Called 'The Big Easy' and situated in an elegant Cape Dutch-style house on popular Dorp Street in the older part of historical Stellenbosch, a university and wine-producing town near Cape Town that dates back to the 16th Century, it opened its doors on Monday.

The Big Easy restaurant joins a portfolio of other Ernie Els businesses that include a world-renowned golf design company, a wine business that includes partnership in a wine farm, and a Safari company offering tours to some of South Africa's finest game reserves, golf courses and wine routes.

Says Els of his new restaurant on his official website this week: "It's all about great wines and fantastic foods with a relaxed French influence and an emphasis on using the finest, freshest ingredients."

Els wasn't there for the opening. He was back at his newest home base in West Palm Beach, Florida, celebrating his first Thanksgiving with his family since moving to America from London.

"For us it was the first time we had experienced this special time here.

"The whole country kind of comes to a standstill for a few days and everyone seems to get together with their families to chill-out. That formula sounded good to us! We just spent some time together at the house and enjoyed a bit of down-time."

The weather here in West Palm Beach is perfect right now. It's consistently in the mid-to-high-70s, which means I can pop-out whenever I like and go hit some balls.

"The practice facilities are fantastic and that, along with the perfect weather, is one of the big reasons we decided to get a house here and spend more time in America. I feel like it's paying off.

"As I've said before, I love Wentworth; it'll always be a special place for us and we enjoyed being so close to London.

"But golf-wise, it was tough for me at this time of the year. I'd often have time off, but the weather would be close to freezing, which made it almost impossible to spend enough quality time working on my game.

"I'd be wrapped-up in sweaters and struggling to keep my hands warm; and obviously, that's far from ideal.

"Seriously, my hat is off to anyone who plays a lot of golf through an English winter! I'm not sure I could do it, to be honest."

For the first time in many years, Els will not be playing in this week's Nedbank Challenge, a Sun City event in his native South Africa he has won three times and for which his 16 appearances is a record.