June 2007
Dax’s Diary
When I first came to Cape Town, someone told me that Winters are really quiet. Everyone hibernates and there is nothing going on. Video shops apparently do very well in Winter. My first Winter was indeed quiet, but I think that was because I hardly knew anyone. Since then they have gotten busier each year until I can safely say they are as busy as Summer is.
So as you can tell, I’ve had a busy month. I visited Opium in Camps Bay a couple of times and have to say it was not great. The service is terrible at the bar and at the tables, the music is too loud and they have weird issues like running out of wine glasses when the place is not full at all.
Breakfast at Beleza is becoming a bit of a RWD institution, whenever I go there I bump into people who read about it in RWD. One reader has commented that it’s not just the breakfast that is good. He also suggests a link to another CT restaurant review site. It’s quite good reading as this guy is a chef and totally lays into every place he eats at.
I had Sushi at Willoughby’s one night, which was not bad but wouldn’t make a fuss about it. I had Mother’s Day lunch at The Square at the Vineyard Hotel and while the food was not bad, it was definitely not good value for money. I could have had Mother’s Day lunch at One.Waterfront for the same price and it would have been twice as good. I also ate at Cafe des Arts in Kalk Bay for the first time, it was fantastic. Read the review here.
I attended a birthday celebration at Kennedy’s and it was my first visit there. It’s actually a great venue. On Friday and Saturday evenings they have a brilliant pianist which creates a nice vibe and the place has got a lot of style. There are also 4 poker tables and they have tournaments etc on various nights of the week, so if you are into poker, give them a call. I had dinner at Bella Italia across the road from Posticino and it wasn’t great. Nice ambiance, made more cosy by the prominent pizza oven but the food wasn’t noteworthy. Would probably rather go to Posticino.
I attended the Good Food & Wine Show, which ended up being quite fun. Read the review here. I also attended a charity evening with the Giggling Gourmet, that was a lot of fun. I’m sure her 6 week cooking course is a blast. I went to Hanover Street for the first time to see my friend Jae perform along with Watershed. Walking through the casino never ceases to depress me. I can’t believe how people can throw their money away like that, especially as they are the ones who often can least afford it. The highlight of the last month was definitely the Wacky Wine Weekend, read my review here.
On my occasional spare evening I have been going to the Civair Wine Tastings which you can read about in the events section. So as you can see, it’s been a busy winter so far and a quick look at my calendar tells me it’s going to carry on like this.
You should be wondering where I find the time to update the Relax with Dax website and compile this newsletter. I have no idea, but I do know that the website is looking good. I have done some work on it which you can read about what I have done here. I’ve also somehow found time to write interesting articles like Men’s Health – The magazine men die by, How to end corruption, Be happy with your body, or not…, Copy of your ID please. Go to the website and vote in my poll on the homepage, and while you’re there, feel free to leave a comment on any of my posts. Getting feedback really makes my day.
Have a great month in my beautiful city.
Dax Villanueva
Restaurants, Bars & Clubs
The block on Somerset Road which houses Opium and a number of other clubs is being renovated, so all venues are shutting down temporarily. That means Opium, Kalahari Klik, Pulse, etc. Opium reckons they will re-open in September.
I went past Saints on a Friday night recently and it was closed. Does that mean it’s closed down? It was a nice place. Pity.
A new Sushi bar has opened where Long turns into Kloof (opp Friendly). It must be really new because it doesn’t have any signage yet, so I can’t tell you what it’s called. Talking about the Friendly, I just have to say the Friendlies/7-11s are gross. I don’t know why anyone would shop there. Everything is so old and stale. They remind me of old corner cafés, only worse. I would rather go to the nearest garage.
Kabab Mahal is another Indian Restaurant at 315 Main Rd, Seapoint. I am a fan of Indian and seeing as it is up the road from me, I will have to check it out.
The Forge Cafe has opened in Heritage Square. They make cheese there and you can taste cheese & wine along with freshly baked bread and olives etc.
If you feel like spoiling yourself, get a few friends together and go check out the Winter special at La Colombe. A 3-course lunch with a carafe of Constantia Uitsig wine is R170 per person or a dinner special, starting at R210 per person for a 3-course. A meal at La Colombe is a dining experience, top quality food, service and environment. The price may sound high but it’s a lot cheaper than usual.
Events
1st – 24th: (Sat & Sun only) For the fans of Corne & Twakkie, you can catch The Most Amazing Show: Breakfast Bonanza at the Kalk Bay Theatre from 10:30am. Tickets are R65 and includes free coffee. Breakfast rolls will be available for R20. I think it’s quite novel to go and see a breakfast show. Plus, if it’s a nice day you can hang around in Kalk Bay afterwards. Call 073 220 5430 (Kalk Bay Theatre).
19th – 24th: The Ten Tenors Live at the Artscape. I have never heard of these guys. Apparently they are a ‘platinum selling music phenomenon’, which sounds quite cool, but they are from Australia. The blurb talks about their ‘dashing onstage experience’, so either they are runners or it’s a chick thing. Tickets are R225 to R425. Book at www.computicket.com
16th – 19th June: Cape Town Book Fair at the ICC. Tickets are R30 and if you like reading, this could be for you. I might even pop in. Check out the website for more info http://www.capetownbookfair.com/home
Levi’s Vintage Sundays at The Green Dolphin. No Charge, performance begins at 7:30pm
17th: Verity, Bed on Bricks & Guest Artist – Moreira Chonguica
24th: Robin Auld, Arno Carstens & Albert Frost
9th & 10th July: UB40 performing at Ratanga Junction. A lot of people have said they would love to go and see UB40 but refuse to go to the Belville Velodrome because it’s a terrible venue. So, let’s see what Ratanga is like as a concert venue. Tickets are R269 or R346 for Golden Circle. Book at www.computicket.com
19th – 8th July: Vodacom Funny Festival at the Baxter. If you’ve been gagging for standup comedy (excuse the pun), then this will be what you are looking for. International and local artists performing 2 hours of comedy. All for only R108. Book at www.computicket.com
Madame Zingara’s Tent of Dreams is offering entertainment on Sunday evenings from this month:
17th: Jimmy Dludlu
24th: Flat Stanley
1st July: Bed on Bricks
8th July: Coda & Iridium Project
Tickets are R120 and doors open at 5pm. You can find more info on the website
The Zingara Tent of Dreams is only here until the end of July, so you need to make a plan to get there for the dinner and show if you haven’t been. I am going next week so look out for a review on the website.
I really miss the winter wine tastings at Po Na Na, they were the best. Awesome wines, presented by someone who knew what they were talking about and to top it all off, there were complimentary snacks too. We had some great times at those wine tastings. So I was quite pleased to find our about the Civair wine tastings on Wednesdays. Each week is a different estate and the representative knows what they are talking about. There are some tasty snacks and the whole thing is free. It starts at 5:30pm. Definitely worth checking out. You can even win hampers and other prizes. The Civair Cockpit is located at Quay 5 in the Waterfront (next to Cantina Tequila). Email marketing@civair.co.za for more info. The next few weeks are:
20th: Zorgvliet
27th: Steenberg
4th: Constantia Uitsig
11th: Avontuur
Website of the month
Enviropaedia.com is a South African project and is worthy of some support. This website is the online version of the book (which can be ordered on the website). If there is a ‘green’ topic which you would like to know more about, there is a lot of useful material on this site. It’s seems to be well balanced too, I looked up Genetic Modification and they have 2 separate articles, one for and one against. But it is more than just an information resource, they are heavily involved in many green projects and are trying to make it easier for the average joe to get involved in some way too.
June 15th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Word on the street is that the Leopard’s Leap Wines Wine Down Lounge (Stand E12) at the Cape Town Book Fair is going to be cooking!
Besides daily wine-tastings with the label’s charismatic winemaker, there’ll be interviews with top food editors and authors, readings with acclaimed poets and travel authors and a gorgeous collection of wine-focused books and magazines to browse through.
The fun starts at 16h00 at Stand E12, so be sure to come early to grab a glass and a seat!
June 15th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
That sounds like a great way to wrap up a bit of book shopping. Thanks for that tip Nicole, I’ll definitely be there.
June 19th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I recently went to the Corne & Twakkie Show at the theatre in Kalk Bay. I wasn’t going because I’m a big fan of Corne & Twakkie, in fact I’d only ever seen about a minute of their TV show, ‘The Most Amazing Show’, and I recall changing channels. But my cousin was in Cape Town and he was really keen to see it, so I went with him, wondering just how bored I was going to be.
The ticket included a ‘bacon and egg roll’ breakfast with coffee and/or orange juice. At that stage I was trying to justify the spend as an expensive ‘pig and egg’ roll. Not the sort of breakfast that is going to fill a growing boy, but adequate, provided you haven’t had a big night the night before.
The show was very interactive and started with Corne & Twakkie climbing over the seats to hug members of the audience and spot similarities between individuals in the audience and celebrities. I was very impressed by their quick wit, as they couldn’t rehearse that kind of thing, so were obviously thinking on their feet. They also had very quick retorts for the more bold audience members who decided to take them on with the odd quip. I would imagine this is the kind of show that is a little different every time you see it.
Things did seem to go a bit too far near the end when an audience member who was called up to participate (one of the many during the show) was advised to take his shirt off and ended up with a bit of raw egg on his face and body. Eeuw! He was given a T-shirt for being such a good sport, but still … Eeuw! I did hear one of the more caring members in the crowd express a genuine “Ah, shame man” as the egg was applied.
Corne & Twakkie do hang around afterwards to allow you to ‘chat’ with them and sign any merchandise that you may want to purchase.
On the whole, I felt the show was humorous and worth watching, but I doubt it will be everyone’s cup of tea. It wasn’t so much the content of the show that was great for me (although some enjoy that sort of thing) but more the quality of acting and quick wit. I guess, in my case, it was a good example of the happiness equation:
Happiness = Reality / Expectation