The Grand Café brings South of France to C.T

I’ve been meaning to write a review about this place since my first visit back in Dec 2009, but hadn’t gotten around to it, and now have been there again last week, I feel its time I write something. The Grand Café & Beach is Cape Town’s first beach café, and has become one of the most popular spots in Cape Town! Located at Granger Bay adjacent to Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront . White sand has been shipped in to create a private beach with a beautiful blue sea horizon overlooking Table Bay – send one off on a phenomenal visual odyssey! Parisian Café chairs, red tumblers, beach umbrellas, candelabras & stunning views work together to give an infallible experience of fun & style. It’s honestly impressive what they’ve managed to do with a shed, which is basically what it was. To take a large steel warehouse and turn it into something visually appealing with ambiance and character is an achievement. As you walk in there’s a sort of ‘Grand’ boutique store, but your attention will be captured by the awesome bar that runs the length of the venue, in the middle there’s a 24 seater table, surrounded by smaller tables and a large pizza oven, my favorite part though is found outside on the deck…the view. The Grand Cafe brings the South of France to Cape Town. Very close to Club 55 setting in Nice (French Riviera) – it’s very trendy, in a beautiful setting, some of the food is really top notch, but sadly the service is beyond atrocious, this is a general feeling with everyone who’s been, on my first visit, I had organized a lunch for 12 people, which by the time the lunch happened had grown to 16, they were keen to accommodate us, except when I called an hour before to confirm after booking two weeks in advance for an outside table, I was notified, I had been moved inside because my party was ‘too large’, I politely asked to speak to the manager, by name, as I know him briefly, that seemed to work, as he got on the phone and promised me an outside table right on the sand as I had asked, not that I would have minded sitting inside, as it was a very hot day, and white sand can be blinding, but my whole outfit had been ensemble’d upon the idea that I would be outside in the sand, so I couldn’t have had it any other way. Since their menu is exactly the same as The Grand in Camps Bay with the only addition being the gourmet pizzas, I ordered what is often my favorite, the overtly complicated hit or miss kingklip tagliata, which was as usual – we order half a dozen bottled of Mulderbosch Chardonnay, so everyone was kinda stuck to that, but no one complained it’s a stunning wine, the weather was hot, the sand was white, I mean what else do you want….even the steep prices don’t shock me, this place is full every night how else are they supposed to weed out demand, its basic economics, so I say keep pumping those prices up, perhaps someday they’ll also spruce up their friendly and often good looking waiters’ skills, wow service is shocking…but you forget because the view is so good, you get waves of frustrations, ‘where’s that god damn waiter?’, ‘oh the sea…look its blue’, drink then grin and you’re happy again. The menu has very good dishes and very disappointing dishes, some of the good ones include the steak with pepper sauce, the shrimp tempura & the kingklip line fish, anything else I’ve found either ordinary or not really worth the price. Now more recently I went there with a friend who is regarded as a VIP at The Grand, so we were only passing by for a midnight bottle of wine, but they went all out, putting a small round table on the sand, with two chairs, candelabra, and a giant watering-can style vase with scarlet red roses, with some urban lounge music coming off the surround sound speakers, under the stars, it was almost too good to be true, if evoked fond memories of Nikki Beach in Saint-Tropez. Another blessing is that the place is mostly sheltered from winds so, one can enjoy lazing about well into dawn… while gazing out to sea from this very unique beach, I wondered how many people truly know how really beautiful Cape Town is….this is a venue that needs to be seen, even if at least once.

Reservations are only made by emailing beach@thegrand.co.za or by texting +27(0)72 586 2052, if you call now, you’ll be given the address and the number and told to do as told (in a nice way of course). - 021 425 0551, website: http://www.thegrand.co.za/

Shocking Eskom Electricity Price Hikes!!

The National Electricity Regulator of SA (Nersa) approved the following tariff increases 24.8% in 2010; 25.8% in 2011; 25.9% in 2012. So, with the compounded increase, we will be paying double in 3 years time.The National Electricity Regulator of SA (Nersa) claims the tariff increases granted to Eskom were what Eskom needed, not just what the power utility wanted. Whichever the truth is, I can’t help but feel these hikes are very steep, perhaps not for me and the minority that lives relatively comfortable lives compared to the majority of South Africans. Anyone who doesn’t check how much fuel they are putting in and just fill up because it needs to be done, and people who barely check how much their electricity or cell phone bill is, and just pay it cuz it needs to be done, won’t be affected as much, but what about the families of 6 kids with perhaps one parent working, the families that put their geyser off to save electricity, and it gets worse some families will continue to use candles for light and only use electricity for cooking only, why because that’s actually all they can afford – to those I feel this price hike is most unfair, by 2013 we’ll all be paying exactly twice what we pay today for power – as much as I don’t know if anything can be done about it, I can’t help feeling how unfair it is to some.

Cape Quarter: Lunch Under R50 @ Chenin

Nowadays can one still eat out for R50 a head? Well Chenin at the Cape Quarter seems to thinks so. For your R50 you'll get a selected main meal and a glass of wine. Their wine is very good, they offer great selections and I believe everything is offered by the glass, which is fantastic for tasting, and they also host wine tasting evenings where novices are tought on wine and how to appreciate it, but their food I can't say much about, perhaps I'm just fussy but the times I've eaten there, I've often felt I could have worked up something better at home, but then I've been known to be fussy when it comes to food, the good thing is their ingredients seems fresh and well cookoed, just taste have often been bland to me - but at R50 for a mail meal, where most mains are around R90 AND a glass of wine, thats great value, even I would be tempted to go back there. The constant buzz and vibe of the Cape Quarter will also make up if the food is less than good. Special starts on 23-Feb-2010, woo hoo just in time for pay day for some, and ends on 31-March-2010.

Style Rut: My Aviator Shades Rut

I believe I have a problem at this point, ever since I lost my black wayfarers, I have been wearing nothing but aviators, I have two pairs of silver rimmed ones, one pair of reflective ones (yuck) and two pairs of golf rimmed ones, seriously, they almost look identical, but to me beyond the lenses and the frame colour they are worlds different - seeing them both lying next to each other on my desk today just made me realise i might be stuck in an aviator shades rut, and I need to rectify this pronto. So after work, I shall go shopping for a different style of shades.

Rio Carnival/Madonna,Paris Hilton,Gerard Butler

Not only the city suffers the worst heatwave to hit Rio de Janeiro in 50 years, with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees) it also suffer a celebrity wave with many celebrities who came to celebrate the one and only Rio Carnival. Madonna and her toyboy Jesus Luz were spotted having some inebriated fun with laughter, Lourdes, and the lovely adopted child i dont seem to rememebr the name, at least Jesus seems to be a good play-dad, see pics. Gerard Butler, I guess this will silence the roumers that he's shackin up with Jennifer Anioston once people see him getting his groove on in Rio with no sign on young Jen. Oh look who else made it here, Paris Hilton, who seems at home among the legions of both tarty & skimpily clad party goers.

Alexander McQueen, iconoclastic fashion designer

It is with great shock and disappointment that I write this post about he passing of the one man/artist who paved the way for all young British designers, and brought the world’s attention to British fashion more than it had ever happened before. I didn’t post the news the day I heard them because I was waiting to hear if the accurate cause of death would be identified, but it seems that initial speculation of suicide might be true. For those who still don’t know 40 year old Alexander McQueen, the fashion world's reigning provocateur who helped elevate British fashion to the international stage with his unconventional and sometimes macabre designs, was found dead at his home in London on the eve of his mother’s funeral. British tabloid The Sun reported that McQueen was found hanged. Police have stated that the death was not suspicious, but have not confirmed that the death was a suicide. I can’t help thinking this heinous incident was due to his grief over his mother. On 3 February 2010, he wrote on his Twitter page that his mother had died the day before, adding: "RIP mumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx." Four days later he wrote that he had had an "awful week" but said "friends have been great", adding: "now i have to somehow pull myself together", his death was announced the day before his mom’s funeral was due to take place. It is moist saddening especially because professionally, McQueen was at his peak, and there seemed to have been way more great things waiting to happen, as a designer, Alexander McQueen was not only a technical genius but a creative genius as well. His theatrical runway productions were often controversial, casting models as witches, rape victims and mental patients, challenging the notions of what is beautiful and what is grotesque, "A gifted iconoclast, who could just as easily be creating art as fashion," was how former Times fashion editor Mimi Avins described McQueen upon seeing his clothes for the first time in 1996. He left too soon, he will be missed, may he rest in peace.

The New Polo Review, Hit or Miss (2010)…Part 1

Yay, its Friday – I’m off to JHB for the weekend to visit one of my dearest friends, I leave tonight and return on Sunday, really looking forward to the massive catch up session. Some 3, 4 odd weeks ago I was invited to the launch of the new Polo, and so last night I attended the launch, didn’t really know what to expect, had never been to one of these events before so I imagined they’d want people to check the car out and have some form of marketing speeches to try and reel us all in etc. the event was meant to start at 7pm, with the registration at 18h30, I left work at 18:30, so I was running a bit late and some of the roads were closed since it was the day of the opening of Parliament, and also to make matters worst I didn’t exactly know where I was going, somewhere in industrial Parow, some office part etc, I had memorised the map, so figured I’d find it easily, just look out for Modderdam Road, which I’d never heard off, this is the problem with living & working in town, a part of me prefers it that way :P. Ok thankfully I didn’t get lost, and I got there, and had to submit my keys, I was like ‘oh ok’, then got it at 19h05, the speeches were already going on so the nice PoloSky people offered that I can skip the speeches and go on to do the test drive and I was like, ‘now you’re talking’, so here I was thinking, there will be someone coming with me, there is a predefined route to take, NOPE! You test drive by yourself, can drive wherever you want, for almost as long as you please, I got quite excited. Currently I drive the current 1.9 TDI, so I wanted to test drive the equivalent but unfortunately with the whole world consumed with the effects of Global Warming, they have discontinued it, now the top of the range, at least for now will be the 1.6 TDI which they claim has the same power output and matching torque, which I can believe based on the experience I had when I test drove it, but the missing turbo charge kick makes the drive less satisfying. (Continues below)

The New Polo Review, Hit or Miss (2010)…Part 2

The car drives insanely smooth, its like you’re driving a Merc, you know when you drive a car that feels like its gliding on clouds, as if the mechanics are oiled with silicone, I thoroughly enjoyed that – only two things I didn’t like were the clutch being too soft, with each gear change my foot was on the floor in seconds, but I guess that would take getting used to the car, and also it feels a bit cramped, even though they claim, its longer AND wider than the current models, but they did admit it is much lower/shorter which is probably what’s making it feel cramped, the second thing I hated was how the sides felt very light and cheap. Like you know when you use central locking on a Yaris, it gives off a ‘ting’ sound, as if some twine is snapping, but the current Polo, it sounds like some sophisticated mechanism is locking, now the new one sounds like the Yaris, either the doors have been made thinner or something, I did not like that. Also when you close the doors, they don’t sound like solid heavy doors, they give out a tin like sound, and the last downside which I almost forgot is found on the outside – the back of the car is nothing short of horrendous, bland & awkward – and the VW people had the nerve to justify it by saying, it’ll grow on the people, apparently with every launch of every Polo there’s always initial reservations about the backs, so lets hope this grows on me as well. All in all the drive is spectacular; it’s a lovely car to drive. If you are a big guy, you might feel claustrophobic, even I did a bit and I’m only 1.76cm. The front design is also very nice, very similar to the much sexier and pricier Scirocco. The prices for the new Polos are not modest either, I believe they started around R169K – go check the car out, I feel a lot of people will love it, it’s a lovely car. Pics taken from the PoloSky Venue where they are having the launches.

Cape Town Road Closures - Paliarment Opening

Parliament will officially open on Thursday, 11 February 2010 at 19:00 when President Jacob Zuma delivers the State of the Nation Address to the Joint Sitting of Parliament. Roads surrounding the Parliamentary precinct and along the route that the President is to travel will be closed. Motorists are advised to avoid these roads as well as roads leading to the processional route between 16:30 and 22:00. Road users are requested to use alternative routes (especially when going to the airport), as the road closures may lead to congestion and excessive delays. The table with all the closed roads is waaaaaaaay too long to post on here, so click here to check it out, but below is a list of the alternative routes you can use. Hope this helps somebody as I’m personally not affected at all by any of this, as I work on Bree and live in Green Point, I travel in a straight line between work & home. I might be gloating.. :P

Alternative Routes to use:

Road users are advised to use the following alternative routes into the CBD during the event:

1. M5, Black River Parkway, then onto the N1, Table Bay Boulevard.

2. M4, Main Road, onto Victoria Road up to the Good Hope Centre. Thereafter left onto Tennant Road or right onto Oswald Pirow Road to circle the outer CBD.

3. Outer CBD Circle Road – Use the following ring route to the area of the CBD you want to access: Oswald Pirow Road, Table Bay Boulevard, Buitengracht, Buitensingel Street, Orange Street, Jutland Avenue, Upper Roeland Street / Brandweer Street,Tennant Street

Carne SA Restaurant Review...Part 2

(Continues from post below) Anyway we first had drinks upstairs, a champagne cocktail seemed in order, then we moved downstairs, and for starters I had the seemingly popular Lamb Shank Ravioli (R75), it was absolutely divine, everyone must try it at least once, I bet you’ll be hooked. To help decide for your mains the waiter brings the platter of meats to the table and explains each cut according to the menu, its raw, so vegetarians might find this unsettling, what I love is that the meat doesn’t smell like raw meat or bloody, which would have even unsettled me, and I’m a carnivore of note…but the meat has been lightly dressed with virgin olive oil and fresh rosemary, so the smell of rosemary takes over which I was happy with. The 1.2kg T-bone looked gigantic but it is meant for sharing and Carne’s speciality cut is the lombatella or hangar steak, which hangs near the kidneys, giving it a more gamey flavour. Stay clear of this if you like your meat buttery tender – I had the rib eye steak (R105), which was lovely, but you need to appreciate great naked flavours, for those who love dousing their steak in suace or basting might be underwhelmed because there is no cheese sauce here, the meat is meant to be appreciated for its flavor without nuking, so the meat purely comes with a selection of mustards for the table (I mean you can order side sauces if you’d prefer, and they do offer non-meat dishes :) I can’t comment on the wine, mainly cuz I forgot the name, all I know is that it was an imported red from Italy, that did NOT come at a steal, but I didn’t pick it so don’t remember the details. So Carne is a place to be visited, perhaps not inspiring frequent visits, but certainly worth a visit. (for the restaurant details see Part 1 of review)

Restaurant Review: Carne SA by Georgio Nava

Ok so I’ve hellacioulsy busy to blog but in the past 2 weeks I’ve eaten out soooooo much I’m beginning to forget my dinner at Carne, which was last Thursday, so this is why I must write this review now, even though its gonna be rushed, cuz I need to leave work in 7 mins if I am to be at my dinner on time, need to get hair cut and shower before then...Anyway for now, Carne SA, owned by Georgio Nava who also owns the award winning 95 Keerom across the road is a restaurant I love, for me before I even get to the restaurant some of the draws are the fact that much like the seafood at 95 Keerom comes from Georgio’s own boat, most of the meat at Carne comes from Georgio’s farm, this makes me feel like I’m having quelque chose de spécial, because it wasn’t bred for mass production to sell to several steakhouses, but was nurtured with the purpose of producing the finest meat by the chef who will prepare it himself, I don’t know about you but something about that makes me happy. Carne has become one of my favorite restaurants in just two visits, the first time was sometime last year a few months after their opening, then my 2^nd one was last week Thurs, I do not know what took me so long to go back…The first thing that strikes you when you enter the establishment is how stylishly styled it is, reason why I used the word ‘styled’ is because it doesn’t quite feel ‘decorated’ so décor just doesn’t seem appropriate, it’s quite masculine, lofty & minimal, with an interesting marriage of warm tones with lots of woods and deep red cushions in the bar upstairs, but also a deliberate coldness accentuated by naked grey plastered walls as well as the P Starck ghost chairs we first saw at The Showroom before they abruptly closed down... (post getting too long...continues above :)

Carne SA, 70 Keerom St, Cape Town CBD, Tel: 021 424 3460

Tiger Woods To Star In A New Disney Movie?

This might be in poor taste but I just couldn't resisit when I was sent this pic with the title New movie from Disney...a spin-off of the world famous Lion King lol

Fabulosity Look of The day....stone washed

The Sartorialist, a blogger and fashion photographer for GQ has this website where he takes photoes of people in the street that he feels inspired by, in terms of their fashion sense or how they've styled their outfits, I check the blog daily...the looks range from fantastic, stunning, dreamy to quirky and downright awful. This pic was posted a while ago, and I think everything about this look just works - for someone who often doesnt like light or stone washed denim, this lad, shot in Florence, shows us how to wear light jeans the Italian way - he looks awesome! Highlights for me: The pocket kerchief, the stripped shirt, and the perfectly fitted jacket, the shoulder peek a but and the cuffs are angled, the jeans i'm not mad about, they are stone washed, never been a fan, but makes them work! Click on image to see the detail better.

Carne, Vanilla, Roundhouse, Amazing Weekend

Ok so I've been bad with blogging - mainly because I have been insanely busy - last week and this weekend several friends were in town for The J&B Met so imagine the string of parties that followed. Thursday night i went to dinner with a lovely friend of mine who's in town for 2 weeks, at Carne SA, when i find time i will write a review on this wonderful lil addition to the Cape Town culinery scene, it was my 2nd time there and 10 times better than the last. Reasons to follow. The Friday night was one of my friends from Durban 25th birthday dinner at the new swanky, if not over the top Vanilla Restaurant in the new Cape Quarter, barring being 2 hours late, miss party herself was an hour late so its not that bad, right? was a lovely evening, got to catch up with a lot of Durban folks with was most festive. And wow did she look beautiful - almost like she hadnt aged since she left end of 1st year of varsity, UCT, when she had fallen pregnant, now she had a darling of a daughter and madly in love with the farther, aww, some people's lives are like mini fairy tales :) Ok then Saturday, I had lunch at the oh so spectacular lunch at Rumbullion, which is The Roundhouses's terrace restaurant where they serve lunch, too delightful, more on that later. Then later that day had dinner again at Vanilla, with a different group of people. So I have 3 restaurant reviews I have to do and will try do that soon before i forget the tates, smells and textures! Happy First day of February!