Relax with Dax

It was interesting attending two very different beer festivals on the same weekend. I attended the craft beer festival on the Friday night (read my review here) and Oktober Bierfest on the Sunday afternoon. Many people think this is the SAB Oktober fest but actually SAB is just a sponsor. They made the village green [...]

Toro Wine bar is at the back of the old Cape Quarter, outside on Waterkant Street. It’s  a small place, but quite easy to spot due to the large glass frontage which allows one to see inside. What you’ll see, if you do happen to look inside, is an appealing looking restaurant. But it’s not [...]

I heard about Symphonic Rocks last year but didn’t get to the actual concert. The whole idea really appeals to me, I love orchestras. When I watch a show at the Artscape I always sit in the gallery so I have a clear view of the orchestra. Watching each section or instrument coming in at [...]

I’m a big fan of the We Love Real Beer craft beer festival, you can read my rave reviews on the previous two here and here. But unfortunately this most recent one was really not enjoyable at all. All the ingredients were there for a great festival. A selection of fine craft beers, some good [...]

I think there is definitely a gap that the Toffie Food Festival fills. A festival which celebrates not just food but all the things around it. Design, community, creativity, invention, passion, and more. It’s very Cape Town. It’s a pity then, that most of the elements were executed badly. This is the first year for [...]

  I went to the matinee showing of Fiddler on the Roof at the Artscape yesterday. It was practically sold out, great to see Cape Town being so supportive its arts. I also chatted to the lead ballerina for the recent Swan Lake at Artscape and she said every night of Swan Lake was sold [...]

This event held special interest for me, not because it was Meerlust wine, nor because I would be staying over in the lovely vineyard hotel, but because I had assisted with the development of the pairings. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to do this and I found it really interesting. [...]

I’m embarrassed to admit that I have only visited the National Gallery about four times in the ten or so years I have been living in Cape Town. The first couple of visits happened within the first few years of my arrival in Cape Town, they are a distant memory. But the most recent visits [...]

I’ll start with my conclusion. If next year’s Stellenbosch Wine Festival is anything like this year’s, I’m not going. It was not an enjoyable experience. The festival is just way too crowded and while there was every description of people there, it was mostly young students everywhere you looked. It was almost impossible to get [...]

For a long time Carlyle’s was the only decent place to eat in Vredehoek. But now, Sidewalk Cafe has become popular since it was taken over by Madame Zingara and there is also another awesome spot, Woodlands Eatery. It is where Yum used to be, on Deer Park Drive. Yum was a double space, but [...]

I was first introduced to the Great Wine Capitals network in 2009 when I was invited to attend the awards lunch for the Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism Awards. Great Wine Capitals is a global network of cities which have their winelands as a key economic and cultural asset. It exists to encourage [...]

Anandale Road in Stellenbosch provides access to many highly acclaimed wine estates which together form the ‘Golden Triangle‘. I have been to many of them, and you will recognise names such as Bilton, Alto, Ernie Els, Guardian Peak, Hidden Valley and Rust en Vrede. That last estate, well known for it’s multi award winning restaurant, [...]

I’ve  been quite spoilt the last few weeks as I’ve attended two wine festivals/tastings which are probably the best of the lot. I recently attended Caroline’s Red Wine review which was top class and last night I attended the Cape Winemaker’s Guild tasting. I had attended this last year and you can read my review [...]

I’m quite excited to write this review because I really enjoyed this event, it was a pleasant change for the standard wine shows we attend every year. What makes Caroline’s Wine Review better than other wine shows? There are a number of differentiating factors, not least of which is the venue. I hate the ICC [...]

The awards for the Wine Magazine Shiraz challenge sponsored by Brenn-O-Kem were held at Catharina’s restaurant on Steenberg estate (see my previous review of Catharina’s here). Catharina’s did not disappoint, the food was up to the usual high standard, as was the service. The starters were served with the winner of the best value shiraz [...]