Coco Safar Pâtisserie and Restaurant has opened a second branch in Sea Point, now also at St John’s Piazza, with plans for a number of further store openings in South Africa as well as in the USA.
Coco Safar first opened in Cavendish in Claremont in 2016, and it is here that I met South African owner Wilhelm Liebenberg, who had returned to his home country after many years.
He and his Canadian partner Caroline Sirois opened a deluxe boutique outlet selling bespoke luxury coffees as well as Rooibos teas, each variant named after a world city, and the ultimate in Pâtisserie offerings. Continue reading →

When I first heard that Pilcrow & Cleaver had opened on Parliament Street last year, I couldn’t get my tongue around its unusual name, and it seemed to be out of the way relative to where I normally go if I am in the City centre. After a first chance visit during Lockdown, I was hooked, when I bought a Take-Home meal of duck spring rolls, and can’t miss visiting the small cosy open-plan restaurant when I am in town, always being able to find parking near the Groote Kerk. On Sunday evening I enjoyed my first Sit-Down meal at Pilcrow & Cleaver, as a birthday celebration for my friend Katie Friedman, having previously collected freshly-made dishes from the restaurant to take home. 
It was at a dinner with Katie Friedman of Urban Lime that I heard about the opening of Victoire, a French Boulangerie, Pâtisserie, and Bistro in the newly redeveloped Speakers’ Corner building on Church Square in Cape Town. I attended the opening, as well as had breakfast at Victoire the following day.