New places to stay, new things to do
THE biggest news for Cape Town
in 2017 is the opening of the
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary
Art Africa (MOCAA) at the V&A
Waterfront in September,” says Leani
Jansen van Vuuren, destination PR
co-ordinator of Cape Town Tourism. “It
will be the biggest museum that has
opened on the African continent in the
last 100 years.”
The founding collection for the
museum is business entrepreneur
Jochen Zeitz’s collection of African
art. Jochen will underwrite the running
costs of the nine-floor facility and
provide a substantial acquisition
budget for new artworks. Supporting
educational and enrichment
programmes will also be a feature of
the museum’s operation.
The museum will seek to emulate
the status of landmark contemporary
art museums such as the Tate Modern
in London, MOMA in New York and
Nacional del Prado in Madrid.
The opening of this venture is set
for Saturday, September 23. Its home
is the repurposed, heritage-listed Silo
building, which also houses six floors
of hotel, which opened on March 1.
The five-star, 28-room Silo Hotel is run
by the Royal Portfolio. Rates quoted
on the hotel’s website start at a hefty
R12 000 per room per night.
Hotels on the cards
The Silo district will also house a threestar
Radisson Red Hotel, set to open
in September, the same month planned
for the opening of the 500-room Tsogo
Sun Hotel Complex, which consists
of a StayEasy and SunSquare, in the
city centre on the corner of Strand and
Buitengracht Streets.
The Ritz, refurbished to the tune of
some R120m, reopens early this year.
Having obtained full management
control of this Sea Point landmark,
the Shimmy Luxury Collection is now
three properties strong. The equitybased
management company, which
launched last year, also manages the
Shimmy Beach Club on the Waterfront
and Bloemendal Wine Estate in the
Durbanville Wine Valley.
As The Ritz’s room configuration
and quality will change significantly, a
review of all 2016 rate agreements will
be conducted and engagement with
tourism partners planned accordingly.
Since the end of last year, Cape
Town’s hotel scene has been
augmented with two new heritage
hotels in the boutique category.
They are Cloud 9 Boutique Hotel in
Tamboerskloof, comprising the old
Leeuwenvoet guesthouse and four other
heritage properties, and the Victorianstyle
The Grey in De Waterkant.
Eating Experiences abound
CAPE Town has started 2017 with
a wide spread of new restaurants.
One of the more unusual ones is
La Tête, in downtown Bree Street,
which subscribes to the nose-to-tail
eating philosophy. The thinking is to
leave no part of an animal to waste,
and delicacies are made from all
organs. With experience garnered
in London, brothers behind the
venture, Giles and James Edwards
are proponents of the concept.
Nose-to-tail is also practised at
Ash Restaurant in Church St, where
the age-old method of charcoal
cooking is utilised and the menu
is kept to a concise page. The
restaurant’s name belongs to Ash
Heeger, who has worked at top
eateries in Cape Town and London.
Constantia cuisine
The tapas bar in Bree Street, Chefs
Warehouse, has opened a new
branch at the Beau Constantia
wine farm in the Constantia Valley,
a partnership that also includes
former head chef of the Test
Kitchen, Ivor Jones. The signature
experience is tapas for two, and
the restaurant is open Tuesday to
Sunday for lunch and dinner.
Also in Constantia, the restaurant
Bold by Brad Ball has opened next
door to the Last Word Constantia
Hotel. According to the hotel’s Nicky
Coenen, the eatery features robust
flavours in interesting and surprising
ways, in a casual setting that is
accessible on foot.
Sea Point dining
When The Ritz in Sea Point
reopens this year sporting its
trendy refurbishment, one of the
weapons in its arsenal will be
Chef Bertus Basson, who will
be at the helm of the revolving,
top-floor restaurant, to be known
as Bertus Basson at The Ritz.
SLC also manages Bloemendal
Wine Estate with its Bon Ami
Restaurant, which offers pizza
specials on Thursdays and halfprice
sushi on Fridays. SLC’s
Shimmy Beach Club has a popular
low carb, Banting-friendly sushi
option, utilising cauliflower instead
of rice.
Scheckter’s Raw, also in Sea
Point, focuses on raw ingredients
and is making vegan and
health food fanatics happy. Its
philosophy, says founder, Toby
Scheckter, is to focus on plantbased,
cruelty-free and nutrientdense
food. “We source our
ingredients only from the best
local and international suppliers,”
he says.
In mid-March, the suburb also
becomes the home of the Mojo
Market, a city block on Regent
Road (below the Mojo Hotel) given
over to food and retail stores
and a live entertainment stage. It
will be open seven days a week
and visitors will be able to buy
baked goods, fresh juices and icecreams,
along with Asian, Mexican American-inspired cuisine
