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34 / TRAVEL / Cape Town<br />
Left (clockwise<br />
from top left):<br />
Sidewalk Cafe in<br />
Vredehoek; Imiso<br />
ceramics in Woodstock;<br />
Industrial heritage<br />
Right: Bakoven,<br />
towards Hout Bay<br />
“Woodstock’s former warehouses,<br />
foundries and factories have followed the<br />
example of The Old Biscuit Mill”<br />
Seaside dining in Paternoster<br />
Just east of Cape Town, the wineries and restaurants<br />
of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch represent the<br />
best of South African gastronomy. In recent years,<br />
however, a lesser known foodie-hotspot has been<br />
taking shape in Paternoster, a little fishing village<br />
up the West Coast. Here, well-known chefs such as<br />
Reuben Riff and Jaco Kruger have been opening or<br />
taking over restaurants (Reuben’s at Abalone House<br />
and Gaaitjie, respectively). The most innovative of<br />
the bunch, however, is chef Kobus van der Merwe,<br />
whose Wolfgat is highly acclaimed. His hyperlocal<br />
strandveld cuisine is named after herbs and<br />
succulents foraged from the beach, and inspired by<br />
South African cooking traditions.<br />
GAAITJIE<br />
Off Sampson Street, Paternoster<br />
gaaitjie.co.za<br />
REUBEN’S AT ABALONE HOUSE<br />
3 Kriedoring Street, Paternoster<br />
abalonehouse.co.za<br />
WOLFGAT<br />
10 Sampson Street, Paternoster<br />
wolfgat.co.za<br />
and Argentinian empanadas to Dutch poffertjes or Valencian<br />
paella. It is also a great place to stock up on local organic<br />
produce, wines and craft beers.<br />
UP-AND-COMING TALENT<br />
Many of Woodstock’s former warehouses, foundries and<br />
decommissioned factories have followed the example of The<br />
Old Biscuit Mill, and most of them are located along Albert<br />
Road, the neighbourhood’s main commercial thoroughfare.<br />
A few minutes’ walk away from The Old Biscuit Mill, for<br />
example, a large warehouse has been converted into a co-op<br />
for emerging artisans and fashion designers. Named the<br />
Threads Project, it is the brainchild of Greg Swanepoel, a<br />
clothing wholesaler who decided to share his three decades’<br />
worth of expertise in the industry with up-and-coming talent.<br />
By sharing a space, and the associated logistics of running<br />
a small business, the project allows young entrepreneurs to<br />
spend more time and energy on simply being creative, and less<br />
on the everyday drudgery of accounting or managing their<br />
e-commerce. Everyone rents their own space in the building,<br />
and the range of products on offer is as eclectic as it could be:<br />
from art prints and bright bikinis to environmentally-friendly<br />
cork handbags, bamboo socks and hand-drawn illustrations.<br />
The majority of it is made and designed in Cape Town.<br />
Closer to the city centre, the store fronts along Albert<br />
Road start to look a lot more polished. Furniture showrooms<br />
are no longer limited to local artwork, but also display pricey<br />
Dutch and Danish design furniture.<br />
It’s hardly surprising when Swanepoel laments that<br />
property prices in Woodstock are soaring. “Now that this<br />
part of town has reached a certain point of maturity and<br />
saturation, we’re noticing a swing back to the city centre<br />
again,” he says, referring to Bree Street and the rest of the<br />
CBD. It seems that the two most happening districts of Cape<br />
Town are settling on a hipness-equilibrium.<br />
➔<br />
Plan your trip<br />
Enjoy two great African destinations in a single trip. Flights are now<br />
available from Nairobi to Cape Town via Livingstone, Zambia, and as<br />
of May 1 also via Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Flights depart from both<br />
destinations three times a week. Book these or other flights to Cape<br />
Town on kenya-airways.com.<br />
Left page: Mirjam Bleeker, Imiso (top right) Right page: Dana van Leeuwen
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