News and Articles about the Cape Grace Hotel

"More Jason Glover talent for Cape Grace’s Bascule"

Cape Grace’s Bascule whisky bar and wine cellar, offering exquisite panoramic views of the Cape Town sunset, will be showcasing local musician Jason Glover every Wednesday evening from 19h00.

Playing at Bascule for an extended period, until 5 May this year, Jason Glover is a captivating singer and songwriter with a rapidly growing popularity.

Glover’s songs are described as memorable tunes that are gentle yet at the same time maintain an edge. His lyrics are thought provoking that ring true with mature life audiences.

In his music Glover explores the hybrid styles by weaving new sounds with traditional instrument combinations. His music retains the foundations of bass, drums, acoustic guitar, keyboards, brass, flute, strings and the electric guitar – fusing it with African rhythms.

His style is an easy, ear catching sound with a truly soulful voice that explores a new musical ground. He has been likened to international musical talents such as David Gray and The Dave Matthews Band.

Jason Glover will release his debut album “Sky Tonight’ in March 2004.

Bascule maintains a special whisky collection with over 420 whiskies from regions that include Scotland, Ireland, USA and Canada. Additionally it also offers a large selection of local wines and an interesting cocktail menu. Coming down to Bascule to enjoy the ambience and sunset is certainly worthwhile.

"Tops in two weeks for Cape Grace"

Hot on the heels of being awarded Best Hotel in Africa – one.waterfront at Cape Grace has been awarded the second best hotel restaurant in Africa and The Middle East.

Both international awards come from top travel publications in the USA, the first from Conde Nast Traveler magazine and the second from Travel & Leisure magazine. These both lend credibility to the Cape Grace’s current status as a top leisure hotel within Cape Town, itself recently named as one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

Being awarded second place to La Mamounia in Marrakesh in the Travel & Leisure’s city hotels restaurant category, this makes one.waterfront tops in Southern Africa.

Tony Romer-Lee, General Manager at Cape Grace said this week: “The restaurant award, in particular, can be attributed to Executive Chef Bruce Robertson and his team. With a natural flair for creativity, Bruce cleverly uses fresh South African influences to turn classical dishes into visually appealing successes.”

Recognised through the annual, international Travel & Leisure readers poll that measures the response of over 200 000 discerning travelers, one.waterfront received a phenomenally high 82.81% rating for food, coming in a very close second, to La Mamounia that received 84.52%.

"Melissa's makes for perfect in-room nibbles at Cape Grace"

Cape Grace is advancing in the local and international hospitality industry by offering their guests a piece of the proudly South African pie by way of a Melissa’s mini deli packaged in a wooden box brimming with local homemade goodies.

For Cape Grace, this venture forms yet another in a string of luxuries that makes guests feel right at home. Removing their original concept mini-bar as has become customary in many top hotels and opting not to go the peanuts and pretzels route, the mini deli contains a number of treats.

These include sun-dried pears, handmade fig nougat, spiced almonds, fruit and nut biscotti, rosemary and rock salt potato crisps and green olives stuffed with feta cheese.

Mark and Melissa van Hoogstraten started Melissa’s seven years ago and the chain is run from their home in Stellenbosch, with branches across the city. A born and bred Capetonian, Melissa spent a year at cooking school and honed her skills at Terence Conran’s famous restaurant, Bibendum in London. Melissa opened the first Melissa’s store in Cape Town’s trendy Kloof Street and has not looked back.

With a distinct feel for the finer and more personal things in life, the Cape Grace is once again establishing their commitment to quality hospitality service.

"Vegetarian trend brought to life at One. Waterfront"

Vegetarianism is fast becoming a norm rather than the exception and in the wake of this trend, discerning vegetarian diners are demanding exciting options, rather than the bland boiled vegetables of old.

To meet the demand of health conscious diners, Bruce Robertson, Executive Chef at one.waterfront at Cape Grace has combined winter favourites like pumpkin with sage, marinated feta and marula nuts and has devised a new take on cheese soufflés, tartes and pastas.

“We find many of our diners, who may not even be vegetarians, opt for these choices because they are so unusual and tasty. We have included vegetarian dishes in our menu not out of necessity but because we believe it essential to cater for all taste and dining requirements,” says Robertson.

“Sourcing only the freshest fruit and vegetables and products that appeal to discerning palates such as vegetarians is easy in a country where fresh produce is top quality. It makes these kind of dishes a pleasure to make.”

Vegetarian highlights from Bruce’s lunch menu include:
Soup of the Day – generally a traditional winter soup served with a selection of fresh breads
Tomato Tarte Tatin – a classical tarte tatin caramelized with pesto and served with a balsamic Chantilly
Winter Salad – an assortment of mixed leaves with marinated feta, toasted seeds and balsamic roasted onions
Pea, Lemon and Mushroom Lasagne – traditionally made without the meat and served with wild mushrooms, asparagus and a goat’s cheese béchamel

Vegetarian highlights from Bruce’s dinner menu include:
Chef’s Warm Waldorf Salad – a take on the traditional that includes a selection of crispy greens served with walnut crusted Brie, honey grilled apples, a mustard and celery blatjang and lastly a warm aioli dressing
Double Baked Mozzarella Cheese Soufflé – the dish speaks for itself and is served with marinated sun-dried tomatoes and a pesto broth
Roasted Goat’s Cheese Pie – a lemon and thyme roasted goat’s cheese baked in puff pastry and served on lightly oak smoked green beans with a tomato cream
Stewed Pumpkin, Sage and Feta Pappardelle – topped with Parmesan flakes and roasted marula nuts

Rather than overcomplicating these dishes, Robertson has emphasized simplicity and that the taste of the individual dishes should develop their own natural, untainted flavours.

To make a booking at one.waterfront please call (021) 418 0520 or e-mail onewaterfront@capegrace.com

"Cape Grace moves up in travel and leisure ratings"

Cape Grace was announced last week in New York as its readers’ best city hotel in Africa and the Middle East and best hotel in Cape Town. This being the result of the Travel & Leisure reader’s poll for the 2003 World’s Best Awards.

Cape Grace featured highly amongst the World’s Top 100 Hotels and was placed 4th in Africa and the Middle East. With Southern Africa rated tops, readers’ overall favourite African - Middle East destination was the South African game reserve, Londolozi. Second and third places also went to African game reserves.

Travel & Leisure, one of America’s top two travel magazines has once before announced Cape Grace twelfth in Africa and the Middle East in 2000, so the 2003 placing is an achievement that the hotel is delighted with, especially since the votes were cast by previous guests.

Moving across the Atlantic, Cape Grace was announced “Best for Luxury in South Africa” in the UK publication Travel Weekly, who published their top 10 hotels in South Africa last week.

Commenting on the accolades, general manager Tony Romer-Lee says: “We are delighted to be considered amongst the world’s finest hotels by such prestigious publications. The demand for luxury is growing and guest expectations are ever increasing. Therefore the reward of receiving recognition is an encouragement to the entire team for hard work and dedication.”

"Colourful spices for Cape Grace Spa"

In line with the hotel’s passion to surprise and delight, the new and original Spa at Cape Grace will offer a tranquil environment of African influence treatments, when it opens its doors to guests in the first week of November.

Located at the southern end of the building, on the top floor, The Spa offers magnificent views overlooking Table Mountain, the city and yacht marina, with treatment rooms opening to the outdoors, creating a unique and inspiring feeling of space and harmony with nature.

With Cape Town being the midway point of the spice trade route between Europe and the East from the early part of the 15th century, The Spa at Cape Grace will reflect this culture and colour in its décor and ambience.

Interiors, themed around the exotic characters of chilli, saffron and vanilla to mention but a few, will reflect the warm oranges, deep browns and golden hues associated with the romance of hot and colourful spices.

The internationally acclaimed professional skincare range, Académie, has been chosen to complement The Spa’s select range of treatments. These include the conventional spa therapies as well as traditional African techniques taken from generations of healing remedies.

Drawing inspiration from the Khoi San culture, the specialized African Cape Massage incorporates one of the first recorded essential oils in Africa, distilled from the Snowbush. Based on their tradition of dancing in circular movements in preparation for healing, the therapist will use the circular massage technique to knead away stress and tension using Shea body butter, derived from the nut of the African Shea tree and resembling the animal fat used by the Khoi San for cleansing the body.

All treatments have been specially designed to incorporate pre and post phases allowing guests to unwind from daily stress and to savour the rejuvenation of body, mind and soul.

Guests will begin to relax with a pre-treatment in one of five therapy rooms. Each room will be associated, in name and colour, with a spice. Breathing in the scent of geranium, an indigenous plant known for its calming properties, while experiencing a scalp massage will form the African Cape Massage pre - treatment.

A hot spa area will be one of the options for all post-treatment phases. Depending on the therapy that a guest has experienced, the therapist will recommend the use of a certain facility in this central area. A mineral spa bath, sauna, steam room, rain - and body showers make up the hot spa area. The African Cape Massage encourages guests to make use of the rain shower to reflect the tradition of their circular rain dance performed as a prayer for rain. Further relaxation is encouraged in the faintly lit, deep relaxation room, which forms the second option for post-treatments.

In order to ensure an experience that is an extension of Cape Grace, The Spa will be owned and managed by the hotel. The facility will be for the exclusive use of Cape Grace guests, who will receive a specially prepared package in their room half an hour prior to the start of their treatment. The package will include a colourful robe with a card confirming the treatment chosen, therapist and time of treatment.

The Spa at Cape Grace, an original experience sure to delight, relax and rejuvenate.