Franschhoek Uncorked Festival at Rickety Bridge

Delicious food and wine at Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek

Are you looking for the perfect way to spend the first weekend of Spring? 17 on Loader guesthouse in Cape Town has the answer at Rickey Bridge! The weekend of the 4 – 5 September 2010 sees the arrival of Spring and to celebrate, Franschhoek throws a town wide party for all to enjoy – the Franschhoek Uncorked Festival.

Wine Tasing at the Franschhoek Uncorked Festival

Join the fun at the Franschhoek Uncorked Festival at Rickety Bridge – wine tasting of new releases and old favourites, great wine specials all weekend,mouth-watering tapas platters, boules in the vines, farm rides on a vintage DODGE truck for kids and enjoy a performance by singer-song writer Danelle de Vries on Saturday from 16:00 – 20:00.

Danelle’s sultry sounds range between jazz, soulful pop and original “folk-ish” music. She is first and foremost a singer-songwriter, but will be indulging you in music that is easy listening and uplifting. She will be performing songs out of the Great American Songbook, cover songs of artists such as Norah Jones, Katie Melua, Corinne Bailey-Rae, Tracy Chapman, Don Mclean, John Lennon etc. as well as a few or her original songs.

Rickety Bridge Manor House

The access cards, available directly from participating wineries on the day or through Computicket, at R80.00 each, includes a tasting glass and free wine tasting at 20 participating wineries for the duration of the event. There is no additional charge to Uncorked revelers for the Danelle De Vries performance.

www.ricketybridge.com

Bastille 10.0

Franschhoek is a bit of an “all or nothing” little town, and those of you who follow the blog will know my opinion of this French corner of the Cape – this slice of heaven town has a crème de la crème reputation for fine wine, dine… and apparently, swingers (an interesting little fact I picked up at last year’s Bastille bash). 

Celebrating French Huguenot heritage with admirable abandon this 17th – 18th of July, every shop front and five year-old painted face screams the red, blue and white colour scheme. 

Being a valley of award-winning restaurants, Bastille day boasts first and foremost the marquee – housing the aromas and jollity of lavish cuisines and cellar-sellers.

In addition, Franschhoek runs a French fims festival, an exhibition of vintage motors and (simply as a result of Franschhoek’s small-townnness) events the likes of the Chefs and Waiter’s race and Barrel Rolling.

Entrance to the marquee is R100.00, inclusive of a tasting glass and a booklet of 10 tasting coupons (… enough for round 1, really) and tickets can be bought online.

The event is a splendiferous testament to our varied Western Cape wonders and we suggest you head on out:)

And for those faring back into the city slickness from the mayhem of Bastille, best bed and breakfast it at 17 on Loader. 021 418 3417.

Au Revoir!

Cape Town Pub-crawl

They call it the pub-crawl for two reasons. 1. There are pubs. 2. The involvement of such pubs occasionally results in the action of crawling.

This fact leads us to conclude, that it is our own best interest to rouse bedlam in pubs conducive to crawling. What characteristics determine crawl-worthiness?

1. CLEANLINESS. To pub-crawl is one thing, but to be in a pub already crawling with bugs and Dickensian dodge-cats is a deal breaker. Moreover, hoping optimistically that visible symptoms of Hepatitis F don’t materialize, as a result of braving bar snacks, can somewhat suck the fun.
2. Hence requirement two: GOOD BAR SNACKS. In a less then solid state, culinary surprises (and I’m talking about the Halloween trick rather than treat variety) leave something to be desired – usually the contents of our stomachs… back in our stomachs…
3. The final, crucial component of the good pub-crawl – AMBIENCE.  Disapproving throat-clearing and look-down-the-nose looks responses to Black Label requests, hardly encourage jollity.

In light of these crucial components, a list of Cape Town’s preferred pubs:

Forrester’s Arms, affectionately referred to as “Forries”. Superb gourmet pizza (try the springbok capraccio pizza), bustling atmosphere, and a houseful of red-faced, referee-resenting beer-boep “ballies” (on match days), is what to expect. With a five star pub menu; a variety of draughts, cocktails and wines; a fireplace for cold days and an outdoor area for warm days, Forries really is a best-of-everything pub.

Try Barrister’s, just around the corner. A little less raucous and a touch more mature, Barrister’s is perfect for what starts off as “a quick drink after work”.

The intimate Elephant and Barrel, Franschhoek, has a selection of the most ludicrous cover singers I have ever heard (and I come from a long line of tone-deaf-denialism). From teenagers to twenty-somethings, to farm-workers and farm-owners, everyone is up and semi-jokingly gyrating by the end of evening – proof of just how hard the Elephant and Barrel throws down. A clean venue, cheery staff, and communal bonding (through ridicule of musical acts) catalyses merriment, and puts this pub up in the five-star range.

The Dubliner is always brimming with people and bursting with song. Curtained poker rooms, overly-enthused cover bands and the spirit of the Irish, keep this pub abuzz. For a slightly quieter, Irish pub vibe, stop by Catu Bar, near Greenmarket Square.

Quay Four, with seating right up to the water’s edge, has a striking view of the harbour. A great selection of draughts, really good ol’ pub food (fish and chips, burgers, and the like) and fresh, ocean air keep it classy.

Also situated at the V&A waterfront is Mitchell’s. Be warned, as the unofficial Chelsea fan-house of Cape Town, Mitchell’s is pretty riotous on match days. A great venue and a must-do for the pub-crawl – nothing but good fun.

For something different, in the way of pubs, stop by Ganesh and Tagore’s in obs. Ganesh keeps the charm of the township tavern kitchen – serving traditional meals and unbelievably cheap quarts. In the meantime, Tagore’s is a hidden away Moroccan-feel bar that attracts the bohemian and the hippean and offers up a frantic line up of live Friday night jazz.

SA cheese festival

Next weekend, the South African Cheese festival returns to us in all it’s stinky goodness! In truth, I’m still not convinced that Cheese festival is a and adequate name. While I dare not blaspheme against the quality and variety of cheeses at the SA Cheese festival, the name shneakily hides the incredible array of other appetizers and palate-pamperers on show. 

In the sanctuary of Simondium, somewhere between Paarl and Franschhoek, the SA Cheese festival returns to Bien Donné farm from the 24th until the 27th of April. The Cooking Pot is the cheese festival’s cookery corner. By now a renowned space for innovative cheese use (no, really), The Cooking Pot is great place for gourmet gurus and closet chefs to convene. 

And for those carting around kids, who have nothing more than “eugh” and “blegh” to say to an abundance of cheeses, the Kids Corner saves the day. Life-size cartoon characters, balloon artists and magicians will keep kids captivated and distracted from the banging smells of blue. 

Now for those who are olive enthusiasts, the Olive Experience sports rows and rows of table olives, olive oils, olive james, tapenades and i-love-olive-type dishes.

Last, but certainly not least, SA cheese festival will be where a wonderful whack of Western Cape (and other) wines are waiting for tasting, to be paired and compared. 

For those of you meandering into town just for this smelly, savoury sanctuary, be sure to find some sleep in 17onLoader’s beautiful B&B. 

All in all SA Cheese festival promises to be a mouthgasm. Be sure to check out the floor plan, program and grab some tickets!

Oude Libertas Outdoor Concerts

In full swing of the summer season everyone is embracing the AL fresco (and lustfully absorbing the memory for the months of winter that will come before we know it). Every year, Oude Libertas brings an array of artists to soothe those lazing in the sun.

Situated on the slopes, Oude Libertas‘ amphitheatre captures a postcard view of the Stellenbosch mountain range. This year, Oude Libertas again presents a “picnics welcome” line-up of diverse South African acts, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and The Black Tie ensemble. If you want to sink into the warmth of the Cape mountains, this is the way: wicker baskets, wine and “whine”

New Year in Cape Town

Alright you boozy floozies, the time is once again upon us. I know,  I know. We’re getting calls from fifteen different social circles, we’re examining our Christmas-wounded wallets and we can’t make up our minds on how to ring in the new year. So just for you, a few options…

Party karate…

Where I’d be, as the clock strikes midnight, is Greenmarket Square! A massive stage, 4 Dance Floors, 5 VIP VENUES, a big bar area and state of the art sound and lighting is what’s on the menu. Not to mention the good ol’ al fresco. In addition the line-up is grand! Live sax and percussion, locnville, dino moran, chris jack, the plastics, etc crew, captain stu and the pretty blue guns to name a few. Standard tickets at R180 and VIP at R280.

If you’re into trance, and you either are or aren’t, the Boomerang Psychedlic Trance Fest heaves into the New Year at Bien Donne tonight.

And obviously, check out VORTEX.

Clubbing into 2010…

Camps Bay’s place to be, Cafe Caprice, goes carriage to pumpkin with a Full Moon party. Cape Town’s best view, a full moon, good music and cocktails. Pretty much our usual lover in Caprice.

If you’re wanting to chic it up in celeb status, Chevelle is offering 12 top DJs as well as SA’s best electronic funk band, FLASH REPUBLIC live.

While CERTAINLY not one of my favourite venues, for lack of a general good vibe, Club91’s Dirty Fantasies party kicks off tonight with sauce and seduction. R100 at entrance and R250 pp for VIP (bubbles and access to the VIP lounge).

Bang bannnnnnnnnng… she shot me dowwwwwn…. I love this place. Well equipped with MINISTRY OF SOUND they’re unlikely to go wrong. Be warned, small indoor venue so attendees MUST be cool with crowds. R200 standard and R500 VIP (access to the ol’ upstairs). This venue will be screaming audible chocolate – a good venue for hard partyers:)

For R500, fire it up at Hemisphere’s Football Fiesta (welcome drink and canape included). Hemisphere, with Pravda Vokda and Redbull, party into 2010 like football fanatics.

In a similar style, Oblivion’s World Cup party presents a New Year’s Eve option. This place is always a laid-back, leisurely lounge feel, with tickets at R150 pp.

Wine and fine dine…

While the VIP price is high, the high demand for these R800 pp tickets doesn’t lie. HQ has quickly climbed the social ladder to be one of the best places to be seen in CT. You can upgrade to VVIP, which makes the canapes oysters and the sparkling wine champagne. HQ is embracing the rest of heritage square to create a wonderfully in and outdoor, intimate New Year’s Eve bash. The awesome DJ Rene makes an appearance, accompanied by Buddy wells on sax.

At an exceptionally reasonable R90 pp, try out Grand Daddy’s Fiesta! Nachos, fajitas, burritos and chilli poppers or dance it up at the Daddy Cool Bar. One tequila… you know the rest.

For R150 pp stop over Boo Radley’s Bar and Bistro. A little bit of old school cigar bar and a lot of love for cocktails. A welcome cocktail, canapes and free bubbly as we cross over.

Last but not least, for real decadence, Val de Vie’s Sabrage has a spectacular menu for a New Year’s Eve  sit down dinner.

Hope that helps? Wishing you a lots of bubbles and the best midnight kiss! Have a fabulous New Year

SYNERGY LIVE

For festival-goers Christmas came early, and seven years on Synergy Live promises to be even bigger than what it was – one of Cape Town’s most memorable events.

In Franschhoek Valley – the Western Cape’s own land of milk and honey, where vineyards sag with grapes of world-famous wines and there are even more stars in the sky – Boschendal Estate’s green lawns, lush with Spring, will be the backdrop.

Synergy Live pledges a playground permutation of funfair, live acts, camping, multimedia theatrics and marketplace. Nourishment is provided in usual forms of easy and green-cleansy festival food, or the upmarket option of Boschendal’s own picnic basket luncheons, while things to do include the geodesic theatre for cineastes, carnival rides and backward bungees and, of course, the music.

Better-known live acts include Capt Stu, 7th Son, Plastics, van Coke Kartel, Hog Hoggidy Hog, New Academics, Rudimentals, Taxi Violence, Fokofpolisikar, Aking, Prime Circle, Goldfish, Zebra and Giraffe, and the Dirty Skirts. These acts will be featured on the bigger better outdoor stage, while the bar stage features unplugged and old-school acts – for those laying low between doses of delirium.

Most excitingly, for the dub generation is the electro-drome. Dedicated to top of class DJs and the heaving underground, this will be where it’s still going when the live acts shut their eyes.

With exceptional, eclectic line-ups ranging from PH fat and Killer Robot, to Craig de Sousa, Tony Finger and Shaun Duvet, Synergy Live caters to everyone’s preferred mayhem.


This weekend Friday 27^th to Sunday 29^th, Synergy Live can’t be missed. And for those of you feeling the end of month pinch, tickets range from R380 to R150 dependent on duration. It’s a steal. Check out the line-up here.

Divine De Waterkant: The Loading Bay!

By day (dumdumdum!) The Loading Bay operates under the guise of a coffee house, but a lesser known secret is that on Thursday night it’s home of Cape Town’s hotter hipsters – it’s burger night:) 

Usually The Loading Bay closes shop early on, but last night we stopped by to try out their nocturnal offerings. Burger day considerately caters for carnivores and herbivores alike, with a scrumptious beef burger and an exotic black bean-based patty version for the veggies. Burgers are accompanied by an option of ribbon fries or salad – we opted to keep it clean and green and weren’t disappointed. A light side salad of artichoke hearts, sweet basil and red and butter lettuce was the perfect light offering to accompany our hamburgers. The burgers were hefty hair-on-your-chest, quality meet, on fresh kitka roll, with cheddar, gherkin and fairy dust – I didn’t really stop to examine the contents after the first bite;)  R75, for a hearty meal, that I  didn’t once regret spending.

Definitely not a place to hit in a hurry – day or night, The Loading Bay kitchen prepares their food with  loads of love (and loads of time) – but it always seems worthwhile. There is also something comforting about knowing that the burgers weren’t waiting on a shelf to be defrosted – The Loading Bay appeases appetite from scratch.  

A choice of quencher? The evening’s menu offered milkshakes that involved cookies and Lindt chocolate and a range of alcohols. Please note though that beverages are hard on the wallet in here, and I must admit that it seems they chose their alcoholic beverages according to shelf display and colour scheme, but it certainly works out in their favour. Most importantly they stock my very favouritest Brewers&Union unfiltered lager – a perfect accompaniment to the big beef. 

The service is great and smiley, while the setting superbly combines chic with industrial and I can honestly say that I haven’t been to a restaurants like it (which is a fair achievement in this town). Leave The Loading Bay with an ice cream and espresso affogato if you are heading out, or a complementary fresh-out-the-oven chocolate pecan cookie with milk if you’re on your way in.

Take off the tie for this place and swing by for breakfast, coffee, after work unwinders and (on Thursdays) dinner. Also operating as stockists of rare books, BluBlood jeans, CreativeRecreation, Le Coq Sportif, Chotovelli and the Scotch clothing line, The Loading Bay is definitely on the trendster’s to-d0… and better yet, it’s just around the corner from 17onLoader guesthouse.

Uncorked in Franschhoek

Picture wine connoisseurs swirling glasses, sniffing deeply, so that the tips of their noses are almost in the wine, and expressing theatrically when the bouquet meets their taste buds… This is nothing at all what Franschhoek’s Uncorked festival is like. This weekend, the French gourmet corner of the Cape opens its doors to everyone to soak in all the promises of the spring season and all of the best harvests of the surrounds. 

From jumping castles, for those making it a family affair, to live improvised jazz, late night Uncorked and unplugged acoustic sessions and sushi pairings- Franschhoek’s Uncorked offers something for everyone. Expect barrel-tastings, farmer’s markets and cellar and vineyard tours.  

Uncorked’s highlights include tastings of Moreson’s Magia, new releases of Boekenhoutskloof’s The Chocolate Block and Cabriere’s famous Haute Cabriere Pinot Noir (my favourite wines to date), Reuben (one of South Africa’s top chefs)’s Barbecue Bonanza and, thanks to the influence of Franschhoek’s Motor Museum,  all the best old boys brought out for lovers of all things automobile.  

At an incredible value for money, an all access pass at just R60 will get you a into all participating wine farms. As ambling gets more ambley and meandering gets more meandery, the programme is punctuated with plenty of delicacies to line the stomach and excite the palate, while a shuttle is arranged to ensure a safe journey. Wine connoisseurs of all levels of airs and grace are welcome – but my experience of the Franschhoek Wine Valley has been effortless merriment, jollity and unprecedented hospitality in what really seems like the land of milk and honey.

Wine and… well, whine!

Every time I head off East in the search for grape, I encounter the Whine Route – but that’s only because our heads ache the next morning. We typically start at Groot Constantia because of their fabulous Pinotage and reasonable wine-tasting prices. The complimentary glasses are a plus and are useful between vineyards as well. (I recall there was once a waitron at the Spier winefarm who can’t have been more than seventeen, but very well-trained. We questioned him about wine: when’s the best time to pluck, how one must press his grapes lightly for a rosy glow. Is age ever a factor? He said that their Merlot went best with a good piece of meat – rare, very rare; so we had rump. His name’s Jesse; tell him we sent you).

Constantia is South Africa’s first wine farm, planted by Cape Town’s founder, Jan van Riebeck around 1659. The area has a long, slow ripening period that’s excellent for grapes and the surroundings are absolutely beautiful.

 My partner Nizaam likes wines from the Stellenbosch area because he prefers whites and the Chenin Blanc cultivar excels in those soils, so we motor slowly up the N1 enjoying the view. The town of Stellenbosch itself boasts a University that has seen the likes of Casper de Vries (comedian), Edward Cameron (Judge) and Riaan Cruywagen (Mummy) graduate there. Funny that they all have something in common – perhaps the water causes hair loss as well as gayness? I’m just kidding, they’re not all gay. Heinz Winckler went there too.

Famous farms in the area include Nederburg, Simonsig and J.C. Le Roux.

 We finish off in Franschoek as night falls and enjoy the peace and quiet before rising early in the morning to a good breakfast of greasy bacon and eggs and lots of water. Highly recommended!

 Check out http://www.wineroute.co.za for more info on wines. View http://www.gaydar.co.za for waitrons.

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