Cape Town South Africa

Local gourmands have always been spoilt for choice in this culinary melting pot of a town.

While we have always known that many of the Mother City’s eateries are world-class, it’s always good to once in a while receive a bit proof in the form of acknowledgements and accolades. That’s why we’re bursting with pride at the news that two  South African restaurants have made it onto the prestigious 2009 San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. What’s more, both of them are located right here in the Western Cape and one, in fact, is in the Mother City!

So not only are we extremely well-fed, we’re now also extremely flattered!

The closest-to-home local honoree, La Colombe, is number 38 on S. Pellegrino’s list.

La Colombe is located at the Constantia Uitsig Wine Estate and is consistently hailed as being the city’s best restaurant. According to executive chef Luke Dale-Roberts, a meal at La Colombe is "one of Cape Town’s greatest pleasures."

When the rest of the world comes to visit to take a bite, they’re in for a unique, but tasty treat. Chef Dale-Roberts has made his mark at La Colombe by adding exciting new Asian influences to the mix of classic and contemporary French Cuisine. 

If you’d like to savour a delectable La Colombe experience, the restaurant is open seven days a week (except during the winter months, when it’s closed on Sunday evenings). Lunch is served from 12:30 to 14:30 and dinner is from 19:30 to 21:30. 

For reservations, call (021) 794-2390, or e-mail them at lacolombe@uitsig.co.za

S. Pellegrino’s other South African honoree (on the 37th spot on the list) is The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français (The French Quarter). Located in a charming auberge, tucked away in the centre of the quaint, franco-infused winelands village of Franschhoek, The Tasting Room offers diners the choice between four, six or eight course experiences.

Such diversity has paid off even more, because according to S. Pellegrino, The Tasting Room is also the Best Restaurant in Africa and the Middle East.

For further information, visit their website.

With election fever gripping the nation, we would like to break the rules by openly endorsing a candidate we believe everyone absolutely MUST vote for!

Despite being world famous, this lifelong resident of the Mother City has remained level-headed and stoic. Which is why we are launching this unabashed campaign for our beloved Table Mountain.

No, alas, our flat-top isn’t in the running to become South Africa’s next president. (We wish it were! That mountain would make a far better leader than most of the clowns who are up for election!) Our lovely landmark’s name is, instead, appearing on a ballot to become one of the world’s new seven wonders of nature.

There are over 30 other nominees, and in order to stay in contention, Table Mountain needs to be in at least the 11th position by 7 July 2009. The only way for it to get to that spot is for all of us to exercise our democratic rights and to vote for it!

Only one vote per round per e-mail address though! So act now, click on this link and cast your vote for at least one truly deserving candidate:Table Mountain.

This is the second official New Seven Wonders of the World campaign. During the first one, more than a staggering 100 million votes were cast, making it a resounding success!  

This second campaign, organised by the non-profit New7Wonders Foundation, is also off to a promising start. Some 430 nominations from 224 different countries were submitted by about half a million people within the first few months of the campaign.

Voting will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011. During this time, the New7Wonders World Tour will visit each of the finalists, introducing them to voters across the globe.

So remember, do your civic duty and vote for Table Mountain now!  Oh, yeah… and while you’re at it, don’t forget to vote in that other election too… 

The brand new Raw Vision Art Gallery in Woodstock will open its doors tomorrow evening (April 16) with an exhibition of the works of artist, collector and cultural producer Mike Fisher.

The exhibition, called Messages from the Future, is Fisher’s first Cape Town venture. His work has already been seen as far afield as the UK, the US and Israel. Messages from the Future is being described by Artzone as an exhibition "of affectingly colourful digital prints, exploring the artist’s own emotional response to notions of the manic everyday of both present and future."

"Taking influence from the semiotics of primitivism and Modernist abstraction, Fisher presents a frenzied montage of optimistic reflections and dystopic visions, warnings and prophecies about the futures of the artist’s imagination. Using images and symbols that are at once easily recognizable, and yet elusively free of predetermined meaning, Fisher’s prints are always intriguingly open to interpretation."

Fisher created the images of Messages from the Future by using state of the art digital painting technology. He worked directly onto a Cintiq computer screen as if on paper or canvas, and took advantage of the pure pigment of contemporary digital prints.

Woodstock is fast emerging as Cape Town’s newly defined gallery hub. Raw Vision will certainly be a colourful addition to an already vibrant community. 

Gallery doors open at 6pm tomorrow night. The address is Raw Vision Gallery, 89 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock.

If you would like to attend, RSVP by calling 076 581 9468.

The Cape Town leg of the Coca-Cola Zero Fest, slated to take place on Monday, 13 April 2009, has been relocated to the Lourensford Wine Estate near Somerset West - apparently in order to better accommodate fans.

Right now event organisers would probably bend over backwards to accommodate the fans after the disappointing announcement that two international acts have withdrawn from performing at the 11th hour. Welsh band Bullet for my Valentine and US band The Red Jump Apparatus have both cancelled, much to the chagrin of fans who have shelled out between R300 and R600 for tickets to the event. The organisers have been refunding fans who only wanted to attend the festival to see those bands.

Fest-goers who have already paid for their tickets to the Cape Town event and who would still like to attend needn’t be concerned about changing their tickets, as these will still be accepted at the new venue.

The estate will open from 07:00. The festival site will open at 09:00. Parking will be available on-site at no extra cost. Attendees are advised to get there early to avoid traffic congestion and long queues.

Despite the disappointment about the cancelled acts, there are still a stellar line-up of local and international heavyweights which include Oasis, Panic! At the disco and Snow Patrol which will entertain fans during the 12-hour festival.

For more information, visit www.cokezero.co.za