The huge and impressive new Cape Quarter Extension in Green Point may at the moment lack those big names in design and fashion that could set it apart from the city’s other shopping centres. But its restaurants (more of these in next week’s FM) and location — it’s not far from the sculpture-like stadium — means it’s guaranteed to become another endlessly tramped-through tourist spot.

Especially since the developers have retained the village vibe by creating a cobbled courtyard open to the sky. You might struggle to find the centre, which is not a bad thing. Since Capetonians are batty about their architectural heritage, this three-storey construction is hidden behind the Victorian façades of the buildings that housed the previous tenants.

Once inside, however, one place you can’t miss is Vanilla, the silver-and-cerise restaurant on two levels linked by a solid glass staircase, and boasting a baby grand. It’s the R7m baby of Nigel Newhouse of Tuscany Beach restaurant in Camps Bay. And, with Franschhoek’s Matthew Gordon as consultant chef, how wrong can it go? Tel: (021) 421-1237.

Opposite is Lazari, sister to the irresistible Vredehoek joint where Chris Lazari lays on great, reasonably priced wraps and a joyous neighbourhood ambience. His new venture loses nothing in translation. Tel: (021) 419-9555.

Further down, on Somerset Road, is a steakhouse that cooks your meat at 1800° Fahrenheit on a machine from New York. 1800 Degrees is the grill room of the Cape Royale, the Parisian-looking luxury hotel of Irish butcher Paschal Phelan. Tel: (021) 430-0506.

By far the busiest of the city’s newies, though, is Kloof Street’s Bombay Bicycle Club, another of Richard Griffin’s wacky gypsy venues opened since the liquidation of his Theatre of Dreams in London. Griffin might look like one of those gypsy waifs who run off with your purse at Rome’s central station, but he’s a sussed restaurateur who draws passionate crowds with his fusion menus and chocolate-chilli steaks (Thursday nights.) Dinner only. Tel: (021) 423-6805.

OYO at the V&A Hotel at the Waterfront is not new, but this season’s crayfish special is. Chef Sanel Esterhuizen has abandoned recessionary caution and invested in 7t of crayfish — 14000 tails, served cold or grilled (R185 for 500g). Tel: (021) 419-6677.

If you take a supper club to mean a restaurant with a cabaret — acrobatic, musical, whatever — then the city centre is getting a special nightspot on December 15. With an international team behind it headed by the SA-based travel book publishers Outstanding 100, Vaudeville is a party-hard 300-seater with live entertainment and a three course meal by Andrea Foulkes. Legendary fun spot Fez is reopening next door so you can continue the revelry after dinner. Contact them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

No contest. As everything goes bananas under the mountain, you can be sure of peace in the winelands.

The trampling down of a cow-dung floor was the traditional excuse for a vastrap party. Now you can hear Cape folk music at Solms-Delta’s Saturday supper concerts in this wine estate’s Fyndraai restaurant in Franschhoek. Until December 19; then through January and February. Tel: (021) 874-3937.

Over the mountain in Stellenbosch, George Jardine, the restaurateur voted Eat Out’s chef of the year two years running, has opened Jordan Restaurant on Jordan wine estate. Lunch only; tasting menus Thursday and Friday evenings. Tel: (021) 881-3441.

And if the nightly African circus of Moyo at Spier isn’t enough to lure you, perhaps the Jonkershuis restaurant revamp — now called Eight — will. Spearheading it is Judy Badenhorst, celebrated foodista behind the Riverside Café, Old Cape Farm Stall and famously quirky Lucky Store. Lunch only. Tel: (021) 809-1172.

Head for the west coast on Saturday December 12 and put Kloovenburg’s Christmas cake in your Christmas stocking at the Kloovenburg Wine & Olive Estate’s summer market in Riebeeck Valley. Go to: www.kloovenburg.com.

MOUNTAIN SUNSET SPECIAL

For half the usual price until the end of February, you can experience the rush of travelling 1067m above sea level in a rotating gondola and nabbing the best seat in town for sunset drinks or dinner at the Table Mountain Café. This Table Mountain Summer Sunset Special means that after 6pm adults pay R80 and children R40, New Year’s eve included. Tel: (021) 424-8181.

SPORT

Retief Goosen, current top SA earner on the US circuit, is one of the draw cards at this year’s SA Open Championships at Pearl Valley Golf Estates in Paarl, from December 17-20. The prize is à1m. Go to: www.southafricanopen.co.za.

Better still, you’re guaranteed to shed festive season kilos at the Totalsports Challenge on Saturday January 9, routed from Gordon’s Bay to Kleinmond. You can do four sports disciplines, or go the whole hog and do seven — surfskiing, swimming, road biking, road running, canoeing, mountain biking and beach running. Go to: www.totalsport.co.za.

In Glencairn, the track on the Salomon First Ascent Trail winds through fynbos and has spectacular sea views. The departure is at 7am on Saturday December 12 from the Southern Right Hotel, and the trail concludes with breakfast at the hotel. Do 7km or 12km. Go to: www.quantumadventures.co.za.

HORSE RACING

No promises, but as an elegant lead-up to the J&B Met, L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate at Kenilworth Racetrack on January 9 could be fun, whether you’re in one of the designer-decorated hospitality marquees or enjoying a gourmet picnic in your most stylish blue-and-white code colour kit. Go to: www.lqp.co.za.

The J&B Met remains the big racing event, however, showcasing 16 horses competing for R2,5m. It had its beginnings 200 years ago when British soldiers, billeted in the Cape, used to invite lady friends to watch, and it’s still mostly about what the ladies are wearing. January 30 at Kenilworth Racecourse. Go to: www.jbmet.co.za.

MUSIC

If you have a mountain, flaunt it. The Table is a dazzling backdrop for the floating stage at the V&A Waterfront’s sensational Aqua Music Festival on the North Wharf every evening from December 14 to January 6. Performers include Sibongile Khumalo, Johnny Clegg, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Parlotones, Judith Sephuma, Freshlyground, the Cape Town Ballet Company and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. Plus there’s an AquAbba Extravaganza from December 29-31 loaded with pyrotechnics. Book at Computicket.

Meanwhile, 1960s American satirist Tom Lehrer’s black humour in songs like “Masochism Tango” and “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” is being revived by Kate Normington, Matthew Stewardson and Patrick Tobin in the musical review Tom Foolery at the NewSpace Theatre from January 9 to February 14. Book at Computicket.

Even when they work for Old Mutual, Capetonians are hippies at heart, so they pitch in droves for the Kirstenbosch Sunday Sunset Concerts, arriving well before 5.30pm with their rugs and Nigella Lawson picnics. Time magazine described the atmosphere as “appropriately elysian” and called the mix of musicians “as eclectic as the country they live in”. The December programme includes Johnny Clegg’s son Jesse. Tel: (021) 799-8782.

COMEDY

Cape Town’s three killer stand-ups, Nik Rabinowitz, Riaad Moosa and Marc Lottering, play a Jewish linguist, Muslim doctor and son of a Pentecostal preacher in Three Wiser Men, David Kramer’s hilarious follow-up to last year’s sold-out show Three Wise Men, at the Baxter until 9 January — www.baxter.co.za.

ART

Sabelo Mlangeni, winner of the 2009 Tollman Award for the Visual Arts, is exhibiting his photographs of hostel dwellers at Michael Stevenson’s summer show until January 16. Other artworks include Willem Boshoff’s woven wind banners, Andrew Putter’s shipwrecked travellers, Guy Tillim’s Rome, Pieter Hugo’s Ghanaian scrapheaps and Retha Erasmus’s geometric sculptures. Go to: www.michaelstevenson.com.

Now in its 18th year, the annual Rose Korber Art Salon continues to be a comprehensive overview of the best of contemporary SA paintings, sculpture, ceramics, photography, tapestries, beadwork and limited-edition original prints. Go to: www.rosekorberart.com.

DANCE

This year celebrating its 75th anniversary as SA’s premier ballet company, the Cape Town City Ballet presents the ideal family ballet for the festive season, Sleeping Beauty, at Artscape from December 18 to January 10. Go to: www.artscape.co.za.

Cape Town’s Jazzart Dance Company is another local institution. Launched by Sonje Mayo on her return to SA from New York in the 1970s, the company has trained dancers across the racial spectrum. Artscape Arena from December 3-6. Go to: www.jazzart.co.za.

Source: Financial Mail