If you’re into eating out and you follow restaurant news, you’ll know by now that Cape Town restaurant, The Test Kitchen was ranked Number 28 in the World, and the Best in Africa at the recent 50 World’s Best Restaurants Awards held in London.
There was a lot of legitimate fuss made about this prestigious award, one of many bestowed up chef Luke Dale-Roberts in recent years, as we all followed a live Twitter stream of updates from London via @Worlds50Best account on the night. Their tweet announcing the Test Kitchen as the Top Restaurant in Africa and Number 28 in the World was ReTweeted 124 times, which is pretty amazing!
This is why I love social media when it comes to the hospitality industry and spreading breaking news in real time – and it’s really come a long way in only a few years. Back in 2010 when Chef Margot Janse and her Franschhoek restaurant The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais reached Number 31 in the World at the same competition (they were ranked 88 in this year’s list), sure Twitter and Facebook were around – but it seemed back then we were all happy to wait for the press release the next morning and publish the great news accordingly.
That’s why I embrace Twitter and Instagram so wholeheartedly – where else are you going to be the first to hear about brilliant new places, complete with images, links and nowadays even videos? The key to making this work for you? You just have to know who to follow.
Obviously we like you all to follow @food24 to find out where new and trendy places near you have opened up – and also the likes of @Eat_Out and @ZomatoSA for up-to-date restaurant news and listings, but sometimes it’s nice to follow the more niche bloggers and foodies who know their ‘scene’ inside out.
Here is a good beginner’s list of foodies and interesting people to follow on Twitter if you are wondering what’s new in your hood. You should find a link to their Instagram accounts and blogs in their Twitter profiles.
Cape Town
@RelaxwithDax
@CapeTownEtc
@MyCityByMouth
@CTSeth
@CathyMarston
@CapeTownDiva
@ClaireGunnPhoto
@CTMyLove
@TalyaGoldberg
@MissEmmaJude
@Amy_Hoppy
Joburg
@undomestikated
@FoodblogJHB
@JozieFoodFix
@Kate_Els
@Nicolecarsalam
Durban
@tastedetectives
@Durban_Foodies
@FoodBlogDBN
@cuizinedurban
These are just a few that we follow – do check them out and click through to their blogs etc. There are some amazing pictures and reviews out there that will very easily help you make your decision about where to go next.
Yours in the know,