the context of the World Cup, it is the by now well-known Paul the Octopus from Oberhausen in Germany, who correctly predicted 5 wins and 2 losses for Germany, as well as the win for Spain against the Netherlands in the Final. He even has a Twitter page @PPsychicOctopus, which surpassed 500 Followers in just four days.

14.   The media coverage for South Africa has been phenominal, many countries sending media representatives not only reporting about the soccer but also doing documentaries about the cities in which they were based.  The BBC had a special Studio built on top of the Somerset Hospital, giving it a fantastic view of a beautiful Table Mountain on the one side, and of the beautiful Cape Town Stadium on the other side.   An hour after the Final last night, ZDF was still broadcasting about South Africa and the World Cup, recapping the highlights of the sport event and of the country.  Even normally cynical Oliver Kahn, who was a co-presenter, praised the organisation, hospitality, friendliness and lack of hooliganism of our host country.  ZDF probably was the TV station that gave our country the most, and most positive, TV coverage.   The Final is expected to have been seen by 700 million TV viewers around the world last night.

15.   The power of the endorsement in terms of VIP attendance at the matches is unmeasurable, and those celebrities that are on Twitter, Paris Hilton and Shakira for example, who expressed their delight, spread the word even further.  Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel, Queen Sofia of Spain, her son Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia, Holland’s Crown Prince Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock, German President Christian Wulff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Luia da Silva, Charlize Theron, Morgan Freeman, Mick Jagger, Kimora Lee Simons, Leonardo DiCaprio, Andrea Bocelli, Franz Beckenbauer, injured ex-German captain Michael Ballack, Bill Clinton, David Beckham, will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas, Naomi Campbell, Princes William and Harry, London Mayor Boris Johnson and many more attended the matches over the past month.

16.  Despite the winter timing of the tournament, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth’s weather generally played ball.  Cape Town had three rain days during matches, and challenged the perception of Johannesburgers that it rains all the time.  

17.   The smooth logistical running of the World Cup has opened up the country to bid for other events, and the 2020 Olympics is the next event the country has been invited to bid for.   IOC President Jacques Rogge has been in the country for more than a week, and has been warmly recommended the country by his friend FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

18.  Social media marketing received a tremendous boost during the World Cup, and peaked on 11 June, the start of the World Cup.   Only one event challenged interest in the early part of the event, being the engagement of South African Charlene Wittstock to Prince Albert of Monaco.  As soon as the USA and England teams were eliminated, web traffic fell dramatically, partly though due to the problems with the SEACOM cable for those websites that are hosted overseas by their servers.   Yet action on Twitter never let off, and whenever a goal was scored, Twitter crashed. Twitter users followed soccer stars they had not previously heard of, and even Sepp Blatter opened a Twitter page (@SeppBlatter). 

19.   The initial high airline ticket prices encouraged many locals as well as tourists to drive between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and also to other parts of the country, to save on costs, thus supporting tourism in smaller towns and cities that were not Host Cities.  One hopes that this will lead to a rediscovery of the Garden Route, an area that has suffered badly as far as tourism goes in the past three years.

20.   One can be grateful from a business perspective that the World Cup did take place in winter, a normally quiet period, therefore not influencing productivity, or lack of, badly on match days, and on Bafana Bafana match days specifically, which saw shops and businesses close early.   This is compared to many companies that close for their Christmas/New Year break, when Cape Town is at its busiest.

21.   The surprise benefits of coming to the country for the international soccer fans was the beauty of the country, and in Cape Town the fans were surprised about what special beauty the city offers - the mountains, the sea, the wildlife at Cape Point, and the winelands.

22.   Soccer fans that arrived without tickets and locals enjoyed the “gees” at the Host Cities’ Fan Parks, many offering top notch musical entertainment every day, and broadcasting all matches.  In early days the Fan Park on the Grand Parade had to be closed, due to over-capacity.  Other fans went pub-hopping, Long Street being popular for this, with numerous bars and restaurants with televisions.  The V&A Waterfront was another popular destination, and every restaurant agreed to install TV sets for the duration of the World Cup.   Paulaner Brauhaus and other hospitality marquees set up at the Clocktower side of the V&A did extremely well, and I personally queued at the Paulaner Brauhaus for as long as 2 hours for the semi-final between Germany and Spain.   The law of supply and demand forced greedy hospitality marquee owners to radically reduce their entrance fees, where these were charged, from over R 100 per person, to about R 20.

23.  FIFA must be congratulated on their determination in making this an excellent World Cup, and were based in Johannesburg for a number of years, to guide the management of the event.  It gave us great confidence that the event would be a success, even though so many locals were sceptical.  FIFA executives were also ruthless in their deadlines for the completion of the stadiums, and the infrastructure, which was excellent in making everything come together, even if it felt that some work was very much last minute.   FIFA insisted on the police presence and the instant law courts, and they have dramatically reduced crime in the past four weeks.

The World Cup has not been super-perfect, and had some blemishes:

1.  I have written copiously about MATCH, FIFA’s hospitality and ticketing agency, and its ruthless attempt at exploitation of the accommodation industry, which unfortunately backfired badly for the agency, for the accommodation industry and for the image of the country as far as affordability, or lack of, goes.

2.   Many empty seats were visible, especially in the early matches, and were attributed to transport problems in Johannesburg at the first match, and to sponsors not allocating all their tickets.

3.   The inability and thereafter late landing of four aircraft at King Shaka airport in Durban on the day that Germany played Spain was the biggest logistical blunder of the tournament, and left many German fans angry about the costs they had incurred to see the match.   ACSA is offering a reported compensation of R400 per head!

4.    Restaurant business dropped dramatically, and fine dining establishments that refused to succumb to TV sets lost business badly, especially on match days in their cities.  Theatre and general entertainment also suffered, and the popular Jonny Cooper Orchestra closed down a show in Camps Bay two weeks ahead of schedule.   Retail outlets did not gain from the World Cup, and the opposite probably is true.   Sales of the Cape Times and Cape Argus have been said by its management to have been the worst ever in the past four weeks.

5.   The negative media reporting focused on only one theme - the great divide that still remains in South Africa, between haves and have-nots, and the irony of the monies spent on the stadiums relative to the lack of proper housing for all of its population will have to be addressed.   One hopes that the future impact on tourism, and resultant employment, will address this problem.  But it will also mean a new attitude by employees to value their jobs and terms of employment.

6.   The early exit of England in particular was damaging to tourism, as multitudes of fans were standing by to fly to South Africa to support their team.  The England fans were the best for accommodation business, but their bookings were linked to their team’s playing schedule.

7.  The biggest loser of the World Cup probably is FIFA itself, in terms of its image, Sepp Blatter having been booed at the Final and also on another occasion.    FIFA also came under fire about its card-happy referees, the British referee Howard Webb setting the record for the highest number of cards, with 14 yellow cards and one red card during the wild Final match.  The lack of technology to check on the admissibility of goals was also severely criticised.

8.  FIFA’s technology also failed when demand for tickets became so great, that its system crashed on numerous occasions, a dent to its image of perfection and organisation.

9.   The more than 25 000 volunteers that were appointed by FIFA and its LOC, were poorly utilised in terms of their skills and day-job capabilities and were extremely poorly managed.   They were “employed” outside of the South African labour legislation, and had to sign for this in their contracts.   They had tax deducted from their meal allowances when these were paid into their bank accounts.  In Cape Town they were served disgustingly bad food for three days, and were not compensated for it in terms of their meal allowances.   They did not all receive the designated volunteer clothing, even though it was ordered about 6 months ago when the volunteers were appointed.  Volunteers attended three days of training in April plus a morning in May, and were not compensated.   Huge dissatisfaction existed about the forced McDonald’s diet of R 60 per day, which the LOC would not alter at all, the most unhealthy food they could have been fed.  The Green Point branch next to the stadium made a fortune out of this arrangement, yet their service and food quality was shocking - the Volunteer Co-ordinator had to call the branch regularly with complaints.   Volunteers were forced to drink Coke, when many preferred water, Bonaqua being a Coca Cola brand too.   Quotas were set for the amount of water and Coke that each volunteer had to receive.   The Volunteer Farewell Function last week started two hours late, was badly organised, and lunch was served at 15h30, 1600 volunteers having to queue - many left at this stage.  More than a month after starting to work as volunteers, they have not yet been paid, despite a promise that they would be (now they are due to be paid at the end of July!).   Sadly, international volunteers left the country with an image of the poorest organisation of a World Cup relative to their experience of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, a shame given that one third of the volunteers were from other countries around the world, and they will take this message back home with them.  I kept hearing them say that this must be “an African way” of doing things, a perception I tried to correct whenever I heard it.

10.   The FIFA sponsors Budweiser, McDonald’s and Coca Cola were not all positively received.  Budweiser was only served inside the stadiums, and comments via Twitter were only negative about the beer. McDonald’s became a swearword amongst the volunteers, and even the police and media working close to the Stadium must have disliked receiving the poor quality and service for more than a month.   Coca Cola became the butt of jokes about Paris Hilton getting the brand wrong when she was wrongfully arrested for smoking marijuana.   The food sold by concessionaires inside the Stadium was poor.

10.  FIFA also lost face when it fanatically reacted to ambush marketing, and the Kulula.com airline provoked FIFA in its newspaper ads.  Bavaria beer is the best known brand in South Africa, due to FIFA’s reaction to the Dutch brewery’s ambush marketing inside the stadium in Durban.

11.  Corruption in terms of Government departments and municipalities buying huge allocations of tickets has been hinted at, and no doubt further such claims will be written about in the media.

11.  Whilst the occupancy of accommodation establishments in Host Cities close to Stadiums was reasonable in the past 30 days (Whale Cottage Camps Bay at 71 %), the areas in smaller towns barely picked up any benefit in this period.   Sadly, business in May was at its worst ever, and what income was made in June, was offset by the “vacuum-effect” of the World Cup in May.     

12.  Last, but not least, is the anti-climax of the month-long party having come to an end.  The lives of many changed in the past month, with different habits, glued to television sets, children on holiday for 5 weeks, daily beer drinking habits having been developed, and the mundane side of life was set aside for the period.  Reality strikes today!  

POSTSCRIPT 18/7: FIFA gave South Africa a score of 9/10 for the hosting of the 2010 World Cup, reports The Times, up from the 7,5 rating for the hosting of the Confederations Cup last year.   FIFA President Blatter likened the score to a cum laude at university level.  “The greatest memory is the willingness and commitment of South Africans to show the world their ability to host this World Cup with discipline and honour” Blatter said.

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

For the past few weeks intense debate has taken place about the Government’s announcement that it is considering applying for prospecting rights on a number of Stellenbosch wine farms, including Saxenburg, Jordan, Langverwacht, Haasendal, Rosendal and Zevenwacht, and De Grendel, Highlands and Hooggelegen in the Tygerberg/Durbanville winelands area in Cape Town.  

Intense lobbying by the Winelands Action Group has led to the announcement last Friday that the application for the prospecting rights has been withdrawn. 

Gary Jordan, spokesperson for the Winelands Action Group, announced the good news about the withdrawal of the prospecting rights application on 19 March.  The Winelands Action Group was supported by Cape Winemakers Guild, Wines of South Africa, the Stellenbosch Wine Route, the Durbanville Wine Route, the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature, the WWF Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, the Bottelary Conservancy, wine writers, heritage groups and the public to lobby the Department of Mineral Resources to withdraw the application for rights to prospect for tin, zinc, lead, lithium, copper, manganese and silver.

The mining rights application threatened the wine industry’s International Year of Biodiversity, and the new ‘Sustainable Wines SA” certification seal for wines, a world first.

Despite the announcement by the Winelands Action Group, reports remain contradictory about the withdrawal of the applications.

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

What was Ravi Naidoo, owner of Interactive Africa and ‘Mr Cool’, who boasts FIFA as a client, and organiser of 13 Design Indaba’s to date, thinking when he decided to put Martha Stewart on the programme for the 2010 Design Indaba, which ended this weekend?

Billing Stewart as the lead Design Indaba speaker on its website, Stewart was described as speaking about “Food Design” at the Conference part of the Design Indaba, about ”the creative principles and practical ideas that have made her America’s most trusted guide to stylish living.  Millions of consumers rely on Martha Stewart as their arbiter of style and taste and their guide to all aspects of everyday living - from cooking and entertaining to decorating and gardening, and much more”.  Stewart’s profession is stated as : entrepreneur, TV host and author.  

None of these “credentials” would have necessarily made Stewart eligible as a speaker at a conference addressed and attended by the world’s top designers.  So what went wrong? Firstly, through Twitter, one could track Stewart’s movements around the country, from the time she left New York on SAA, praising the airline highly (sponsored ticket?), she was met in Johannesburg and taken on a safari to Singita (sponsored?), and then arrived in Cape Town, where she stayed at the One & Only Cape Town (sponsored?).  Stewart’s talk was mid-morning on day three.  From her Tweets, it was clear that she had made no effort to attend any of the other talks on the first two days, choosing rather to go sightseeing and winetasting, but here her brand endorsements stopped.   It is the owners of the wine estates (which included Warwick and Graham Beck) that made one aware of her stops there on Twitter.  She did Tweet about her lunch at Waterkloof, mistakenly referring to it being in Stellenbosch!  Given that she has close to 2 million followers on Twitter, this would have had a good marketing benefit for the Cape.

At Design Indaba, the conference organisers as well as bizcommunity.com, were Tweeting from the conference.   Here is the take on Martha Stewart’s talk by Louise Marsland, ex-editor of and writer for bizcommunity.com and editor of AdVantage magazine, who Twittered the whole Conference every few seconds:

‘The always spectacular Design Indaba will this year be remembered, not only for the fabulous speakers such as Harry Pearce, Bruce Nussbaum, Priyush Pandey, Stefan Bucher, Mokena Makeke, etc, but for the worst presentation it’s (sic) ever hosted - by famous ‘homemaker’ Martha Stewart. Who will also now be credited with launching the first local “twitcom”. [view twitterfall)   Delivering a presentation more suited to the Krugersdorp Vrouefederasie or the Belville (sic) Housewives Scrapbooking Circle, she managed to inspire a mass walkout in both auditoriums - practically unheard of in the history of Design Indaba, which is the industry’s premier conference and expo showcase in the creative industries and an inspiration destination annually.  And so we get another twiord (twitter word): she was ‘twitter slapped’ (twitapped?) by the twitterverse. Twerrible.  The complaints centred around that fact that she used her presentation as a sales pitch (given how she is about to launch her ‘Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes’ in South Africa) and spoke to these highly creative and key delegates with a lack of awareness that was astounding. With the likes of local agency heads and creative directors and world-renowned designers and architects in the audience, you don’t talk about doing ‘glitter by numbers’ pictures and show 29 pictures of yourself holding various farm life (unless that’s part of your creative installation!). The laughter was cringe worthy indeed. The result was a walkout.  Basically she was boring and out of touch and self-promotional. Everything that Design Indaba is not. Design Indaba is about collaboration, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, less conspicuous consumption and looking towards redesigning a new world where product has less impact on the environment. General opinion was summed up by the biting comment of MC Michael Bierut as Stewart left the stage: “Dr Craig Venter is to the human genome as Martha Stewart is to paint chips.” Ouch!The subtle quips continued through subsequent speakers in the afternoon on Friday with references to the ‘millions’ to be made out of design (not) and pleas for people not to put gold glitter on their food, or anything else for that matter. Speakers following her were thanked profusely for “showing us what Design Indaba is all about” by Bierut. Groans and laughter greeted each aside.  Delegates who walked out gathered around Bizcommunity.com’s live ‘twitterfall’ screen outside the main auditorium which live-fed the deluge of tweets to delegates. “It was hysterical,” said one executive creative director of a leading SA ad agency. “The tweets were hugely entertaining, much more so than her speech!”  Another creative director pointed out that the real story was how fantastically social media worked in this case. “People didn’t like her… so they said so. That’s the real story. Brilliant.”   Delegates and journalists attending didn’t pull any punches, with scathing references to her ‘lack of a glittering performance’ and the fact that she could write a book on ‘How to clear a room’, rather.’

Yesterday Stewart addressed a less distinguished audience, who paid R 250 to attend a breakfast session sponsored by Woolworths.   From the blog and Twitter feedback it appears that Stewart used the same talk, but attendees had lowered their expectations, given the feedback about her talk the previous day.   Some comments seemed self-justifying, others remained critical: read Cape Town News Blog’s report here.

Stewart appeared unaffected by the furore, happily continuing her Tweeting about beautiful Cape Town and hoping that she could get up Table Mountain, after the gale force southeaster winds had prevented her from accessing this design icon of the city.  In fairness to her, she did not make any negative comments on Twitter about her visit to South Africa, and was gracious to her hosts and sponsors in acknowledging them, the main ones at least!

Martha Stewart’s visit to Cape Town will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

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

Christophe Dehosse is a passionate owner of his new Restaurant Christophe in the ‘Skuinshuis’ on Van Reyneveld Street in Stellenbosch, adding further weight to the prediction that Stellenbosch will soon wear the crown of the gourmet centre of South Africa  His restaurant joins an illustrious collection  of restaurants in this Winelands town, which includes Rust en Vrede, Overture, and Delaire Graff. The restaurant opened a month ago.

Dehosse first started cooking at Chamonix in Franschhoek, then was the chef at Au Jardin in the Vineyard Hotel, and moved to Joostenberg Deli nine years ago to join the Myburgh family he has married into, running a good value for money lunchtime restaurant there.  While he was very low key at Joostenberg, JP Rossouw of Rossouws’ Restaurants awarded the restaurant his highest rating of 3 stars, awarded to such greats as Reubens, La Colombe, and Rust en Vrede.  Le Quartier Francais did not even make his 3-star grade.  Christophe speaks with a delightful French accent, and epitomises the French chef.   What reflected his passion was that he spent more time with the patrons, after having done all the main courses, chatting at length at their tables, something rarely seen in restaurants these days.  He even takes the bookings during the day.   Chef Dane Newton of Allee Bleue also understands the art of connecting with his clients.

While his wife continues at Joostenberg, Christophe has set up in the building which also houses a coffee shop, and a décor shop.  The transformation of the part of the building that he uses is almost unbelievable.   It is a two-room restaurant, the entrance section having three tables and the other section almost three times in size, giving the restaurant the choice of where to seat the guests.  Christophe proudly compliments interior designer Liesel Rossouw for the understated yet chic interior.  The subtle green walls, tastefully decorated with beautiful works of art which can be bought, and shocking pink and orange chairs (with 5 colour variations) made from wine barrels especially made for the restaurant to give patrons a comfortable seat during the meal.   The lamps are unusual too – they are made from woven laminated ads, creating an unusual effect.  A simple metal structure serves as the desk at the entrance – slick and simply designed.

It having been a 42C day, and still hot at mid-30C in the evening, all patrons chose to sit outside.   The tables were beautifully laid with white tablecloths, silverware, and glassware, and each table had a fresh rose on it.   A lovely flower arrangement, in white and pink flowers, was the first statement the restaurant made on arrival.  A single palm tree towers above the courtyard, and an almost wild bougainvilla hedge in shocking pink complements the pink and orange chairs.  

Darren is the Manager, and he was very friendly in welcoming us, and patiently answered all the questions.   He is from Birmingham, and last worked at Umami in Stellenbosch.   He served all the tables.

The menu is very simply typed on a piece of paper, and looks unpretentious, and almost contradicts the lovely interior and special food served.   It is short, offering four starter choices: quail salad (R 65), seafood salad (R 65), foie gras with Noble Late aspic (R130), and marinated vegetables and goat’s cheese (R 50).  The foie gras was outstanding, and a surprise was the complimentary glass of Joostenberg Nobel Late Harvest, served well-chilled with it.

Five main courses were Cape Salmon (R 95), yellowtail (R 95), Bouillabaisse (R 110), beef fillet (R 135), and roast duck jambonette (R 110).  The steak was pronounced to be excellent, while the duck was disappointing, probably due to a duck lover’s experience of ‘roasted’ being different to that served.   The dessert choice costs R 45, and was apricot and almond tart, chocolate biscuit, and chilled fresh fruit soup, which would have been ideal for such a hot evening, but space did not allow it.  A cheese selection is available at R 60.   The fruit soup was a berry berry nice lunch the following day.  The menu changes every two weeks.

The winelist is equally printed on white paper, and is unlikely to win a mention in the Diner’s Club winelist awards as far as presentation is concerned.   It is very understated, yet offers a good selection of South African and even some French wines.   A full page is devoted to sparkling wines, Graham Beck supplying the least and most expensive bottles, at R 150 – R 290.   It can also be ordered by the glass, in a price range of R 22 – R 35.  The Joostenberg wines appear in almost every category, as does a brand not commonly known, called MAN, named after three Myburgh ladies: Marie, Annette and Nicky.  Jose Conde’s wines also feature on the wine list, as do Thelema (R 600 for Cabernet Sauvignon) , Klein Constantia, Kanonkop (Pinotage at R 480), Veenwouden (Merlot at R 420), Hartenberg (Shiraz at R 490), Hamilton Russell (Chardonnay at R 350), Paul Cluver,  Simonsig and Villiera.

Restaurant Christophe, Skuinshuis side entrance, Van Reyneveld Street, between Nook Eatery and the synagogue, Stellenbosch,  tel 021 886-8763.

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

Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald and Ivana Trump, has been honeymooning in South Africa with her husband Jared Kushner.   Due to the power of social medium Twitter, her travels around Southern Africa are documented for all her 613 000 Twitter followers to read.  Fashion and celebrity blogs are following her trip too, creating exposure for South Africa which money could not buy.

Her first stop was in the Winelands :   “Wandering in the Paarl area of Cape Town.  Just visited the Backsberg vineyard.  A terrific afternoon…..”   She took a photograph of her  Winelands trip as well :   ”A gorgeous view of the vineyard http://tweetphoto.com/7015625”

She then went on a safari, and sent the following Tweet : “Our first day of safari and we’ve already spotted 2 lionesses, 10 hippos, 3 rhinos, 3 giraffes and a group of baboons! What an adventure!”   She also photographed a lioness: “A lioness as seen from our Jeep this morning. http://tweetphoto.com/7375944“.

Yesterday, she continued with her safari:  We were so close to this leopard on our morning game drive that I snapped this pic on my Blackberry camera! http://tweetphoto.com/7496963.  Her latest Tweet reflects that Ivanka and her husband are off to Mocambique. 

Ivanka Trump can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/IvankaTrump

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

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

The 2010 edition of Rossouw’s Restaurants, an independent restaurant guide that judges restaurants informally from 1 - 3 stars, has just been launched.   It includes a few surprises in its inclusions, and more importantly exclusions, in its 3-star top restaurant list, coming just 13 days before the announcement of the 2010 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards.

The biggest shock is the exclusion of Le Quartier Francais’ Tasting Room in the 3-star restaurant category, but is designated as “bubbling under” by the author JP Rossouw.   Other “bubbling under” restaurants include Terroir, a long-standing Eat Out Top 10 restaurant, new restaurant The Roundhouse (on the Eat Out Top 10 shortlist), Belthazar in the V&A Waterfront, The Greenhouse at the Cellars Hohenhort (on the top 20 shortlist for the Eat Out Top 10), and Mosaic (on the Eat Out Top 10 shortlist).

In total 14 restaurants have been awarded 3-stars by Rossouw, of which 8 are in the Cape Town and Winelands areas:   Aubergine, Bizerca, Jardine, Joostenberg Bistro (a surprise!), La Colombe, Overture, Reuben’s, and Rust en Vrede.   (All of these restaurants, with the exception of the Joostenberg Bistro, are on the Eat Out Top 10 shortlist).   The remaining 3-star winners are Ile de Pain and Zachary’s in Knysna (the latter is Eat Out Top 10 shortlisted), Mariana’s in Stanford, Ritrovo in Pretoria and The Butcher Shop & Grill and Thomas Maxwell Bistro in Johannesburg.

Rossouw defines a 3-star restaurant as one that “shines in its price point and offers a truly special food experience…. it’s the all-round feeling of pleasure that’s created by a lovely space, warm hospitality, good service, and crackerjack food.  Track record is also important : three star restaurants should consistently deliver on their promise”.

Rossouw has dropped the controversial 2009 3-star Magica Roma from the 3-star list in his latest guide, for which he received much criticism.   Comments left on Rossouw’s website are critical of his treatment of Le Quartier Francais, given that it is a Top 50 restaurant in the world, but Rossouw was prepared for the question: “The Tasting Room’s move from three stars in 2009 to two stars in 2010 was not a decision easily made, but it was certainly not influenced by what other reviews/guides/Top 50’s say”.  Rossouw adds that he is guided by customer reviews he receives, but the final score is his.   See full details here.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portoflio http://www.whalecottage.com

South Africa’s olive oil is top quality, and the Cape winelands are proving to not only be good for red and white wine production, but they deliver the finest olive oils as well. 

In the annual competition organised by S A Olive, Annalene du Toit of Kloovenburg  estate in the Riebeeck Valley won the 2009 ABSA Olive Achiever of the Year Award, for her “passion and contribution to the growth of the industry”, says a report in Bolander.   She also recently won the Sanlam/Landbouweekblad Woman Entrepreneur in Agriculture for 2008/9.   She offers 40 different olive-based products, including a cosmetics range which is exported.

In the commercial olive oil class, the top achievers winning gold medals were Kloovenburg, Olyfberg, Morgenster and Rio Largo.  In the boutique class, Diepsak Farm, The Greenleaf Olive Co., The Olive Lady, Muiskraal, Olyven Houdt, and Waterfall River won gold awards.  All entries for the annual awards were tasted blind.

For a full list of gold, silver and bronze winners in the Commercial and Boutique classes click here

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