I get asked the ‘where to go for what’ question a helluva lot. Regular text messages like: “Restaurant recommendation please, bud. First date, somewhere cosy. Oh, drinks after? Thanks.” Phone calls where I end up discussing the merits of how important atmosphere is versus food. Emails from people saying they’re going to Paris and want to know where to eat. It’s cool to help out, and people generally seem happy with my suggestions.
Anyways, these days, you don’t need a black book, you just need a smartphone and The Google Machine. But I thought it’d be fun to throw down four or five spots I recommend a lot and for what. I ended up throwing down a few more. So here they are, 40 rather useful places to know about. Yes, there’s a lot that would overlap and plenty more to add, but this is just how I first thought of them…
- First morning coffee: Deluxe Coffeeworks
- Coffee & croissant: Jason (ex-Jardine Bakery)
- Hangover breakfast: Sidewalk Cafe
- Classy breakfast: Table Thirteen
- Brunch: Bistro 1682
- Saturday morning beer: Neighbourgoods Market
- Healthy lunch: Cookshop
- Lunch and the paper: Mozzarella Bar
- Quick sandwich: Jason (ex-Jardine Bakery)
- Unfussy lunch with a mate: Mano’s
- Classy lunch with a mate: Dear Me
- Power lunch: Caveau
- Long boozy lunch: The Foodbarn
- Very low-key lunch: Dias Tavern
- Hipster lunch: Superette*
- Sunday lunch: Woodlands Eatery
- Winelands lunch: Bar Bar Black Sheep
- Early afternoon espresso: The Power & The Glory
- Drinks by the pool: Sandy B’s
- Early afternoon beer: &UNION
- Vegetarian meal: Masala Dosa
- Second best vegetarian: Lola’s
- After work drinks: &UNION
- Martini’s: Planet Bar
- Rooftop bar: The Grand Daddy
- Dinner with a mate: Hudsons
- Dinner with the family: Massimo’s
- Dinner with a view: The Roundhouse
- Romantic dinner: Kitima
- Tapas dinner: La Boheme
- Business dinner: Bizerca
- Gourmet experience dinner: Test Kitchen
- Low-key dinner: Nonna Lina
- Zen dinner: Kyoto Garden Sushi
- Tequila-fueled dinner: El Burro
- Classy nightcap: Fatback Soul
- Messy nightcap: Black Ram
- 4am on brandy: The Shack
- 4am on cocktails: Julep
- 5am toasted chicken mayo: Restaurant L’Orange aka Engen
Feel free to add your own suggestions as comments…
* okay, so there’s more to the Superette crowd than hipsters
Dinner clubs seem to be all the rage right now. Superette does one monthly. Now another of my favourite little spots is doing a dinner club. It happens to be this Friday. What’s the deal? It pretty much says it all below. 20 people. Prawn bisque. Pork ragu. Vanilla-poached pears? R130. Mmm…
Some things just make one happier. These are a few doing the trick for me at the moment… not all food related, but all doing the trick.
Deluxe coffee.
There are some great coffee shops in Cape Town, but this is undoubtedly the most hip. You don’t need a Vespa to go there, but it would up your cred. Coffees are roasted, served and enjoyed in a space the size of your bathroom, but damn it’s good.
Converse.
Have you seen how cute the ‘ladies Cons’ are (above)? Everytime I see them I smile. As I do everytime I put my All Star hightops on. Or when my white Jack Purcell’s come out the wash. Converse are the best winter shoe – warm and puddleproof. Good shoes = happy days.
Poached Eggs.
They’re the best thing with sliced bread, toasted of course. &UNION are now doing them. But you can make them at home too. Very simple. Either way, my favourite way to eat an egg at the moment.
GQ Magazine.
Because the editorial team actually writes well, giving insights into things like cool bars, wine, beer and more. Because they decided to put men on the cover too (though I think the one above is pretty good). And because in a time when the web is taking over, it’s really great to get your hands on a hard copy of something. GQ is the best of the local lifestyle mags by a fat kilometer.
Cookshop.
Simple, honest and very, very tasty food. Lots of organic and free-range stuff on the menu. Unpretentious environment always filled with happy people. That’s Cookshop. Oh, and great coffee (from above-mentioned Deluxe).
Swartland wines.
The hottest area (also quite literally, sometimes) in wine at the moment. A.A.Badenhorst, Mullineux, Sadie Family, Lammershoek, Hedonist, El Bandito and more. All awesome. All from the same area, the Swartland.
Barnet Fair.
A true barber shop on Cape Town’s coolest street. What more could a man ask for? Beard trims, hair cuts, old-school hot towel shaves. I sense a lot of Barnet Fair vouchers heading my mates’ way come birthday times.
Steak.
Big, juicy steak. And if I’m not cooking one at home, my money is still on HQ (above pic) to serve the best in town. Free-range sirloin cooked medium-rare and smothered in that sauce, ooh… I might just eat that tonight.
Thank you Cookshop. Just when the day was rushing by without anything truly good, there you come along, with your pink cupcake and its little colourful sprinkles. Aah, thank you Cookshop. I love you.
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Cookshop. 117 Hatfield St, Gardens.
This is a cafe deli on Hatfield Street just down the road from the Engen/Woolworths on Orange. It used to be called Sage deli, when it was populated by a tree-hugging vegetarian set. I don’t mean that all vegetarians are tree-huggers, but the previous owner here used to look like one. Anyways, the point is that it’s been taken over by a new team and with a new name they have brought in new ideas and a new level of quality – one that actually is er, quality. In the morning they have egg and bacon breakfast pies, served with harissa. Quite cheeky, the spicy breakfast option. They also serve smoothies, muffins bacon croissants (yes, please!) and something called a Green Juice. Made from apple, lemons and other green things, I tried it once and it seems to have the same effect as caffeine, yet it contains none. The last person I saw order one happened to be wearing a white kaftan and had a yoga mat under his arm, so you know this stuff is good. He looked very serene.
The menu for lunch here is a battle between sandwiches and the buffet. The sandwiches come with their homemade pate-mayo, which they used to sell out of at the Neighbourgoods Market each Saturday. Very tasty stuff. Especially when spread over roast chicken on rye bread. The buffet can have everything from lentil salad (with or without bacon, but take a guess which one was almost finshed?) to lasagna to curry. There’s a clear Middle Eastern influence on the buffet side, with plenty of spices, chickpeas and other flavours coming through. All good stuff, and the customers – a mix of designer types from Stefan Antoni office next door and flexible types from the yoga studio adjacent – seem to be enjoying it, as the place does a busy lunch trade.
Cookshop Cafe & Deli. 117 Hatfield Street. 021 461 7868.
Who is the Foodie? It doesn’t really matter. Bacon is god. Wine cures anything. If you believe those two facts, then we’re going to get on fine. This means you have discovered the power of food to make life better. This knowledge is imperative to the art of living well.
