Discovering where pineapple belongs in the Italian kitchen at 95 at Parks

This past week has been another busy one packed with events and delicious food, as you’ll see from the snaps below…

Thursday, 20 June 2019: Kantar’s ‘Innovation for Growth’ workshop

Last Thursday, I attended Kantar’s ‘Innovation for Growth’ workshop, at their photogenic offices on the Foreshore. Click here for a reminder of my event overview article.

Friday, 21 June 2019: Orange sky before the storm

A line of orange clouds last Friday, before an enormous storm that evening.

Cold weather means lots of cold doggies snuggling up under blankies. And watching the rain from between the curtains.

Saturday, 22 June 2019: Munching at Trecastelli and Colala on Marine Circle

See our breakfast at Trecastelli on Marine Circle last Saturday morning. Flat whites and the cooked breakfast for Husband (it’s not on the menu but quite a popular choice), while I had the cappuccino-croissant special.

I was in dire need of a coffee refill when we were at the Mall later that afternoon. Nothing a R10 dirty chai latte from Xpresso can’t fix!

On Saturday afternoon we popped into Colala on Marine Circle for an early dins – they serve Asian fusion food, so you can have sushi and a creamy curry like Husband, or chicken cashew nut with egg fried rice like me. They also serve milkshakes like this caramel one, yay and bonus, they’re on the Entertainer app – we’ll be back!

Sunday, 23 June 2019: Reload Leadville breakfast

Sunday was a ‘Reload Leadville’ kind of morning, so we popped in for breakfast. See my mashed avo bagel and peppermint-choc latte, as well as Husband’s ‘trim’ mince, cheese and onion omelette. We also gret numerous happy doggies having walkies with their owners.

Coffee on our pretty new coffee side table.

Homemade creme caramel for dessert at Mum’s on Sunday. Yum!

Sweet, sleepy doglets as seen throughout the week.

Wednesday, 26 June 2019: Pasta Ripiena master class at 95@Parks

On Wednesday, I attended a ‘pasta ripiena’ master class at 95 at Parks, where chef Giorgio Nava shared tips and techniques to make his legendary stuffed pasta dishes. Mum came along too! See her with chef Nava, as well as the delightful setting.

I also had my pic snapped with Chef Nava, of course! See the delicious cheese we snacked on, the cosy setting, our first course of spinach and butternut ravioli, and the deep-fried Pasta Montenara.

The master class in action! Chef Giorgio Nava, with his two ‘helpers’, Giovanna and Jonas. All three showed us various aspects of the filled pasta creation process.

See the pasta ripiena menu, on offer until end-July, as well as the pea-and-ham cappelletti, pineapple sorbet (this is the answer to where pineapple belongs in the Italian kitchen – certainly not on pizza). Also see our espresso and cappuccino to end the meal. Click here for my official review on Biz, as well as to download Chef Nava’s pasta recipes from the master class!

Thursday, 27 June 2019: Surprise 50th office birthday party

We surprised our CEO with a birthday party a day early on Thursday. See some of the decorations and snacks.

Happy birthday! See Andre in white, just to the left of the gold ’50’ balloons, with the rest of team Biz gathered around.

We had pots of delicious Thai curry and rice, as well as stacks of sweet treats – always doughnuts for Andre – to celebrate.

That’s all folks! I’m taking a few days’ leave next week for a ‘digital detox’ of sorts, see you for next Friday’s update. 🙂

Father’s Day 2019 lunch buffet at the Italian Club

This past week I’ve had my annual ‘Cannes Lions cold’, and it was also Father’s Day and the Youth Day public holiday (though I worked throughout), as you’ll see from the pics below…

Tuesday, 11 June 2019: Spark Media’s Roots 2019 launch

Last Tuesday, I attended Spark Media’s Roots2019 research launch at the River Club. See some of the intriguing displays made from Lego – behind glass so they wouldn’t be messed with (and snacks, meant for eating!)

Thursday, 13 June 2019: Sunrise over Woodstock

I had a super-early start at the office last Thursday, and remembered to pause to catch the sunrise out the window.

Friday, 14 June 2019:  Syrupy crumpets and sunsets

Mmm! When I worked from home last Friday, Mum whipped up a quick batch of crumpets – best enjoyed with tea and syrup, yum.

Pretty as a picture sunset caught in the phone wires, as seen from our lounge that evening.

Saturday, 15 June 2019: Beef roast and potatoes, Weber-style

We decided on a slightly different breakfast on Saturday, at Primi on Marine Circle – see our coffees (flat white cappuccino for Husband, Mocha Forte for me), as well as our breakfasts – the berry pretty super protein bowl for me, the full Primi Power for him. Pricy but filling (I brought half of mine home for the next day).

As it was a long weekend and we’d be having a special Father’s Day lunch with all the parents the next day, Spec slept over at ours on Saturday night. Husband Webered a roast beef, Mum supplied the potatoes and peas – dinner, sorted!

Sunday, 16 June 2019: Father’s Day lunch at the Italian Club

We arrived at the Italian Club at the same time as Husband’s parents, so took a few snaps outside before heading into the big hall for lunch.

The inside was festively decked with balloons and crisp white tablecloths and chair covers.

Look at all those drinks! The craft beers were handed to all the menfolk on entry, with the mini gins waiting on the tables.

Cheers! We brought our own bottle of bubbly along with us, to toast all the dads at the table.

Me with our dads. Lots of love!

Buffeting! Finally, the tables were ready for us so we queued up for all the Italian food you can imagine. See some of the selections here.

Some of the desserts on offer. I may or may not have eaten all of this.

I’ve been to the Italian Club so many times, yet never been out the back to see the view of the mountain. It’s lovely!

Sweet little Bassie warming herself in front of the fire that evening.

Monday, 17 June 2019: Youth Day public holiday

As it was a public holiday on Monday, we slept in a bit then headed to The Daily at Seaside Village in Big Bay for breakfast, once I’d done some work. See Husbands tasting tray coffees, my Tin Cup and our breakfasts.

See my thick, puffy jacket (Winter is truly here), as well as close-ups of the food – my banana-caramel waffle pop and Husband’s full brekkie (he saw another plate go past with those sausages and promptly changed his order, teehee). This was my only outing for the day.

Tuesday, 18 June 2019: Wintery work-from-home lunch

I worked from home again on Tuesday and stopped for a quick soup-with-toasteds break. Just what I needed!

Teehee! So many funny faces. Snapped when we had curry takeaways at Mum’s on Tuesday evening – Gords was in town for business again so stayed the night with us.

Various sleepy doglets, snapped trying to stay warm throughout the week.

That’s all, folks! I’m looking forward to switching off completely this weekend and recovering from this cold. May your weekend be warm and relaxing, too.

Winter lunch at Terroir, Ou Meul’s red velvet lattes and midweek milkshakes at Rocomama’s

This past week has been busy but filled with delicious moments, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Tuesday, 4 June 2019: Terroir lunch at Kleine Zalze

On Tuesday, 4 June I was invited to celebrate Kleine Zalze’s second straight win as best New World Producer. Perfect way to prep for a media roadtrip – takeaway cappuccino from Tasha’s, then onto the shuttle!

This view of the submerged windwill is visual proof that you’re almost in Stellenbosch.

The wintery scene that met us at Terroir in Kleine Zalze, Stellenbosch.

More pre-food moments at Terroir.

The bread and antipasti on arrival, as well as stuffed chicken and Picanha steak. All the words are in my overview on Bizcommunity!

Delicious desserts! A selection of petit fours, cheese board platters and a cappuccino just before the rain started up again.

Thursday, 6 June: Doggy burger-bun beds and Rocomama’s dins with Gords

Sweet Bassie finally using her burger-bun bed when I worked from home on Thursday.

Speaking of burgers… Gords was in town for a few days of business so stayed with us on Thursday night. We treated him to dins at our nearest Rocomama’s.

Two milkshake slurpers in action! Gords had strawberry, I went for espresso. Yum.

Friday, 7 June 2019: Pink, streaky sky over Woodstock

Pink, streaky sky over Woodstock as seen from work as the sun rose around 8am.

Doglets warming themselves in front of the fire that evening.

Saturday, 8 June 2019: Woolworth’s breakfast repeat, lamb roast

We started our weekend with a dose of mall admin, so W Cafe in Woolworth’s, Table Bay Mall was our first stop. See my vanilla-cinnamon cappuccino and croissant French toast, as well as Husband’s chilli-egg omelette. Yes, this is a carbon copy of last Saturday’s breakfast!

Husband far out to sea later that day. This is his “Winter? What Winter” pose.

Husband’s parents invited us over for a lamb roast on the braai on Saturday night. See our happy faces.

Husband and Bassie pre- and post-dins. Lol! Bertie was there too, but moved too fast for photos.

Sunday, 9 June 2019: Red velvet lattes and sweet moments with the doggies

We breakfasted at Ou Meul Bakery in Willowbridge Centre on Sunday morning. See my delicious red-velvet latte and Nutella-berry croissant French toast, as well as Husband’s hummus toast and flat white (unpictured).

Sweet doggy moments later that day (some them literally sweet, with cake and doughnuts).

That’s all, folks! We hope you have a lovely long weekend and Father’s Day with your family.

*Disclaimer: My food and drink at Terroir in Kleine Zalze was part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.

A misty Winter 2019 stay in Paternoster’s Abalone House

Last weekend we were treated to a winter stay at Abalone House, Paternoster. Reuben’s is no longer the on-site restaurant, but our meals were just as good – if not better – than on our last visit…

Friday, 31 May 2019: Creative Mornings Cape Town at AAA School

I started my Friday at the May 2019 edition of Creative Mornings Cape Town, featuring Ashley Dowds. See the delicious coffee and doughnut treat, and watch for my overview of his talk on Bizcommunity next week!

Saturday, 1 June 2019: Roadtrip to Abalone House, Paternoster

We started our weekend with breakfast at Woolworth’s in Table Bay Mall. See my croissant French toast and vanilla-cinnamon cappuccino, as well as Husband’s enormous chilli egg omelette.

Our misty, 100-minute roadtrip was enjoyable, bar three ‘stop-go’ sections, but we were happy to see our destination at the curve of the road – the always-lovely Abalone House, Paternoster.

Nothing warms the cockles of the heart more than sitting in a little bit of wintery sunshine, with welcome drinks on the deck. Lovely flutes of bubbly!

Spot the husband amongst the Tretchikoffs! He’s printed a few of these over his career as it’s a popular choice in the local design industry, so had to snap a few pics.

Abalone House just shouts ‘Winter comfort’ to me – probably because of all the fireplaces, well-stocked bookshelves and cute in-room rubber duckies! Also see the gorgeous but laughably cold pool – we’ll have to return in Summer to try it out.

We noticed signs for the Crayfish Wharf for the first time on this visit to Paternoster, so drove down to explore. It’s a lovely spot when the mist lifts!

To the beach! The weather seemed to be getting worse, so we took a chance in walking down to the beach. It was too misty for more than a few quick snaps, so we hurried back to Abalone House to jump into the Jacuzzi.

Teehee! I call this ‘the cat of Paternoster’. This kitty in the window watched us on our way to and from the beach.

Also meet the kitties of Abalone House! Chelsea rushed over to greet us and even Toffee gave a meow of remembrance once we entered our room – the exact same one as last time. The kitties loved the under-carpet heating!

You’ll find me in the Jacuzzi… The rooftop Jacuzzi seemed to heat up much faster than on our previous visit, so we spent much of our afternoon there, gazing across the bay when the mist allowed. Also see Husband having a final steamy dip after dinner in the bottom-left pic.

Dinner is served! See the excitement on my face at the delicious, fresh rolls that appeared while we were deciding on our orders from the menu. We each went with a starter and main from the menu for the night: The ‘three-cheese soup with bacon and red pepper’ for me, and crispy pork belly with spicy croquet and pineapple chutney, ginger-infused honey jus as my main, while Husband enjoyed the chili-salt squid starter with crisp paper vegetable salad, lime mayo and nuac cham starter followed by the char-grilled fillet mignon with cauliflower puree, baby carrots, potato fondant and green peppercorn emulsion. A truly delicious meal, my only disappointment was the firm shake of the head response when I asked about milkshakes, as I had a delicious strawberry one last time – oh well, the #MilkshakeQueen will return!

The best of our ‘gown shots’ from this stay.

Sunday, 2 June 2019: Morning massages and breakfast buffets

Breakfast’s the best meal of the day, especially if you have yours at Abalone House! See the buffet table spread, Bloody Mary station, where guests are encouraged to fix their own, Terbodore cappuccinos and our Eggs Benedicts – parma ham for me, salmon for Husband. Yum!

Husband heading off to the Spa building for his 30-minute Majestic Awakening head-neck-and-shoulders massage.

Another gorgeous Tretchikoff inside the Spa building. I paged through magazines and enjoyed the citrussy scents while waiting for Husband as he enjoyed our complimentary massage. I’d been struggling with a pinched nerve in my shoulder that week so didn’t want to risk further pain – luckily, Husband said it was soothing and just what he needed to face the week ahead.

Quality time with the sweet doglets that afternoon, once we were back home safe and sound. Both seen getting TLC from their Grandpa here.

That’s all, folks! We hope your weekend is warm and filled with good food. 🙂

*Disclaimer: Our accommodation and meals at Abalone House were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.