Dalewood Cheesery is perhaps not that big a business but they compete with the best and they score big. Regularly. At an understated celebration on the farm recently the owners Rob and Petrina Visser hosted some important people who handed over the latest awards. Big ones.
interest was piqued when he came across Th2owels. He met for coffee at The Hoek with Franschhoek resident Irma Borrias – the exclusive distributor of this innovative product.
You’re right if you’ve guessed that it’s a type of towel, but it’s a very special kind of towel that has a neat trick up its sleeve and is much more environmentally friendly than any ordinary towel. A Th2owel starts out looking much like an effervescent tablet – it’s about the same size, flat and white – and something interesting happens when you add water!
The Eat Out restaurant guide is celebrating its twentieth birthday this year. Along with the celebrations they announced three new additions to the team: Zola Nene, Kholeka Kumalo and our very own Margot Janse.
According to the guide’s publishers, “Margot Janse almost needs no introduction. As a significant figure in developing the local food scene, Janse is best known for her prolific work as the executive chef of The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, a position she held until 2017.”
Margot will take on the position of judging convenor of the 2018 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards. As the judges will remain anonymous, she will become the face of the judging process that determines the Top 20.
So says the ancient Chinese proverb. For Barry Phillips his journey of 1000 miles (1600 km) starts with a single push of a pedal in St Malo a chilly Channel port in the north of France on 30th May. His destination? Nice – on the Cote D’Azur of the sun blessed Mediterranean. He will ride this iconic Channel to Med odyssey organised by Saddle Skeddadle (www.skeddadle.co.uk) with some 16 other cyclists. The first half passes through the quaint villages in the undulating farming landscape of rural France heading south to the banks of the Loire – France’s longest river and then into the rolling hills of the Dordogne. Heading east, the second more challenging half begins in the mountainous region of southern France but the vineyards of the Rhone Valley, home to many world renowned wine regions like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, will be reminiscent of Franschhoek. And 18 days later after an average daily distance of over 90km and a total ascent equal to almost twice the height of Everest the odyssey ends with a ride along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice and a very welcome dip in the warm waters of the Med!
On Thursday, 12 April, the Stellenbosch Municipality formally launched its ground-breaking Service Warrior Project with the induction of 11 new Service Warriors.
The project is aimed at ensuring that service standards in all areas improve so that water leaks, transgressions, service defects, etc. are reported pro-actively to a central municipal desk from where remedial action can be taken swiftly.
The Warriors have all successfully completed training in basic plumbing through Stellemploy.
This pilot project is being rolled out in Kayamandi, Klapmuts, Groendal/Langrug and Dwarsrivier and is geared towards minimising the turnaround time for service delivery challenges. The project will be expanded to include all areas of the Greater Stellenbosch.
The South African Perfume Museum – the only one of its kind in Africa – was established six years ago in Cape Town by the Kumanov family who trace their involvement in perfumery back to Kuman Kumanov in 1640. In April 2018 the Museum, under the direction of Daniela and Dimo Kumanov, relocated to the former tearoom in the grounds of the Huguenot Museum.
At the museum visitors can explore an extensive permanent collection, including antique masterpieces, illustrating the long history of perfumery.
Franci van der Walt, ‘n rekenmeester van Kaapstad, het op die naweek van 14 & 15 April 2018 ‘n lid geword van ‘n baie ekslusiewe klub. Volgens die amptelike ‘Everesting’ webblad het hy die 2284-ste mens geword wat ‘ge-Everest’ het. ‘Everesting’ is wanneer ‘n fietsryer dieselfde berg telkemale uitry totdat hy die hoogte van die berg Everest (8848m) geëwenaar het.
April 2018 has been a busy and successful month for the team behind the Franschhoek Theatre. The big news is that all the necessary construction approvals for the project have now been obtained from the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works and the Department of Education. With the approvals in place construction on the project will start later this month.
While they were ticking the final boxes with the Public Works Department – fire safety plans, structural engineer’s sign-off, revised electrical layouts, etc. – the team was also getting a head start on some other jobs. These ranged from obtaining quotes for things such as the audio-visual installation to opening accounts with suppliers to purchasing some materials early in order to avoid the recent VAT increase.
The theatre site was also visited by Franschhoek High School past pupil Andrew Schmidt (matric 1974), of Franschhoek Plant Hire. Andrew kindly donated the efforts of one of his digger loaders and two staff members to the project in order to remove several tree stumps and large roots that were in the way of the addition. In thanking Andrew the team said they hope to be able to call on more past pupils to do their bit for their alma mater.
La Motte Wine Estate has announced the appointment of acclaimed Chef Eric Bulpitt as the new Executive Chef of Pierneef à La Motte Restaurant. He will commence duties on 1 May 2018.
With a passion for modern cuisine, he will be bringing a fresh focus and new excitement to Pierneef à La Motte’s concept of heritage cuisine, while sharing the estate’s principles when it comes to authentic Cape Winelands hospitality, local produce and sustainably sourced ingredients.
Bulpitt will be replacing Chef Michelle Theron who has resigned after eight years in the Pierneef à La Motte Kitchen.
pierneef@la-motte.co.za | 021 876 8800
Digital-savvy wine lovers have voted in the annual Vivino Wine Style Awards and reviewers have recognised Bellingham’s The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc as one of the top 10 Chenin Blancs from South Africa.
Vivino is the world’s largest wine application (app), allowing a global wine community to buy, rate and review wines. This popular wine app has more than 20 million wine lovers, worldwide, who use the app to grow, and share, their love for wine.
