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Can’t get a booking in a restaurant in Paternoster, now what am I supposed to do?” – how many times we have heard this over the last few months? While it shows just how many visitors are still coming to the village even in this time of the “credit crunch”, hungry would-be diners are angered – and it just doesn’t make good business sense to turn away fabulous, paying customers. What to do? – I have been accused by one for having a superior attitude and clearly not needing his money when we closed for a few hours during December to clean the Eatery and replenish food stocks between shifts– if only this were the case! Ask anyone in the food business in the village right now and they will hold their aching back or rub a throbbing foot and tell you they have had a similar experiences of late. It is not an attitude but a fact. Just by mere numbers of houses, most people who visit the village stay in self catering establishments -for their own reasons – fact is, it is not really the self catering aspect that is appealing and they want somewhere go out and dine! This has overloaded the demand for places to eat out especially at night. Guest house owners and letting agents know the table shortage crisis situation on weekends when the restaurants fill up fast – therefore they book or suggest to book well in advance so guests can enjoy a wonderful night out. If you try to book a table for dinner at the last minute most are unfortunately disappointed. Open more restaurants you may say…(anyone know of new business sites – or is it still just ‘4 ½’ for the village) Then the quiet days will come when, and I saw this for real – the chef and the restaurant owner play cricket with a large a wooden spoon during lunchtime. These quieter months are difficult to get through for any food business in the village, it is not fair to up numbers of staff in the busy summer to accommodate more guests and then lay off the same staff in the winter – they too have costs to cover in the colder months. Here’s a secret – best months in Paternoster are May and June and you could get half a restaurant to your self. I am so happy to see so many people (these would be mostly the pre planners) come and enjoy Paternoster, eat delicious food and rest and relax. We love hosting you in our restaurants, hotels, guest houses, lodges, eateries, padstalle and fishmarkets. When we are full it means any more tables and your quality of dinning experience will suffer, when we say a table at 19:15 we are ensuring that your wait is worthwhile and if there are “no takeaways” it’s because they congest the kitchen and the presentation is not what you deserve. We love how much you love eating with us in the village. 10 effective credit crunch tips for dinning in Paternoster:- Stop in Vredenburg on your way through to the village for supplies – NEW woollies open at the mall Cook snacks on a braai in Tietiesbaai whilst having a sundowner for the best night out Order Pizza and get “Scooters” to deliver – less gas emissions than driving Go back to Potjie cooking – minimal preparation and cheaper cuts Have a late breakfast and an early dinner Host a braaibroodjie party, bread and fillings and people make their own Do a “Ready Steady Cook” from a basket of ingredients bought at the local Food Market Arrange a travelling progressive dinner – different course, different house Order Fish and Chips from the fish market just before closing and enjoy on the beach Grill local fish bought bought from the boats Happy cookin'!
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