While it may sound ironic that an American Diner has opened in Heritage Square, a building dating back to the 1770s, the new Boston seems to fit right in on Buitengracht Street and in Cape Town.
I had parked nearby when I visited the bottling of the wine made from the oldest vines in the Southern Hemisphere at Dorrance Cellar inside the Heritage Square courtyard earlier today. It Continue reading →
Cape Town has a new new-generation BMW Motorrad Cape Town lifestyle showroom on Buitengracht Street, a pilot 2600 m² hub for motorcyclists, and home to a smart Tribe restaurant. The German BMW Motorrad CEO is extremely happy with how the Donford BMW Motorrad Cape Town has turned out, the first of a new-generation of lifestyle stores they will open up around the world. The centre is an extension of Donford Motors in Stellenbosch, which sells BMW vehicles as well as motorcycles. The design was done by Kalla Smit of TV3 Architects and Planners.
The red carpet was literally rolled out on the steps of the building which once housed the Bloomberg antique car showroom, and we felt quite out, male bikers dominating the guest list. The showroom had been standing empty for some time, and Donford Motors’ Mark Continue reading →
The bottom end of Chiappini Street has housed two of my favourite restaurants in their time – Bruce Robertson’s The Showroom and Cormac Keane’s Portofino, both the talking point of Cape Town in their time. After a surprisingly long tenancy by low class Leaf, a smart ‘5 star 100% Halaal Fine Dining Bistro‘ has opened, called TRUFFLE. The restaurant was opened to offer top-end Halaal cuisine, which has not been available in Cape Town before. The name was chosen for its association with indulgence, which is echoed throughout the restaurant.
I had seen the exterior branding whilst driving down Buitengracht Street a week ago, but could not find any website via Google. Yesterday I stopped by, and was astounded how the restaurant interior has changed since Leaf occupied the space until about a year ago. Mohammed Adam was kind enough to spend time with me, to share information about the restaurant. 
He and Nisreen Ebrahim are joint owners, Nisreen and her husband Rafiq being previous owners of four fast food outlets they would not reveal the names of (LinkedIn revealed that they were Nando’s outlets), and took over the space in January. Mohammed did all the interior design, after some building work was done, half of the upstairs being closed off by means of a wall now, to give the kitchen double volume space. Almost everything has been changed, other than the wooden floor in the outside section, with a new wooden floor upstairs; new wooden steps for the staircase to match the tops of the tables and the Continue reading →
I did not venture near the city centre on Saturday to see the annual Cape Minstrels march, held on 4 January this year for the first time, to allow more participants than would be the case on the traditional Tweede Nuwe Jaar (2 January), when some of the troupe members would have to be back at work. It is a shame that a tradition with so much heritage should be marred with political posturing by the City of Cape Town and the ANC, and that the Cape Town city centre streets were gridlocked yet again. More than 40000 minstrels were reported by The New Age to have participated.
The city centre was largely closed off for parking for the day, Wale Street being on the route and having metal stands to prevent any parking. We read that some Minstrel march enthusiasts camped on the city’s pavements from the night before, to get the best view of the march. The day started off badly, the troupes leaving Bo Kaap later than announced.
As the 75 troupes marched down from Bo Kaap via Wale Street to the Grand Parade, it caused traffic mayhem on Buitengracht Street in both directions, this street being an important road in and out of Cape Town, as well as on Long Street, as one could not cross Wale Street. We were told that despite horrific parking Continue reading →