Cape Town inner city heritage hotel Gorgeous George combines focused, fabulous local interior design talent with inner city cool in its bedrooms and social spaces. The formula is casual food, a bar and deck leading to a pool up high. A few months after opening, it is already a Capetonian drinks hangout favourite.
If you’re suffering from creative block after staying in too many hotel rooms that are boring in their nondescript, impersonal uniformity, make your next business or leisure reservation at Gorgeous George. Old window frames in this new hotel open to overlook Cape Town’s St Georges Mall pedestrian walkway and bring in the hum of a city. It’s where heritage cleverly meets urban.
From the friendly reception on street level where Lucie De Moyencourt’s handpainted tiles form a mural map of Cape Town, to buzzing rooftop Gigi Rooftop restaurant/bar that introduces a tropical jungle feel against a backdrop of urban low-rises, Gorgeous George celebrates everything that is inner city, individualistic and slick. Two heritage buildings were cleverly combined to produce the 32 rooms and suites.
The hotel is Cape Town’s first Design Hotels? member; an association with 300 privately owned/operated international boutique hotels rooted in design, architecture and hospitality.
GERMAN-OWNED
Gorgeous George hotel’s German owner Tobias Alter is the head (and primary shareholder) of real estate development company Formhaus in Munich. He believes more travellers are looking for an authentic experience “outside of what the cookie cutter large scale brands” offer.
“The common denominator is inner city and innovative locally designed,” says Alter. “With the consolidation of larger hotel chains, there’s a gap for a personalised experience that only smaller, independent boutique hotels can fill.”
Tristan du Plessis of Plessis Studios was brought in to add colour, flair and local artisanal design flash in the interior spaces. “We came up with a concept that was a reaction to other Cape Town hotels,” says Du Plessis. “We didn’t want beachside or seaside. We wanted an unashamedly downtown and urban focus.”
SOUTH AFRICAN DESIGN SHOWCASE
“From an aesthetic perspective we wanted a showcase for South African design,” says Du Plessis. They’ve achieved it. My one-bedroom linked to a lounge with Gregor Jenkin’s Quaker chair propped at his narrow black steel workdesk, near a mural handpainted by David Britz.
A distinctive drinks trolley by Douglas & Co had an outsized pink wheel against a black metal frame. A velour couch ended at a brass pill mirror “inspired by the Cape Dutch arches of a neighbouring building”. Du Plessis’s oak and steel storage unit doubled as a refreshment station, with seventies ribbed glass panels and De Moyencourt’s tiles as splashbacks.
I loved Jenkin’s bathroom vanities too: marble topping a black base on narrow legs, creating a luxurious touch against the wet room’s white and black penny tiles and black accessories.
GIGI ROOFTOP
Du Plessis’s Eurocentric library/bar at Gigi Rooftop uses only locally sourced furniture including leather Chesterfields to his own design. A barman made us cocktails on a leather counter, on stained walnut wood with brass trim. David Krynauw’s large oak table and chairs infused an Afrikaans farm-style element.
Smaller dining tables with more handpainted tiles weren’t terribly practical for balancing wine glasses alongside executive chef Guy Bennett’s accessible food. Small Plates (oysters to tasty BBQ sticky lamb ribs) suit afternoon poolside drinks or dinner starters. A creative mushroom risotto is an alternative to fish and steaks.
Continuing the casual theme, Du Plessis designed the rooftop to be an urban garden oasis, with loads of hanging baskets of plants linking the indoors with the decked pool area. “We turned the old machine room into the indoor section of the rooftop pool.”
LIVING ROOM FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
Alter was adamant about introducing European hotel culture as a community social hub in his design brief to Du Plessis. A space not only for sleeping; a haunt for locals to meet. It’s why Alter refers to Gigi Rooftop’s restaurant as the “living room for the neighbourhood”.
It makes the sixth floor rooftop space unusual. On a weekday winter evening a mix of ages were chatting, ordering glasses of wine plus snacks to eat. There were quieter dining areas too. “That was a core component of what we wanted to create: a social space not just for hotel guests,” says Du Plessis. “It adds to the experience for the guest too. It’s nice to be part of that community and not just check into a room.”
GORGEOUS GEORGE 118 St Georges Mall, Cape Town City Centre.
Tel 087-898-6000, Gorgeous George
A version of this appeared in Business Day HomeFront in June 2019
Our reservation for six was confirmed nine months in advance. What started as a fantastic idea between four friends became a foodies’ mission. The destination: El Bulli restaurant in Spain. Two days before the 2007 season closed, six South Africans arrived for dinner by taxi along a winding coastal road.
Kim Maxwell: Doesn’t El Bulli have an unusual format for a restaurant? 
Somerset West dining has just got more exciting. New Restaurant Seven with George Jardine is upping the ante for quality smart casual dining, just off the main street.
Seven’s food is classics with a twist: visually appealing plates served in a welcoming environment. The long space is noisy when full of diners. It feels like a neighbourhood restaurant yet the crafted plates are pitching quite a bit higher at people who enjoy food and as Jardine puts it “want to eat everything”.
A long space draped in sleek darkness. Black, charcoal, greys. Near a window, an elegant, circular 
Arno Janse van Rensburg and pastry chef Liezl Odendaal established Janse 
Janse 
A selection of Odendaal’s homemade breads and unusual crackers with Janse van Rensburg’s four cured salamis and sausages made for a compelling start. Smoked geelbek in a creamy lemon aioli under fresh persimon shavings was fresh. Then a fairly adventurous option: sweet, homemade granola mixed through diced, tart quince and green beans under grated shavings of frozen duck liver parfait. I liked it; some may not.
My husband loved the classic notes of beef brisket best, slow-cooked to tender with roasted shallots, capers and spinach swimming in a delicious jus, onions dehydrated into a sticky-sweet sheet on top. My favourite was simplicity itself: vegetarian potato ribbons softened in vegetable stock and warmed through with butter, on diced avo. What took it up a notch was a salty seaweed dusting of “klipkombers”. It’s a seaweed that clings to rocks.
I’ve heard beautiful things about The Table and wanted to eat there for ages. “Yes, let’s book and all go sometime.” How often have you said that to friends? Yet somehow other commitments and schedules get in the way.
The average Stellenbosch wine farm is slick and polished. De Meye, in contrast, is a small family owned winery. It is rustic and scattered with things that appear a little wonky or run-down. It’s at this charming venue where the small restaurant operates.
The simple dining concept is all about provenance. Beautiful lunches are created by Jessica, using produce grown and gathered in their kitchen garden, in addition to quality ingredients sourced from neighbouring regions. Luke gives the table guests a rundown of where and what at every course, with olives from here and heirloom tomatoes from there, as well as pasture-reared meat to farm eggs.
I don’t remember all the specifics. But we started with farm butter and artisanal sourdough from De Oude Bank Bakkerij, Chrisna’s assorted garlicky olives, dipped into soft ricotta mixed through with goat’s cheese, and fat, juicy red and green heirloom tomato slices. Glasses were topped with chilled Rosé.
Dessert was sugar cones for kids, with adults tucking into bowls of passion fruit tangy-creamy frozen yoghurt, and cream whipped stiff with lovely edible things on chewy meringue.
Go to The Table to enjoy a delicious country experience under a shady tree. This is honest, no-frills food created with positive energy and good intent. And if you have children along, they will leave grubby and happy.
Franschhoek is often called South Africa’s culinary capital and it’s not hard to figure out why. Per square metre, the central village offers a number of quality simple and upmarket restaurants, wine and activities. In between the formulaic cafes and curio shops tripping up tourists in the main street, there are quality dining destinations and delis, plus charming suites and cottages offering luxurious beds.
My lunch began with a simple Luderitz oyster poached in creamy Champagne velouté, with verjuice gel and dill oil. Simple and comforting, it was served in a beautiful bowl shaped like an oyster shell. There were hits of citrus freshness, sago for texture, then micro-diced apple in yuzu dressing adding tartness. As a wine pairing the Morena 
Seafood is something this restaurant does particularly well. “We have more fish dishes because they’re light enough to allow you to enjoy more courses,” says Norris-Rogers. “It brings clean flavours and freshness to a menu.”
In summary, La Petite Colombe offers a food and wine journey. Complex, attractive dishes incorporate a layering of tastes, in a setting that opens to a garden.
Consisting of a series of linked interior spaces and a back courtyard of a double-storey historical house, Thali is crammed between narrow shops and a popular bar on an inner city Cape Town street. It’s a busy street, well worth a taxi ride to experience the Indian tapas and interior décor inside.
Although you may think of tapas as ordering a series of plates of your choice, at Thali the kitchen determines most of your menu. Oxford Dictionary defines a thali as a metal plate on which Indian food is served, or a type of set meal at an Indian restaurant. Both descriptions fit the Cape Town version: two diners each eat four tapas dishes, with a few alternatives here and there.
“A point about tapas that I like is that it’s plates of food to share,” says Van Zyl. “It’s eight small meals, basically a tasting menu of sorts, but not very formal. It’s a great way of eating and socialising.”
The vegetarian menu includes black dahl, or tandoori and pureed cauliflower variations served with coconut and cashew. Homemade paneer cheese in spiced spinach, curry emulsions or vegetable curries complete the repertoire. “The concept is that it’s light and bright flavours,” says Van Zyl.
My grandmother, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, inherited a majority share in Pichon in 1978 at the age of 53. It was tough. The farm was struggling to pay wages. Then we had a fantastic Bordeaux 1982 wine vintage. American critic Robert Parker rated the wine 100 points. The international wine market opened.
My grandmother liked Glenelly because it was a blank canvas. Previously it was a fruit farm, so she could create quality wine from scratch. She briefed winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain to create wines made to age, showing power, elegance and balance.
We wanted guests to look at the view from outside but have shade from pergolas. In the bistro you will find the Drucker chairs. They are made in a small village near Paris at Maison Drucker. They are traditional Parisian bistro chairs and the only ones worth having.
Dehosse gives the traditional chewy Bordeaux canelé bake a twist, serving it with rooibos ice-cream and caramelised pineapple.
It is about the first glimpse of azure sea and a suggestion of a beach holiday — even if only for an afternoon. The Grand at Cape Town’s Granger Bay has always been a venue less about what you’re eating and more about the drinks and friends with whom you are sharing it. A place where piles of sand hold up the outdoor dining tables and slip-slops on feet seem overdressed.
Inside the original warehouse restaurant interior space, the sway of Café del Mar and newer loungey musical counterparts is familiar. But a Tanqueray gin bar is new and the long, industrial Grand dining hall next door now overlooks an Absolut Elyx bar. Two white, floating, old-fashioned pressed ceilings are a hanging focal point above the bar counter’s long stack of spirit bottles.
Other new outdoor sections include the Ibiza-style area on the beach, with luxurious daybeds, private bars and a deejay booth for a comfortably exclusive area, discreetly set apart. Two container bars have been repurposed and reclad as a beach beer and sparkling wine bar respectively.
The concept is “simple food that tastes great” for guests leaning towards food with their drinks, according to Grand 
I’ve always thought of Paarl as that little town just past Stellenbosch. Yet we are just off the N1, closer to Cape Town than to Stellenbosch. 
Most of us have lost touch with what farming used to be. We want to showcase Avondale’s chickens and duck and hen eggs from the farm “egg-mobile”. We had a cow that lived its life eating grass from the Avondale field. I had a taste — it’s phenomenal how different it was from feedlot animals.
I don’t think we will ever serve a crème brûlée. You might find a soufflé on our menu but with a creative component to it: fermented banana and chocolate, or maybe peaches and beer. Our popular cream cheese and blueberries dessert (cream cheese and honey sorbet, with coconut crumble and blueberry macaron) was inspired by blueberry cheesecake.
Cape Town is home to the first global Coco Safar in Cavendish Square. Its owners say it is not just another shopping centre coffee shop.
Spring … It’s one of those seasons that seems to wake up a month or so too late. Or surprises you by literally popping the blossoms out. Most years it is a combination of the two.
Our morning in the nature reserve was fabulous. We drove into the Postberg, parked and climbed a hilly section above the lovely Plankiesbaai beach, surrounded by boulders on one side. There were a few brave swimmers, but mostly people setting up their picnics, simple braais and camp chairs with brandy bottles.
We settled on Hilda’s Kitchen at Groote Post wine farm, accessed via a dirt road off the R27. I looked for a recent commentary and found a 2014 Eat Out review by my writing colleague Greg Landman, describing “always delicious” cooking and chef Debbie McLaughlin’s eleventh year at the restaurant. Two years on, during a Sunday visit on September 2016, I’d say the venue and culinary highlights have not changed much. Why would they?
What to eat Off the current menu of about three starters, mains and desserts, we ordered a main Greg had described as “pork belly, slow roasted and served with tangy plum sauce”. Tender and slightly Asian in feel, it was declared delicious. One of our boys requested the signature “old man’s fillet steak roll” (a crumbed chicken burger was the solitary offering for any children in our group, and the crumbed patty seemed to be out of a box). As an adult main, a tasty individual chicken pie containing shredded meat and porcini was served with handcut potato wedges (replacing the menu’s mash) and salad. The lamb main course possibly looked more exciting than it tasted, but our complaint was probably more with the waiter’s description of “medium” than with the fact that it arrived slow-roasted and tender.
What to drink Darling beer to quench your thirst, and bottled water too (the farm water is an acquired taste). At R110 the standard Sauvignon Blanc is marked up R30 on the cellar door price. It’s delicious, full of guavas and fun, so a fitting lunchtime partner. In red we tasted the fruity-style Shiraz but ordered a more serious cherry-tinged Pinot Noir 2014 (R235). It may not have made the most sense from a value point of view, but we were enjoying a lovely day in the country and felt like a bit of a splash.
For Daniel’s 6th birthday we decided to move the party elsewhere. He was as keen as a bee to have it at home – the nostalgia of old-fashioned birthday parties of previous years? – but boys in particular, need activities. Especially in winter …
Plan A 
Considering a plan B? 
On to the eating 
The swimming pool ‘water’ 
Decoration 
Every now and then you have an eating experience that is a life shaper, something that stands out in your mind not only for being novel but perhaps also awkward, unusual or challenging to your perceptions of what food can be. Most of mine have been uncomplicated things. Sometimes the experience is also amazing. Eight years ago I had one that was all of those in Hong Kong.
A flight up past tanks stocked with plump fish, we were greeted by a blast of air conditioning at Lin Heung but no welcome. We stood around and waited for probably five minutes for somebody to notice us. Men in white coats rushed past to top up Chinese tea from giant tea kettles; framed Chinese scenes didn’t liven basic white walls where fluorescent light tubes cast an eerie light in a large windowless room. Ceiling fans whirred.
That time we started observing the system. The idea was to hover near a couple of tables until a seat was vacated. Once we sat down a menu strip – all in red Chinese characters – was stuck under the glass table top. Old men at our table carried on reading newspapers; two friendly Asian girls eventually helped us order. They were visiting from Canada. As soon as we accepted any dim sum, items were ticked off and the paper strip was replaced under the glass.
Fast forward to my July 2016 visit: I asked a Hong Kong friend to join me at Lin Heung as she’d never been. The email with details had been lost, but my previous photos provided some clues. When I googled, I was a little sad to find Lin Heung mentioned on food blogs and TripAdvisor. I learned it had an opening date of 1928.
The great part about places that use traditional trollies is that you can figure it out as you go because the ladies lift the lids, allowing a visual check it out before you accept. The round, spongey char siew bao buns filled with barbeque pork weren’t as light as they could be, but that’s a small detail. Chicken with mushroom wrapped in bean curd skin was so much tastier than it sounds.
Chef Wesley Randles and manager Simon Widdison are the hands-on component of a four-way partnership that includes Luke and Sandalene Dale-Roberts (it’s her furniture and interior design here) of The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club, Cape Town restaurants where Randles and Widdison previously worked.
A 
The point of the menu is to challenge your focus and taste buds. The restaurant doesn’t feel pretentious to sit in and it’s a market between upmarket casual dining (The Pot Luck Club) and extreme fine dining (The Test Kitchen). We’ve never touched on breakfast in any of our restaurants so that’s a whole new thing. Our style of breakfast is recognisable but extremely different.
I wanted to do a lemon tart that is so much more. When it arrives at the table it looks like lemon tart. But lemon geranium is blended into the crust, and the custard filling has a touch of saltiness from preserved lemon. It’s caramelised and served with strawberry and amasi ice-cream, and finished off with lemon charcoal and strawberry dust. I don’t like to screw around and add a million purees to the plate. But then it has to be the perfect lemon tart.
The name was inspired by two major streets in Manhattan. But the charcoal-painted Mulberry 
Labour-intensive ricotta dumplings have a lightness of touch, served with dainty shimeji mushrooms in a pool of leek and scallion green sauce. Steak tartare or aromatic lamb ribs both have their culinary merits.
Any overlaps with the New York and Cape Town dining scene? Riviera: Bree Street, around the corner, has a lot of similarities with Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Brooklyn is kindof what Bree street is turning into: restaurants, boutiques and street artists. But the food is still quite different.
You are both young to own a restaurant. How do you rate your chances? Riviera: Sometimes we’ve felt that because we are young people don’t always take us seriously. It’s annoying because if we weren’t sure that this was what we wanted, we wouldn’t have taken this chance. We aren’t prepared to accept mediocre standards, whether it comes to the products from purveyors or anything else.
From its elegant French-influenced gardens and interiors to its flutes of fizz, a Franschhoek family’s recently completed farm is luring visitors with its Gallic charm.
Winemaker Paul Gerber produces an excellent leaner, dryer style of 
Some of the 
Chef Nicolene credits her time at Michelin-two-star Le Gavroche in London for shaping her classic style. Orangerie lunch menus start with home-baked rolls and beautifully plated steak tartare, and finish with exquisite clafoutis desserts — there is a Gallic elegance to many of the dishes and sauces.
8 questions to Chef Vadas
2. It sounds easy. Is it? I came back from Texas and designed our mobile smoker, which we park out front. It took us a few months, trying different woods (we’re using rooikrans) to settle in. How it works is we put the meat in and wait. The technique is difficult because the meat has to be hung properly and can be sinewy, so there’s nowhere to hide. Ours is grassfed free-range meat from Spier.
7. What’s on the side? We have a lot of vegetarian regulars, which sounds like a contradiction, but the cauliflower with goat’s cheese, caper and sultana butter is probably our most popular dish. Pineapple Kimchi is a hit too. We do a braai broodjie of Spier’s potato bread, Huguenot cheese, onion and tomato, cooked on the grill.
Some of South Africa’s top restaurants are located at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. The Test Kitchen and Pot Luck Club of course. 
The new winter menu has plenty to see you through from autumn’s nippiness to spring.
Desserts to try
Tackling the winding roads of Silvermist Mountain Lodge to reach La Colombe restaurant in its new Constantia Nek location, the gradual elevation and snatched glimpses of Constantia vineyards focus your mind on your appetite. On breezy days, a mass of trees whistle.
Silvermist Estate is the only certified organic wine producer in the Constantia Valley. Andrew and Troy Constandakis own La Colombe in partnership with chef Scot Kirton. Front-of-house manageress Jennifer Hugé takes care of the rest, from staff training to precise food-and-wine pairings delivered in quality stemware. This is a restaurant where you’ll recognise the same serving staff year after year. They effortlessly describe dishes despite multiple elements and seem to know how to make diners feel special but not harassed.
8 questions to Eat Out Chef of the Year 2015 Scot Kirton
6. Is it about awards or repeat customers? It is definitely about regular customers that support us throughout the year, but the awards make it worthwhile for chefs to gain recognition for their hard work. Awards also bring first-time customers to see what all the fuss is about. We seem to be getting more dietary requirements from guests – some come in with cards printed with 20 things they can’t eat – so it becomes quite perplexing at times, but we challenge ourselves to meet them.
Six of us tried out Open Door’s new breakfast deck on Sunday and had a tastily lazy morning. There are plenty of good breakfast spots in Cape Town but most are indoors. The appeal of Open Door is that you can sit outside and enjoy rural views of a 
What to eat The beetroot yoghurt with homemade nut, seed and coconut granola sounds unusual, but we stuck to hot items. A thick slice of toasted brioche with two poached eggs, tangy citrus hollandaise, chorizo and sweetcorn is the flat-out winner here. Bits of fatty bone marrow are hidden under a velvet coating of sauce. If you’re lusting after comfort food, a baked sausage, poached eggs and spiced tomato sauce dish with melted gruyere cheese is a good alternative. Only a little lacking in chili heat.
I’m often asked to recommend Winelands picnics. I tend to make the effort to drive out to a restaurant. But having a husband who isn’t flexible enough to sit hunched and cross-legged for longer than five minutes, means spreading a blanket isn’t a popular choice in our house.
Allée Bleue grows, and supplies retailers, with incredible leaves, herbs, (including less usual tarragon and tatsoi) and fruit, aside from delicious wines. Their Chenin Blanc and Isabeau (Semillon Chard Viognier blend) have long been favourites of mine because they are so food-friendly.
Little jars aside, a few solid separate bits of protein would not have gone amiss – a few cocktail sausages perhaps? Melktert miniatures and farm nectarines finish it off. (The vegetarian picnic version is fairly similar, but the salads only have cheese, and a Med grilled vegetables replaces the beef noodle stir-fry).
We wanted a different getaway, a place warm enough to ignore the spring chill, with a drive of sufficient distance to remind us that we had escaped urban life for three days and two nights. Tree Tops near Citrusdal ticked the boxes.
The Baths is an outdoor resort with hot springs that date to Victorian times. Their numerous affordable self-catering options were full – we were advised to book their weekend accommodation two months in advance.
A stone kitchen on the lawns was equipped with a communal fridge, a couple of two-plate stoves, and cupboard for each treehouse – containing two sets of plates and cutlery, pots, wine glasses and a waiter’s friend. A drawback if all treehouses are occupied, you need to request extra bits and pieces for any extra children in advance. We’d called on arrival after finding only a bare mattress in our room as extra bedding for a five year old.
If I returned I’d probably book out Tree Tops with two other families, and take over a few treehouses. Your kids need to be old enough to share a double bed with a sibling or friend in a separate treehouse. The treehouses are close enough for adjacent occupants to call to each other, but they’re suspended on stilts some distance from the kitchen and braai area – something to keep in mind, as some young urbanites struggle to sleep with noisy night crickets and chatty morning birds.
Daniel’s 5th birthday party fell on a public holiday again. Five seems to be an age where kids love to show off their strength, lightning speed and superhuman powers. So naturally we had a superhero and pajama party (a few adults dressed up too, but swapped the spiderman mini-juices for wine).
I deviated from the usual beer box cake recipe because I was given a new Kitchen Aid cake tin with smaller dimensions (23 x 33 x 5cm) and wanted to put it to the test. It made just the right size of cake to accommodate Clark Kent’s buffer alter ego. My cake rose too much in the centre, but I just piped butter icing in the cracks and kept spreading. Fortunately Superman needed a puffy chest.
Superman S design