issue 28 october 2015

October 2015 Issue 28

www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 28

ED’S NOTE

@FW_Concepts

www.facebook.com/FlatWhiteConcepts

Can you feel it?

Summer is on its way. There is a feeling of excitement in the air as we wave goodbye to winter. I love this time of the year when it’s still cool enough to enjoy coffee, hot chocolate and late night cuddles, but warm enough to walk to the beach and enjoy a picnic at the park. We have lots of awesome things to share with you this issue, including some wonderful competitions.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Our gorgeous cover is from the talented Toby Murphy and this delicious looking cup of coffee is from The Larder - see inside for our interview.

What to look forward to in the months to come: Next month sees me tackle a vegetarian chal-lenge throughout the whole of October. So in November stay tuned for my adventure as well as many vegetarian recipes and ideas. And of course, December / January is our big bumper issue so think summer and holiday fun!

Lastly, if you want to get involved in Flat White Magazine, through articles or advertising, please contact me. We’d love to welcome you to the Flat White family!

With love, laughter and a lot of coffee.Christinewww.flatwhiteconcepts.com

“I’d rather take coffee than compliments just now.” - Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Word of the day:

Dayspring 1 : the beginning of day

2 : the beginning of a new era or order of

things

So you’re a coffee lover? You’ve tried most of the top coffee brands in South Africa, have your view on what’s good and what’s not, where the best coffee shops are and what’s the best on their menu... But have you tried to roaSt your oWn coffee yet? Commercially, you’d need a roasting drum set very specifically to a set time and temperature, but for home roast-ing, you can literally do it on the hob, or on the braai, just like the Ethiopians do. RYO Coffee is South Africa’s first dedicated green Micro lot distributor and we’re here to help you make amazing coffee, yourselves. You can find most required tools on our site (beans, grinder, measuring spoons, French Press), and everything else is probably already in your kitchen (pan / pot, stove, sieve), as well as a host of information to do with the roasting, grind-ing and brewing of your coffee, and some other interesting facts that you may not know.

www.ryocoffee.co.za | 083 231 7439

http://www.ryocoffee.co.za/


TASTE

We chat to Sonja Edridge, the woman behind The Larder!

Photo credit: toby Murphy


TASTE


The dream...I travelled quite a bit in my twenties, I gravitated to finding hidden foodie & coffee gems, storing up mental notes of what & why I liked about them. I always dreamt of owning a place of my own, home from home café with honest serving.

Food history...Apart from living and eating London for 18 years, I’m a textile designer turned foodie, an acciden-tal foodie really. I think it was always there but I didn’t tap into it. I loved baking desserts for my mum when she was entertaining but didn’t ever think I’d become a chef. I ended up in Aus-tralia needing to kill 6 weeks before a knee op and took a 6 week job to help a young couple open a guest house. I loved watching the mum whip up the most amazing meals in 15 minutes after staring at the almost empty fridge. I asked her to teach me how to be able to do that! So I stayed! After overstaying my welcome in Aus-tralia, I went to London to back up my cooking skills with a course. I managed to get a place at Leith’s school of Food & Wine to do their ad-vanced course & came out with flying colours! After Leiths, a stint cooking in a castle in Italy, then food stylist on a few live tellie shows which then led me in to publishing. First a few years with Delia Smith, Sainsbury’s mag, Waitrose mag then M&S mag. I then went freelance and worked for all of the mags, did some books and dabbled in advertising too. As a foodstylist in London you are surrounded by amazing chefs every day, cooking their dishes, making them look amazing on print and it’s so diverse and ex-citing but the rewarding part of people eating your food is not there, so I still yearned to open my own place. So a call came in from friends who own Block& Chisel, they needed a café, so off I went, packed up my kids and husband and here we are!

Premise and name...My aunt had a farm outside Pretoria and the larder always had amazing things in it, gorgeous crockery ( Woodsware, etc) biscuits she’d made, treats for special occasions, the milk in a jug with a doilly on top, thick layer of cream still set-ting from the morning’s milking. Larder is a cool place to store food, a pantry. Larder is about go-ing back to basics, simple food, amazing ingre-dients produced in artisan methods and cooked like our granny’s used. Ingredients & suppliers are carefully sourced, we only use free range FARM eggs, pasture reared meats, small & lo-cal people who care what they produce. We try to avoid additives and preservatives as best we can.

The Johnny Depp...I was his personal chef for while in London, his fav was my version of Egg’s Benedict that we serve at the café. Special sauce dribbling over perfectly poached eggs with crispy bacon and tomatoes. Well he does love anything with ba-con! He’d always appear out of nowhere shout-ing at me what the heck was I cooking that was smelling so good! It was always just onions and bacon! Anyway I told him if I ever did open a café I’d name the dish!

The Larder in a sentence...Honest food. Home from home café, friendly, simple, rustic, food jammed packed with flavour.

Coffee...We use BEAN THERE, we love them! We use Ethiopian and Burundi. I try to just drink one a day, but I’m tempted all day with the grinder wafting smells my way, it’s hard not to have an-other and another.


TASTE


TASTE

Ingredientscouscous

• 2 tsp NoMU Chicken Fond• 2 cups boiling water• 200g couscous• 50g pine nuts, toasted• 100g wild rocket• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved

Herbed Vinaigrette Dressing

• ½ cup NoMU Extra Virgin Olive Oil• 2 tbsp honey• 1 tsp thyme, finely chopped• 1 tsp parsley, finely chopped• 1 tsp chives, finely chopped• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard• 60ml white balsamic vinegar• NoMU Sea Salt• NoMU Black Pepper

Optional

• 4 chicken breast fillets, sliced• 1 tbsp NoMU Cajun Rub• 2 tbsp NoMU Extra Virgin Olive Oil• NoMU Sea Salt

MethodIn a pot or bowl, stir the NoMU Chicken Fond into the boiling water followed by the couscous. Stir, cover with cling film and allow to stand for 10 minutes or until the couscous has absorbed all the water. Allow to cool, then separate the grains with a fork.

To make the dressing whisk the olive oil, honey, herbs and mustard together until creamy. Add the balsamic vinegar and season to taste.

To serve, place the rocket, couscous, tomatoes and pine nuts in a bowl. Add the chicken and the dressing and toss gently to combine, sea-soning to taste.

If you want to add chicken, rub the chicken in olive oil and NoMU Cajun Rub. Heat a pan or griddle and sear the chicken over a high heat until nicely browned and cooked through. Sea-son with NoMU Sea Salt, slice and stir through the couscous.

Serves 6

tip: You can also add marinated sun-dried to-matoes, avacado, artichoke hearts, caramelised onions or oven-roasted vegetables.

Want more delicious recipes from Nomu? Visit: www.nomu.co.za/recipes

Pine nut and Herb CousCous

TASTE

We chat to foodie Lara de Matos, aka The Jozi Food Whore

@jozifoodwhore


name: Lara de Matos aka The Jozi Food WhoreOccupation: Operations Managerarea: JohannesburgIdeal breakfast: Eggs BenedictIdeal lunch: A Dukes burger (Any!)Ideal dinner: My ideal dinner, as chosen from a variety of restaurants:• A glass of Prosecco to help me unwind for the dinner ahead, or a Martini aperitivo• Starter of calf brain from Les Delices de France in Florida• Main of Mushroom Risotto (various places)• Dessert of baked cheesecake from Salvation Cafe in 44 Stanleyfavourite restaurant: Tough one...toss-up amongst Thava in Norwood (Indian) or Tortellino d’Oro in Oaklands (Italian) or Les Delices de France in Florida (French)favourite cafe: Salvation Cafe in 44 Stanleythree foods you cannot live without: Cheese, cheese and wine (does that count as food?). Let’s say cheese, cheesecake and aubergine (I need to sneak butter in here somewhere too. Julia Child was right!).


TASTELife’s too short for bad coffee

facebook thelarderZa Twitter @thelarderZa

Instagram @praisethelarder

Inside Block & Chisel, 99 Main Rd, Diep River | 021 - 712 19615 Grove Building, Grove Avenue, Claremont | 021 - 671 1958

Photo credit: toby Murphy

http://www.thelardercafe.co.za/


TASTE


TASTE

10 Year Celebration Grappa is a dalla Cia family triumphA signature grappa distilled in 2004 and left to mature in barrel for a decade, has just been re-lease to mark the 10th anniversary of the Dalla Cia Wine & Spirit Company.

Established by the father and son duo, Giorgio and George Dalla Cia, this anniversary grappa signifies the fulfilment of a lifelong dream to continue their Italian family tradition in South Africa by producing exceptional grappa in Stel-lenbosch.

“Every aspect of our anniversary grappa is an absolute reflection of our artisanal style of pro-duction,” says George, the 3rd generation mas-ter grappa distiller to continue the family tradi-tion that began with his grandfather, Vittorio, in Friuli, Italy in the1920’s and was resumed in South Africa in 1996 together with his illustri-ous father, Giorgio. Following in their footsteps, George has mastered the art of distilling and as custodian of the secret family recipe and their hand forged Alembic copper still, he upholds nearly a century of Dalla Cia family tradition.

“I personally distilled this special grappa in 2004 from a selection of fermented skins of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from Meerlust. It all starts in a pot-still and ends through a column-distilla-tion, and the result is a full strength Grappa of plus minus 75% alcohol that was put to rest in a new 225 litre French oak barrique from 2004 to end of 2014,” says George.

“Once we barrel tasted this Grappa, my father and I thought we had something really special but there was only a small amount of it so we decided to bottle, label and number just the 1 000 bottles entirely by hand and I personally sign each of them,” he adds.

The years of wood maturation have bestowed a deep amber colour to the grappa and added rich-ness to the bouquet with delicate hints of plum,

marzipan, orange zest, dark chocolate, cherry and ginger. The taste is velvety and smooth with a layered mid palate and a long, lingering finish.

As the 3rd generation grappa distiller in the Dal-la Cia family, George is proud to be the custo-dian of the tried and tested family recipe passed down to him.

“I can’t really share it but what I can say is that in our philosophy, only the best quality, gently pressed fermented grape skins can be used, and time is of the essence as the distillation should take place not later than 48 hours after fermen-tation. Not an easy task when you are distilling fermented skins from grapes that you don’t vin-ify yourself,” he says.

Everything about his celebratory grappa re-minds one that it is truly a work of art. The Dalla Cia family crest, cast in metal, proudly adorns the neck of the bottle by a leather cord. Each label is branded Dalla Cia in cursive just like the original family label in Italy. The bottle, wrapped in nappa suede, is presented in a beautiful be-spoke cylindrical case.

This special release was crafted for the connois-seur with the utmost discernment and can be obtained at R2 325 per bottle directly from Pane e Vino, the authentic Italian-style bar at the Dal-la Cia Distillery where George’s wife, Elena, calls the shots. A limited allocation has been made available to select restaurants and boutique wine shops. The Dalla Cia Distillery is situated in the heart of the vibrant Bosman’s crossing precinct of Stellenbosch. For further information call the distillery at Tel: 021-888 4120, visit www.dal-lacia.com or follow them on Twitter @Grap-paDallacia and facebook, Dalla cia Grappa & Wines.


TASTE


TASTE

tHe startWhen Deepinder and Pankaj were working at Bain & Co like most of their colleagues they would frequently order in at lunch. It was at Bain that Deepinder got the idea of scanning menus and putting them online on an office in-tranet, because they would waste a lot of time queueing up in the cafeteria to view a very lim-ited number of menus. The response that they got from their peers on this intranet website was fantastic and that's when they realized that a viable business could be built out of this. That is how Zomato, then known as Foodiebay was born.

tHe naMeWe decided to change the name from Food-iebay to Zomato in November 2010 for two reasons. For one, we wanted a brand name that would give us the freedom to explore ad-jacent business verticals (even nightlife) with-out being held back by a name. The second

was the fact that we wanted to create a brand that we could scale globally, and we wanted to avoid any confusion with “ebay” the online shopping platform. We didn't want to take a chance when we were just starting out creat-ing a brand.

It wasn’t very easy coming up with a new name so we decided to do it democratically. Zomato was one of the names that came up, and our team unanimously loved it. It sounds like 'to-mato', is short, memorable and has a nice ring to it. We've stuck to building our brand over the years, and it's paid off – the brand name is now almost instantly associated with food.

tHe CountriesZomato started in Delhi/ NCR in India in 2008 and today 7 years on is present across 22 coun-tries and over 10,000 cities. We currently pro-vide in-depth information for over 1.4 million restaurants. We cover over 10,000 restaurants in South Africa.

We chat to the guys behind my favourite food company, Zomato...

TASTE


tHe advertsWe have a fantastic team that's constantly on the lookout for ideas that help our audiences connect with us. For example, our Two Kinds of People campaign looks at daily clichés and high-lights amusing insights hiding in them. People connected with it because the idea was pure, simple, and had one single insight. It resonated with people across linguistic, cultural, and na-tional boundaries with ease, to the extent that it's been adapted by more people than we've been able to keep track of. Our consumer reach on social media and blog runs into the millions, and as far as the objectives of engaging and entertaining are concerned, social media has helped us reach out to millions of users and it's been pretty great seeing that.

We use social media as a means to engage with our users and our loyal food-loving fan base, as well as to encourage conversation and actively seek feedback. If you're creating good content and driving conversations in an always-on world, people are going to like you. We keep creating content on social media that is easily relatable and reflects our personality, which we believe people genuinely appreciate. It helps to be hon-est, and that's what has helped us build a fol-lowing over the years.

ZoMato above tHeM aLLOur laser-like focus on localisation of the prod-uct is one important aspect that sets us apart from the other players out there. Before taking your product/ service overseas, you need to get enough perspective of the market realities and make sure yours is the right product for the mar-ket and its people. To give you an example, in or-

der to make the content on Zomato more acces-sible globally we localised it to suit non-English speaking markets. In markets such as Turkey, In-donesia, Chile, Portugal, Brazil, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Italy, Zomato is available in local languages. We also adapt to markets in terms of adding local features basis user search behaviour. For instance, we feature restaurants serving Shishas in Dubai, Rooftop hotels in Lon-don and Beach facing restaurants in Lisbon. It all boils down to how you tweak the product to fit local needs in every market.

When we started Zomato, there wasn't a search and discovery service like ours that would help people share information of their restaurant ex-periences; ours is a powerful service that helps people find the best places to eat at around them. What sets us apart is the fact that we pro-vide fresh and accurate information on all the restaurants in every city we cover. Our data col-lection teams are always on the move and visit-ing restaurants to ensure the information is rel-evant for our users. This keeps us on top of the game with respect to new restaurant openings and restaurants that are updating their menus, or shutting down.

I think what's also worked very well for us is our content platform. There's no one else out there with the kind of in-depth and fresh information that we have in the restaurant space. We use the feet-on-street model to collect restaurant information in each city/ region. The depth of information we have for any given city is much higher than any other service.

visit WWW.ZoMato.CoM


What is your history with coffee?

I have been in the coffee industry for the past 6 years, being one of the founding members in Café Caps as one of the first Nespresso® com-patible capsule manufacturers in the world. I am also the founder and Managing Director of Coffee capsules direct, a service orientated capsule supplier business that provides coffee lovers all over South Africa with coffee capsules and coffee machines.

How did the idea for Caffenu® begin?

I have pulled apart and dealt with more cof-fee machines than most people have had hot breakfasts. One of the biggest problems I expe-rienced with Nespresso® and compatible ma-chines was the amount of build up inside the machines. You can´t believe some of the mess I have seen in the brewing chambers of these machines. Most of the time, a good thorough cleaning is enough to get them back up and running. That is the reason why I developed the Caffenu® Cleaning Capsule. It removes all resi-due and build up in just 2 minutes.

tell me more about the name?

The Caffenu® Cleaning Capsule has shown amazing results in maintaining the Nespresso® machines, and also improving the coffee fla-vour. The product keeps the machines oper-ating like nu (new) again, so that you can en-joy your coffee “the nu way”. That is why we named the brand Caffenu®. Regular cleaning of the brewing chamber with the capsule makes sure that you get a pure coffee flavour and aro-ma, every time.

is this only for nespresso® machines?

The Caffenu® Cleaning Capsule was specifi-cally designed for the Nespresso® system and is compatible with all Nespresso® machines at date of manufacture, and will also work in any Nespresso® compatible machine, as well as any machines that can use either Nespresso® Grand Crus range of capsules or any alternative capsule designed for that system.

Where can we purchase the capsules?

It is literally a brand new product, so we are currently selling it in South Africa through Cof-fee capsules direct. However, there is a lot of interest from other brands to take it on such as Caffeluxe® and red espresso®, and we might even approach retail stores in future. We are also actively looking for partners overseas to take it on, and signing up new distributors as we speak. Get in touch with us!

tell me more about the team, and how much coffee do You drink a day?

I´ve got a fantastic team behind me, marketers, designers, a brilliant manufacturing company. They all play a crucial part in the success of Caffenu®. Drinking coffee doesn´t hurt though. I generally go through about 2-3 cups a day, and also enjoy the occasional Decaffe, and the red espresso® Rooibos Cappuccinos, another deli-cious healthy alternative. Also one of the rea-sons why I invented the product. Even though I use my Nespresso® machine to make coffees and Red Cappuccinos®, cleaning the machine regularly with a capsule makes sure that there is no tea ending up in my coffee.

We chat to the mastermind behind Caffenu®, rowan isaacman

Caffenu® brings you the first cleaning capsules for Nespresso® and Nespresso® compatible coffee machines, combining the

convenience of a capsule, with the functionality of a quick & easy cleaning process for your Nespresso® coffee machine.

www.caffenu.com


The world’s first cleaning capsules for Nespresso® and

Nespresso® compatible coffee machines.

• Extended lifespan of machine

• Improved coffee flavour

• Fast and easy cleaning

• 100% safe and non-hazardous

www.caffenu.com

http://www.caffenu.com/


CREATE


CREATE

Small art for big peopleVin d’Easel was created by Christine and Warren Bernard, a husband and wife team.

Together they joined forces to create a project that’s all about art, photography, and having a bit of fun. They wanted to produce artwork that didn’t cost a fortune and

that was small enough to display anywhere in the house or office.

Great gift ideas for others or even yourself!

Get yours now!Visit www.vindeasel.com


CREATE

tell us more about sa design Marketplace

The platform was launched in November 2014 by myself and a previous colleague Greg Zele-ny. The bigger 'holding company' that this falls under has been going since 2012.

The basic premise behind the brand is to take niche South African casualwear to the world.

is this a purely online marketplace or do you have a physical store?

Purely online, but we do stock some of our t-shirts in physical stores throughout the coun-try - and are always looking for more shops to partner with to expand our footprint in brick-and-mortar.

What has been your best selling product so far?

Nothing beats our graphic tees. (See next page for the two most popular tees).

How can others get involved?

They can contact me on [email protected] with a catalogue / price list / images for review.

do you do any brainstorming at coffee shops? if so, which is your favourite?

Yes, we love that - until the deafening milk-steamer kicks in at a crucial part of a conversa-tion!

I mostly hang out at Vida on Kloof Street, as it's next to the office.

If it's afternoon, and too late for caffeine, then Wellness Warehouse is a great spot for some rooibos, lemon and honey (and relative quiet!), as it's also near the office. But generally like to chop and change for inspiration.

Visit www.sadesignmarketplace.com for more

SA Design Marketplace are a crew of pirates, sailing the high seas of creativity, on the hunt for the greatest designs that they can possibly find! We chat to the lovely Catherine Ronaasen, the lady behind it all, to find out more about this amazing local company!


CREATE


CREATE

tell me more about PrintWild

PrintWild started in a home garage after a trip abroad exposed the lack of exceptional but af-fordable printing options for the SA consumer. It’s grown into a leading online printing and framing business serving SA nationwide, offer-ing a variety of printed wall art products that are delivered to your door, ready to hang. PrintWild was originally an extension of it’s sis-ter company, Wild Web, but has grown up to become it’s own fully fledged separate opera-tion. The name incorporates the diverse range of printed products (e.g. not limited to canvas or loose photo prints) and echo’s one of the brands missions to get people to start printing their digital files out before losing them, to go print wild!

What media can you reproduce from?

Most digital file formats, from RAW to JPEG

and beyond. For walk in customers in KZN we can also scan/photograph the pieces they are wanting to reproduce.

You do a wide variety of printing, what would you say is the most popular?

Faceblock and Big1s wooden photo blocks took over from our stretched canvas prints in popularity this year, they’ve been designed to be displayed as a collection and we’re told that they’re addictive (you’ve been warned). The stretched canvas, and our recently added framed canvas prints, are still hugely popular. The acrylic and framed images are growing in popularity as consumers get used to the idea of ordering these higher priced, top-notch quality products from an online source.

tell us more about digital Gallery and how can others get involved?

Digital Gallery is an online collection of top SA

I’m a huge fan of PrintWild and have used them a few times over the years. I couldn’t wait to chat to Carla Hyland, Marketing Director of this amazing company, to tell me more...


CREATEphotographers’ work which home and corporate clients order in a printed and framed format. PrintWild handles the manufacturing of Digital Gallery orders so you can expect the same qual-ity products but this time with images that are not your own. Each artist sets their own image license fees so there are images available to purchase in most price brackets, depending on whether the artist is emerging or more estab-lished. Digital Gallery submissions are currently oversubscribed and so applications for new art-ists are currently closed, if you feel you have something of exceptional quality and that would suit the home or corporate environment wall then get in touch with the team for considera-tion.

anything else you’d like to share?

What started as a family-run business has grown into an online platform serving both the digital/eCommerce growth of the country and the pub-lic interested in excellent, quick and competitive-ly priced printed images. We focus on wall-art predominantly and don’t print photo books or smaller novelty items like fridget magnets or stickers.

To find out more visit www.printwild.co.za

Image credit: Kim Steinberg’s travel wall made up of the 15x15cm Faceblock photo blocks

(R60 each, free door delivery to major SA centres when ordering R300 or more)

CREATE


Photo Credit: Carmen Erswell



CREATE

tell me what sledgehammer is all about... We’re concept cookers and video makers. We do a lot of different stuff, but when it comes down to it we want to make vibrant and quirky video content that is accessible to everybody. We’re saying you don’t need a massive budget and a huge ad campaign – we’ll come up with (often off the wall) ways to showcase your brand’s personality and cre-ate video content that serves as a means of engagement with online communities. Aside from that, we’ve both got a passion for documentary film-making and an appreciation for the aesthetic beauty of the ordinary. i love the name, what's the story behind it? We found that most film production and creative studios had airy-fairy and passive names. We wanted to have a name that showed how active we are in the process of constructing material. The name is also open enough for us to grow in the services we offer later. What different services do you offer? We offer long and short form videos, often advocating that they be coupled together in a thematically consistent se-ries. Whilst we focus on tailoring the videos for social media platforms, we do create videos for other platforms as well. For example, we did a short film documenting the Trans-port for Cape Town best practices which was screened at the Milan UTIP World Congress and Exhibition in July this year.

We cater to large corporate clients as well as to start-ups and small businesses, and our work process is all about be-ing with the client from concept to completion.

CREATE

tell me about the team members - who you are, one word that describes you, and how much coffee you have in a day? Rubert – Hi guys, my name is Rubert and I have problem that is single origin, dark roasted and freshly brewed. Cof-fee is the vice that fuels the soul. I am happiest behind the critical lens of my camera; doc-umentary filmmaking has become my means of dealing with and showcasing the realities I see and feel. I brain-storm best on my surfboard at Muzzies or with the dogs in Newlands forest. ‘Contemplative’ is the word – I’ll let you think about that. Rory – Who am I? Tough question, I’m still asking it of my-self and suspect I always will be. But I identify strongly with people and stories, am a great believer in the human spirit and a hopeless optimist. Good literature makes me tingle and I’m in love with magical realism as a genre that defi-nitely can do with further exploration in the medium of film. Addicted to jumping from great heights into water. One word is ‘curious’ and coffee intake varies from day to day but it can be a lot, especially with Rubert around. Which coffee shop would we find you at?

O’ways. They’re technically more of a tea café but damn they know their way around a coffee too. Most memorable project to date?

In July we zipped up to Joburg to shoot a cookbook teaser for Penguin Books showcasing Sarah Graham’s new release ‘Home. Food from my kitchen’. The project was memorable not only because the pace of Jozi was a kick to the Slaap-stad system but the food we got treated to on set was sim-ply amazing, and inspired a fantastic family-oriented video.

www.sledgehammerstudio.co.za


Vv

EXPENSIVE AD CAMPAIGNS ARE A THING OF THE PAST.


http://www.sledgehammerstudio.co.za/

CREATE

Vv

EXPENSIVE AD CAMPAIGNS ARE A THING OF THE PAST.


http://www.sledgehammerstudio.co.za/


DISCOVERtouched by an elephant


our visit to the Knysna elephant Park was not planned at all. We were on holiday in Wilderness celebrating a friend’s 30th and trying to decide how best to celebrate the day. We were on our phones looking up what to do in the area when we came across the park, not too far from where we were staying and decided to pay them a visit. Who knew that the day would become a life-changing experience!

We chose the ‘Be Touched by an Elephant’ tour. This guided tour starts off with an educational video explaining how the park came about and introducing you to some of the first elephants that entered the park. Already I was in awe of these creatures. After that we were taken to the field where we had an opportunity to feed and interact with the elephants. I bought a bucket of food and watched in fas-cination as these creatures took each piece of fruit out of my hand and devoured it within seconds. and I thought I liked my food!

The guide gave us a detailed explanation as to the lives of the elephants and al-lowed each of us to touch them and take photos with them. Within minutes of meeting them these gentle giants had stolen my heart.

The Kynsna Elephant Park was established in 1994 and was the first facility in South africa to house and care for orphaned african elephants. Since then it has cared for and raised more than forty elephants and we even got the opportunity to meet Sally, one of the first elephants to enter the park.

I will definitely be going back to visit and I urge you to do the same. You will never forget these creatures!

Words by Christine BernardPhotos by Warren Bernard

Visit www.knysnaelephantpark.co.za

DISCOVER


DISCOVER


DISCOVER

tHe caPe MIlner BoutIQue Hotel

A touch of class in the heart of Cape Town; a sophisticated sojourn against the majestic backdrop of Table Mountain.

The Cape Milner Boutique hotel is the perfect place to showcase Cape Town. Situated in Tam-boerskloof, it offers the most beautiful view of Table Mountain as well as an inner glimpse into city life. We travel light but despite arriv-ing with just one bag they insisted on carrying everything for us and showing us to our room. Everyone was friendly and full of smiles and we immediately felt at ease. It was obvious that by the end of our stay we were going to feel re-laxed and refreshed. The hotel, as advertised in their website, is an eclectic mix of contem-porary boutique and old-world charm offering boutique-style living in a secluded yet conveni-ent location.

They offer three types of accommodations throughout their 57 rooms, including two suites and ten luxury rooms. We were lucky enough to stay in one of the beautiful executive suites, which came with a large plasma screen on a swivel board allowing us to watch TV from the comfort of both our bed or the lounge suite. This was luxury at its best and even included complimentary tea/coffee making facilities which included a coffee pod machine. One of the elements of the room, and the hotel, that I enjoyed the most was the colour scheme – using a very neutral palette of grey tones and white it instantly set the mood and made me feel relaxed.


DISCOVERThe hotel offers two dining facilities to choose from. The Glass Lounge is an elegant and relaxed room set for cocktails and tapas and the perfect way to enjoy an afternoon. With a glass of cham-pagne we enjoyed some Truffle & Cheese Cro-quettes with red pepper aioli, Onion & Potato Bhadji’s with a garlic cucumber dip and Chilli Poppers. They were amazing and my favourite by far were the croquettes of which I could eas-ily have every day of my life and not get sick of.

The other dining option, where we enjoyed our dinner that evening as well as our breakfast the next morning, is 2 on Milner. Warren chose the 200g Rump Steak with French fries and sea-sonal vegetables, and I chose the Feta & Spin-ach Stuffed Chicken Breast with potato rosti, glazed baby carrots and jus. We enjoyed both with a glass of red wine. We were both full but easily swayed by the dessert section on offer. In the end Warren went for a delicious Frangelico Don Pedro and I chose the Ice Cream Cup, which came with vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, roast-ed nuts and a berry compote. Both highly rec-ommended.

We had a wonderful time at the hotel and it made me proud to be living in such a beautiful city. Thank you Cape Milner Hotel!

actIvItIeS In cloSe ProXIMIty:

• Grandwest Casino• Helicopter Flips around Table Mountain and Cape Point• Mountain Walks• Museums and Culture Trips within the CBD• Robben Island• Shark Cage Diving• Sunset Cruises off Clifton Beach• Tours to the V&A Waterfront and Shopping Malls• Township Tours• Trips to Table Mountain• Wineland Tours

facIlItIeS

• Complimentary undercover and off street parking• 24 hour Reception services• Courtesy shuttle service to the “CBD” and “Waterfront”. This service is only available on weekdays between 08h00-17h00.• Currency exchange facilities• In-House Gym• Spacious lounge areas• Swimming pool• Wireless internet connectivity – First 200MB are free on arrival thereafter data can be purchased from the front desk

visit www.capemilner.com


DISCOVER


DISCOVER

LIVE MORE

CT Flatwhite AD 210x297 C2O.indd 1 3/22/15 10:15 AM


LIVE MORE

CT Flatwhite AD 210x297 C2O.indd 1 3/22/15 10:15 AM

DISCOVER

Brookside Admin BrackenfellExpert Bookkeepers and Tax Practitioners

021 - 828 2119www.brookside.co.za

[email protected]


WIN

time to win some competitions!

Winners announced 25 October 2015 unless stated otherwise


WIN1

WIN A T-SHIRT OF YOuR CHOICE FROM Sa DeSIGn MarKetPlace How to enter:

Email your full name to [email protected] with the subject line: SA Design

www.sadesignmarketplace.com


WIN2

WIN A BOx OF CAFFENu® COFFEE MACHINE ClEANING CAPSulES FOR YOuR NESPRESSO® MACHINE

How to enter:

1. To win all you have to do is tweet:

I want to win Caffenu® Cleaning Capsules for my (Nespresso®) machine with @coffee_direct and @FW_Concepts (State which machine you have in the brackets).

2. OR visit www.facebook.com/coffeecapsulesdirect and write on their wall:

I want to win Caffenu® Cleaning Capsules for my (Nespresso®) machine with www.facebook.com/FlatWhiteConcepts (State which machine you have in the brackets).

Visit www.caffenu.com


WIN3

ONE luCKY READER CAN WIN A R500 DINNER VOuCHER for tWo at tHe caPe MIlner Hotel

How to enter:

Email your full name to [email protected] with the subject line: Cape Milner

www.capemilner.com


WIN4

WIn a MaKeover eXPerIence WItH aBIGaIl K PHotoGraPHy!

enjoy being pampered with professional makeup and hairstyling plus a glamourous photo shoot studio session.

This is the perfect experience to coincide with a planned night out on the town to make full use of your fabulous hair and makeup! The prize includes 1 high resolution digital file from the shoot. Additional images will be available for purchase, but the winner is under no obligation to buy anything if they don’t want to.

How to enter:

Email your full name to [email protected] with the subject line: Abigail K

www.abigailk.co.za



WINTASTE

www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 20www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 20

TASTE


TASTE

our neW Coffee Academy Officially Open! We offer the following exciting courses:

• Team building • Beginners Workshop• Start your own coffee shop • One on One training

Kindly contact us for more information: www.mischu.co.za | [email protected]

85a Regent Road, Sea Point


THE END

Do you Want to aDvertISe WItH uS?

Email Christine on [email protected]

issue 28 october 2015

Documents