The Brass Bell has been in place for 42 years. You can read up on its history here.. For Abbey Manor guests they are most likely to get there during the mandatory round-the-peninsular drive. If going clockwise it’s a great stop for breakfast or tea, anticlockwise good for evening drinks of supper. Personally I go for a weekend lunch.

The Brass Bell is never going to win any culinary awards, going in more for standard seaside fare, calamari and chips, pizza, fresh fish. When you are there, particularly with a glass of good cheer at hand, you will not care. The food is fresh and delicious.

But the main reason to visit is the view. You sit almost on top of thee aves of False Bay, and the smell of sea and kelp is intoxicating.

Kalk Bay Station,
Main Road
Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek
Western Cape

021 788 5455
Email: info@brassbell.co.za

This year the is a new trend – more quality in better environments being set up in the space of older failed coffee shops.

One such is Roberto’s Signature Restaurant. Now only a few months old, it has settled in and become a thriving outlet. The eponymous chef is Roberto De Carvalho, and the walls are decked with the outfits he has worn as executive chef in many, many places, lately the Twelve Apostles.

Food is Portuguese, but upmarket freshly cooked and beautifully presented. Nice compact wine list to accompany the food.

44 Long Street Cape Town
021 42201195

Website

Note: No tickets will be sold at the gates.

Exhibitors are cheese and wine makers from the region. Lots of free tastes, but expect crowds. Use your elbows to get ahead, and you will see the best of the Cape.

Part of this comes across as sour grapes. Do some people believe that they were promised 100% bookings at whatever price they chose to charge? Another part of this is anger at the wild over estimation of the number, and the wealth, of soccer fans expected to arrive.

Fuelling this are a number of recent events:

• SAA releases of 45,000 flights tickets previously reserved for MATCH.
• 500,000 stadium tickets go on sale in a desperate bid to ensure that the people watching some matches
• accommodation providers (many of which have contacted to MATCH) standing empty, or lower occupancy.

There has been a valiant attempt to spin these events as positive. But there is no way to change the fact that they prove the case that wild over estimation wasn’t the norm.

My view is that forecasting is the responsibility of each and every business, and anyone who was swept away by the enthusiasm of the moment has no one but themselves to blame.

Now we wait to see: will they be a last-minute rush for bookings?

Acknowledgement - we at Abbey Manor are presently at an occupancy of 76%, and expects to close at 85 to 90%.

The study gives the lie to reports of widespread price-gouging, especially in the Cape Town. 78% of Western Cape establishments have a premium of 25% or less over high season 2010 rates. The report is available here

At Abbey Manor – we did respond to this survey – we are charging high season rates, with no premium. Our rationale is that we are in business for the long-haul, and price-gouging will only damage our reputation.

But the joke is that the department thinks it is because “The efforts of Cape Town Tourism to promote ethical pricing during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and the signing of a 2010 FIFA World Cup™ “pricing code-of-conduct”. What a load of nonsense.

June/July is mid-winter – and in case you don’t know – that means rain, wind and cold. We love it, as it means good food, fires, and great wine and friendships – but tourists don’t. Cape Town is largely empty at that time. Each summer Cape Town manages far more visitors than will be coming for the soccer.

It’s simple supply and demand.

Our prediction is that those establishments that change too much will stand empty.

For the record, Abbey Manor is at present 76% booked for the period. We expect to close at about 90%.