{"id":21466,"date":"2011-06-07T09:39:33","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T07:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=21466"},"modified":"2011-06-11T11:50:31","modified_gmt":"2011-06-11T09:50:31","slug":"restaurant-review-nothing-skinny-about-skinny-legs-all-except-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/restaurant-review-nothing-skinny-about-skinny-legs-all-except-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Nothing skinny about Skinny Legs & All, except owners!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It was a\u00a0surprise to discover Skinny Legs & All,\u00a0a new restaurant on Loop Street, opposite Ebony Art Gallery and next door to L’Aperitivo, last week.\u00a0It is owned by the delightful twins Jessie and Jamie Friedberg, both rather skinny, probably from working so hard in being hands-on in the restaurant.\u00a0 Jessie handles the orders and Jamie the kitchen.<\/p>\n

Jessie and Jamie are from Johannesburg and studied at UCT, and loved Cape Town so much that they decided to stay and open a restaurant together.\u00a0 They say they have no experience in running a restaurant, but both enjoy food.\u00a0\u00a0 An associate is Jo\u00e3o Ferreira, and they have used his previous gallery space for the restaurant.\u00a0 Interesting works of art from Ferreira’s private collection decorate the walls.\u00a0 Artists include Brett Murray, Mark Hipper, Sanell Aggenbach and Bridget Baker.\u00a0 Tables have white tops and wooden legs, and were made for them\u00a0especially by Marko, the owner of Pure Solid and\u00a0Oiishi delicious Caffe<\/a>\u00a0on Kloof Street, as they loved the look of the legs of his restaurant tables.\u00a0 An interesting collection of white-painted A-frame chairs from their home, and wooden school chairs they found at antique shops, dominate the interior.\u00a0\u00a0 Outside stood the Vespa belonging to Jamie and the bicycle which Jessie uses to get to work.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is a\u00a0large open space,\u00a0but with only about\u00a0seven tables, and the ability for them to spill out onto the pavement.\u00a0 The kitchen is open to the restaurant, and one can almost call across the Jessie and Jamie from one’s table to the counter.\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>They named their restaurant after\u00a0the Tom Robbins book “Skinny Legs\u00a0and All”, in which two characters own a Middle-Eastern restaurant in New York. The menu is typed on an A4 sheet, and lists all-day breakfast, lunch, sandwich, and main course options.\u00a0\u00a0 Jessie told me that they worked closely with Chef Brad Ball of Bistro 1682<\/a><\/span> <\/strong>in finding trustworthy suppliers of fresh produce.\u00a0 The menu is introduced as follows: “Our produce is locally sourced, our eggs truly free-range and we’ve stocked our pantry as if it were home. Every condiment and spread is made by us from the herb mayo and basil pesto right down to the lemon cordial.\u00a0 A formula based on simplicity – real food unadulterated and unadorned”.\u00a0\u00a0 Their eggs come from Mushrooms & Things, and the Country Sourdough and Cedarhouse Rye breads come from Jason’s, previously Jardine Bakery.\u00a0 Everything else is made by Jamie.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Breakfast options include Raw Muesli with grated apple and sheep milk yoghurt (R35); Fruit salad (R65); Soft scrambled eggs, with tomato (R45), smoked salmon and avocado (R60), and with proscuitto (R55); Stacked French Toast, served with vanilla-infused fruit compote and a ‘dollop’ of cr\u00e8me fraiche (R45); Freshly baked\u00a0scones, jam and anise cr\u00e8me fraiche (R25); and Toasted banana bread with fresh berries and bluegum honey (R45).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lunch options include ‘Gruel of the day” (R40); Salad of Fior di Latte, served with proscuitto and almonds (R85); Panzella, a Tuscan salad served with country bread, goat’s milk feta, mint and basil (R65); and Warmed Goat’s cheese salad (R70).\u00a0\u00a0 Sandwiches with Cremalat Mozzarella, Franschhoek Trout, or Chicken and avocado cost around R65.\u00a0 For lunch I enjoyed the scrambled egg with smoked salmon, a generous portion, to which was added slices of avocado, which was not mentioned on the menu, and was a nice surprise.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>I took home\u00a0a main course of Wild Mushroom parcel served with wild rice (R68), for dinner.\u00a0 It was interestingly served\u00a0in a paper parcel!\u00a0 Other main courses are Charred lemon and rosemary chicken (R70), and Moroccan-style meatballs (R85).<\/p>\n

The cutlery was unbranded and served with a paper serviette.\u00a0 There are no tablecloths.\u00a0 The water jug was jam packed with slices of lemon.\u00a0\u00a0 The cappuccino was served with a sweet heart-shaped biscuit.\u00a0 Everything was perfect in the restaurant, except the heat, despite it being a cold winter’s day.\u00a0 I\u00a0felt uncomfortably hot.\u00a0 It\u00a0was no surprise that Jessie was wearing a\u00a0summer dress.\u00a0 In summer it should be perfect, when the door to outside is open.\u00a0 The restaurant name is very low key on its glass window, and it would be hard to find it if one did not know its location.\u00a0 I felt very welcome at Skinny Leggs & All, and will be back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Skinny Legs & All<\/strong>, 70 Loop Street, Cape Town.\u00a0 Tel (021) 423-5403.\u00a0 www.skinnyleggsandall.co.za<\/a>\u00a0 Monday – Friday 7h00 – 16h00, Saturday 8h30 – 14h00.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter:@WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a\u00a0surprise to discover Skinny Legs & All,\u00a0a new restaurant on Loop Street, opposite Ebony Art Gallery and next door to L’Aperitivo, last week.\u00a0It is owned by the delightful twins Jessie and Jamie Friedberg, both rather skinny, probably from working so hard in being hands-on in the restaurant.\u00a0 Jessie handles the orders and Jamie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,20,21],"tags":[3073,11780,11782,8299,32378,11777,6977,8440,11786,11778,11779,2639,11783,11785,11787,11784,3625,11781,11773,7564,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t