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A touch of Reverie with Chef Julia Hattingh – Reverie Social Table

A touch of Reverie with Chef Julia Hattingh – Reverie Social Table

Reverie ………….a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing: lost in reverie.   A daydream………. a fantastic visionary Chef Julia Hattingh has created a space where people will quite simply come together for dinner and share ONE table.  The table seats 18 people who will gather at this table d’hôte restaurant to relax, laugh, chat, interact and enjoy an evening where Chef Julia will send our her inspired creations for you to dissect, photograph, nibble and chat about with your…

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Happy Days at The Flagship – a tribute to the founder Chef Bruce Robertson

Happy Days at The Flagship – a tribute to the founder Chef Bruce Robertson

Sadly the Flagship has closed down – but I will leave this blog here as a tribute to my friend and favourite Chef ever – Bruce Robertson. It all started with an email saying that top South African Chef Bruce Robertson was launching a Table D’Hote in his home in Scarborough.  I googled it and found it was a dine at home concept – so I interpreted it as a dine at home restaurant and immediately released a blog saying…

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New Hip Zones in Cape Town – Bree Street

New Hip Zones in Cape Town – Bree Street

Cape Town is a creative hub  with many artists and artisans who are channeling their creativity into the food, design and entertainment.  This creativity is best felt and experienced by exploring areas of the inner city and its fringe areas e.g. Bree Street, the central city area, Bo-Kaap, De Waterkant and Woodstock.   All of which have emerged as the new hip zones of Cape Town.  The trend over the last few years has been a return to artisan roots and to support the smaller…

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Woodstock Street Art Walking Tour – using art as a platform to activate change in our communities!

Woodstock Street Art Walking Tour – using art as a platform to activate change in our communities!

In 2010 a street artist called Freddy Sam started a street art revolution in Woodstock. He started by asking residents if they would allow him to paint on open walls – showing them the art before painting and getting their permission first. This has inspired other local and international artists to come and work in the area.  You can now book for a walking art tour of the neighbourhood to see about 40 artworks.  Juma is a local street artist…

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Recipes from Mamma Lindy’s African Kitchen

Recipes from Mamma Lindy’s African Kitchen

Many years ago I set up a meeting with the Eziko Cooking School & Restaurant in Langa Township in Cape Town.   Here I met with Victor, founder of the Eziko Cooking School and his Mamma – Lindy – who was Head Chef of the restaurant.   The aim of my visit was to try and find a way that foreign foodies could experience our African cuisine.   Little did I know that this would be the start of something…

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Spice Route Wine Estate- an artisan playground of endless fun!

Spice Route Wine Estate- an artisan playground of endless fun!

All I can say is WOW!  Charles Back is a marketing genius!  By buying the Seidelberg Estate (two farms down from Fairview) – he has created a hub of artisan fun on the Suid Agter Paarl Rd that is too hard to resist. The first step of the metamorphosis from Seidelberg to Spice Route was to bring the Spice Route wines across from Fairview and to turn the original tasting room into the Spice Route tasting centre.  The odd thing…

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South African Soul Food! What do Black South Africans traditionally eat?

South African Soul Food! What do Black South Africans traditionally eat?

WHAT DO BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS TRADITIONALLY EAT? The cuisine is not rated as a gourmet cuisine in this country and as such it is very much a home cuisine that you will not find easily in our restaurants.  As 80% of our population are black, it is really important to sample this cuisine if you are wanting to experience a taste of our local cuisine! PAP The staple diet of our people is maize. For the vast majority of tribes,…

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Organic & Biodynamic – Avondale Vineyard Tour……doing things naturally!

Organic & Biodynamic – Avondale Vineyard Tour……doing things naturally!

A book could be written about the farming practices at Avondale!  Avondale is one of the oldest estates in the Paarl Valley.  In 1997 the John & Ginny Grieve (who own Vital Foods) purchased Avondale.  In 2000 tragedy struck when a devastating fire cleared the estate.  However, out of something harmful came an opportunity.   Their son – Johnathan Grieve – rose to the challenge and used the “clean slate” to start trying to restore the nutrients in the soil by…

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The Dog’s Bollocks grows its family to include the Bitches Tits & Deluxe Coffee

The Dog’s Bollocks grows its family to include the Bitches Tits & Deluxe Coffee

The Dog’s Bollocks has found a wife and she has the slightly rude name that I am sure must be grabbing drivers attention as they head down Buitenkant Street.   The Dog’s Bollocks are now serving breakfast and lunch – admittedly all under different names – what a fabulously unusual approach!   At the back of the L-shaped property Deluxe micro coffee roastery have moved onto the property. I headed down there yesterday to try their new delicious sounding sandwich…

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Artisanal Chocolate in the Cape – from Bean to Bar!

Artisanal Chocolate in the Cape – from Bean to Bar!

It took a visit to DV chocolates to realize that chocolate has become a commodity.  Chocolate is of course made from Cocoa Beans.  These beans come from many different regions and their flavour profile not only changes from region to region – but will also be affected each year by things such as climate – eg a dry year.  As such chocolate can have an estimated 600 different flavour compounds!! So how do the big chocolate guys make their chocolate…

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