The City of Cape Town has awarded the tender to operate the long-operating The Company’s Garden restaurant to the Zingara Group, its sixth Cape Town restaurant opened in the past thirteen years, and will be called Haarlem & Hope.

The City called for tenders for the operation of the restaurant a year ago, as part of its revitalisation of the Company’s Garden.   The Zingara Group met the criteria specified in the tender, and a year later received the go-ahead.  The name comes from  a Dutch ship Nieuwe Haarlem, which was shipwrecked at the Cape in 1647.  Crew members stayed at the Cape for a year before being picked up by another passing Dutch ship, and in that time the crew planted vegetables, which they bartered for fresh meat from the Khoi living here already. Jan van Riebeek arrived five years later, picking up the vegetable gardening to create the Company’s Garden.

The Zingara Group motivated its tender on its ‘love affair with the Mother City‘, loving its culture and heritage.  Madame Zingara Founder and ‘Creative Director’ Richard Griffin said : ‘We are humbled and extremely excited by the opportunity to transform this restaurant into a place where all walks of life can continue to enjoy this iconic space. We take the sense of community, heritage and cultural pride very seriously and will continue to take great care to involve the people of Cape Town in celebrating this public jewel. On this journey we have been very privileged to not only work on this exciting tender, but to gain an incredible amount of insight into the this beautiful city that we call home’.  

It is planned that Haarlem & Hope will be enjoyed by locals as well as visitors to the city, and will educate them about the cultural and heritage value of the Company’s Gardens. While intended to be a centre of relaxation from the busy buzz of the city centre close by, events are planned which will celebrate ‘life in the heart of the Mother City‘.  Griffin commented: ‘We had a strong desire to protect the site and the restaurant will remain 100% inclusive to the city’s people and its visitors; not only aesthetically, but on price point too. Every person who leaves this establishment will leave with a greater and enthused understanding of our city. We’ve followed design principals which have allowed an educational foundation to be brought to the community through interactive and playful elements’.

Liesl Crafford of Konsep Studio has designed the interior décor, which is influenced by the gardens and buildings surrounding it, but with a modern take.

Existing staff working for the previous operator will be retained, with an executive chef and a restaurant manager to be added.  The restaurant will be open for Breakfast and Lunch.  The other restaurants in the Zingara Group are The Sidewalk Café, Café Mozart, Café Paradiso, The Bombay Bicycle Club, and Café Manhattan, in addition to the travelling Madame Zingara show. 

Haarlem & Hope, Company’s Garden, Cape Town. Tel (021) 201-5108  www.madamezingara.com  Twitter:  @Madame_Zingara

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage