Cape that! Trek, walk, bike, ride, drive, climb through ’s Mother City, , to discover magnificent mountains, blue seas, colourful cultural precincts, shopping, food and so much more….

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

12 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 13 he siren song of began. The first Europeans to discover Cape Town calls out the Cape were the Portuguese with MOUNTAINS, to me, making me Bartolomeu Dias arriving in 1488. It return to this scenic was however only in 1652 that Jan city on South Africa’s van Riebeek established an outpost WAVES & VISTAS Atlantic Seaboard, for the Dutch East India Company near its southern tip. as a halfway station to provide fresh It is the sound of the locally named vegetables, water and meat to ships TCape Doctor (believed to clear the travelling to and from Asia. The air of pollutants and pestilence), the original vegetable plots are today has been dubbed, and the with swimmers and surfers braving For decades a part of - dry south-easter that funnels through preserved in the Company’s Garden, harbour. A drive up , a must- chill waters, even as shark spotters era South Africa, Cape Town today buildings and streets from spring to in the city centre. Subsequently, the do activity surpassed only by a walk with their shark-spotter flags settle is a coveted tourist destination, late summer, causing skirts to fly and British and French arrived and settled up which is even better, is rewarded strategically on beaches and cliffs. waiting to be discovered. And yet, it twirl innocently around the waist. It in this strategic area. by stupendous, sweeping views of Walk, hike, self-drive or bike along cannot deny its past. Over on the far is the sound of the music of the sea, Cape Town’s majestic natural the city, the harbour, the coast, the the coastal route below the Twelve horizon, the view from deep-blue waters lapping on beaches surroundings cannot be ignored, sea and the familiar silhouettes of Apostles mountain range and look includes where Nelson of fine sand, edged with whitewashed making this, arguably, one of the the mountains against the changing down on world-class beaches, picnic Mandela, the former President of houses flowing down undulating world’s most beautifully situated cities. colours of the South African sky, areas and the bluest of blue waters the Republic of South Africa, was hillsides. It is the sound of the earliest The iconic flat-topped Table Mountain, outlines that have become familiar dotted with kelp, granite outcrops incarcerated. ‘We often looked across inhabitants, their horse carts clacking sometimes with its orographic clouds friends on the horizon. On windswept and basking sea lions. Of Cape Town’s Table Bay at the magnificent silhouette down rough roads to journeys forming a ‘tablecloth’, seems to loom evenings, this has become a place of Atlantic suburbs, the wind-sheltered of Table Mountain,’ he once said in a unimagined. It is the wind in the vines, over everywhere, so that locals and meeting and greeting, of paths to walk, Clifton has some of the Cape’s most speech. ‘To us on Robben Island, Table roving incessantly over the indigenous visitors can chart their way with the of challenges to meet and limits to expensive homes (the wind, it would Mountain was a beacon of hope. It habitat, the scented fynbos (‘fine- help of this prominent landmark. This move beyond. seem, dictates property prices); represented the mainland to which we leaved bush’ in ) that hugs mountain is flanked by Devil’s Peak And then there is the sea and boasts a palm-lined knew we would one day return.’ the ground so possessively. It is the to the west and Lion’s Head to the the drive along a verdant, cliff-hung beach, tidal pool and modern houses; Cape Town continues to renew beauty of the country’s national east (when looking from the harbour), coast. Capetonians love the Atlantic while Llandudno with its white beach and reinvent itself and invites the flower, the king protea, that blooms in this latter a great favourite of locals Seaboard as much as their mountains and inspiring sunsets presents an world to visit and take part in its a variety of colours, encouraging fond who oft-times wend their way in and the blue waters are marked irresistible spectacle. ongoing drama….V names like ‘pincushion’. hundreds, climbing its circular path And so I heed the call of the wind on full-moon nights. These dramatic and the mountains, the sea and the mountains together with Signal Hill, faces of proud Capetonians going with its booming daily midday cannon about their daily business and revisit burst, form a natural amphitheatre of South Africa’s Mother City, where it all the , as the main city centre

Cityscape with Table Mountain and Devils Peak from Signal Mountain

14 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 15 Walking the Art in a silo Waterfront Spend up to a couple of days wandering around the picturesque Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a part of Cape Town’s 150-year-old working harbour. Explore this historic area starting at the , the Mother City View oldest corner of the harbour dating “Here in Cape Town we are laidback almost to the point of horizontal,” states an back to 1725. Grab a meal with a view at the many waterside restaurants unabashed Capetonian. And yet, city denizens, while displaying an attitude of sangfroid, and cafes or head to the V&A Food will, at the drop of a hat, put on their ‘takkies’ (local lingo for sporting shoes) and dash Market with its fresh produce and artisanal food selections. Visit the Two off to climb the nearest hill, most likely their beloved Lion’s Head. It is this dichotomy that Oceans Aquarium. Enjoy spectacular We are at the Zeitz MOCAA Pavilion makes the city ever more interesting... city views from the brightly lit Cape at the V&A Waterfront, scrutinising Wheel. Shop till you drop at the the model of the under-construction Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA). The R500- million project was announced as a partnership between the V&A Waterfront and former Puma CEO and chairman, Jochen Zeitz, whose Zeitz Collection is one of the most representative of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora and has been gifted in perpetuity to this non- profit institution. The V&A Waterfront wanted to repurpose the historic, heritage-listed Grain Silo Complex, an icon of the Cape Town skyline and disused since 1990, in a manner that would combine ingenuity, resourcefulness and beauty. This complex consisted of 42 vertical concrete tubes, 57 metres tall, with no open space to experience the volume from within. Architect, Thomas which has over 450 stores from luxury Heatherwick, developed a solution by brands to high-street labels. Catch up carving galleries and a central space on handicraft and souvenir shopping from the silos’ structures to create a at The Watershed, the new hub for cathedral-like atrium filled with light locally made crafts and wellness. Book from a glass roof, resulting in an oval a tour on a pirate ship or take a sunset hall surrounded by concrete shafts cruise, hoping that the wind will whip overhead and to the sides. The other up a fine adventure on the high seas silo bins will be carved away above as well as the champagne in your ground level leaving the rounded plastic glass. exterior walls intact. The museum will have galleries, education areas, a rooftop sculpture Facing page: Victoria & Alfred Waterfront garden and is scheduled to open at Top to bottom: detail on the V&A Waterfront; the end of 2016. shopping at The Watershed

16 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 17 Cable to the Table Put on your Hope for short queues and still dancing shoes weather, but take the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway to Table Mountain, one of the world’s New Seven “I love to eat, drink, dance and Cape Wonders of Nature, for impressive Town is the best place for this,” views, easy walks, strenuous hikes, says entrepreneur and socialite or merely to relax at Table Mountain Keru Moodley, who loves the city’s Café or shop for souvenirs at Shop cosmopolitan atmosphere, restaurants at the Top. The more adventurous and watering holes. Here, she chooses may hike the Platteklip Gorge trail up her favourite venues with music and the face of the mountain. Abseiling a vibe…. is offered at the upper cable station for the super-adventurous. Mountain Pigalle Restaurant…. “There is biking is allowed below the lower always a big band playing and I have cable station while paragliding is more never had a bad meal here.” commonly done from Lion’s Head or Signal Hill. The Crypt Jazz Restaurant…. “This is a wonderful jazz club.”

Mondiall Kitchen & Bar…. “On Facing page, clockwise from top: The Boomslang; Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden; Dylan Saturdays and Sundays they play Lewis’ cheetah sculpture lovely lounge music. Wagyu beef Left: view from Table Mountain burgers are a must.”

Shimmy Beach Club…. “Open only for three or four months of the year; and while I find their food too Traipsing on treetops (a temporary exhibition featuring pretentious, the venue on the beach Walk on treetops on the new dinosaur sculptures adds great drama is brilliant.” Boomslang aerial walkway, at the to the scene) and the Gondwana 103-year-old Kirstenbosch National Garden feature plant fossils that are Grand Café & Beach…. “Fine Botanical Garden (part of a UNESCO 200 million years old. A braille walk, dining with your shoes off. The item World Heritage site) at the foot cheetah sculptures by Dylan Lewis on the menu that is liquid gold is the of Table Mountain. Boomslang is (who was a taxidermist before he salmon wasabi pizza!” Afrikaans for ‘tree snake’ and this turned sculptor) and idyllic spots to suspended marvel of engineering picnic in, while Egyptian geese with The Bungalow…. “The food is looks like an inverted reptile skeleton their line-up of babies walk slowly past mediocre but there are interesting with a steel spine and ribs, and offers and hadeda ibis scrabble in the dust, acts happening all the time.” outstanding make this paradise indeed. Summer views. The concerts are a special attraction. Die Strandloper Restaurant…. garden is “Means ‘the beach walker’. They have home to a five-to-seven-course menu and cook 7,000 species up whatever they get fresh from the representing the sea. Take your own wine.” Cape Floral Kingdom, the area’s indigenous Bukhara…. “Only the one on Church flora. Walk gently uphill Street….” through paths and greens, under giant trees and past El Burro…. “For authentic Mexican- small shrubs, next to water Spanish cuisine with a lovely Latin pools and manicured beds. vibe.” The Cycad Amphitheatre

18 vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 19 Brewing up a storm

‘I am not a beer as you know it but a beer as it should be’ announces a wall at The Tap Room, in Woodstock. Craft beer bars are booming in the city and a visit to The Tap Room reveals a large space with great views and a brewhouse with huge tanks behind. J C Steyn, head brewer, Devil’s Peak Brewing Company, walks us through and chats on this upcoming trend.

Clockwise: sharing platter at What are you doing selling Pot Luck Club; restaurant interior; beer in wine country? The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock South Africa is a beer-drinking country Facing page: Art Lab in The Old Biscuit Mill but essentially lagers. There was always a slight craft influence but only very small. In the last three to four years, the demand for craft beers has just exploded. Initially, we made 2,000 How much does the area you litres a month, today we make 75,000 are in, Woodstock, have to do litres. My background is actually with this success? Market morning in wine; a lot of the beer makers Craft beers are very relative to a On the urban fringes of the Central and studios. Walking down Albert and restaurants including The Test used to be winemakers. There is no sense of space. In the US, traditionally, Business District (CBD), Woodstock Road, you will witness impressive Kitchen, ranked amongst the top 50 competition here with wine. artisanal breweries move into an area is the trendy suburb where the urban art works and colourful graffiti, restaurants in the world. Good luck that is a ‘forgotten area’, leading to yuppies are moving in, leading to a antique and second-hand furniture with getting a booking there but you How are your beers different? a kind of revival. When we started, revitalisation and revamp of stores, shops, cafes and restaurants. On a may get luckier with the incredibly We do unique, not traditional beers, there were people working on corner cafes, galleries and malls. A Saturday morning, head to The Old situated Pot Luck Club where the introducing the customer to a wider sewing machines as this was a textile visit to the Salt Circle Arcade mall Biscuit Mill for the Neighbourgoods food is rivalled only by the stupendous range of new, exciting, innovative factory. The Old Biscuit Mill changed reveals a second-hand bookstore Market where food stalls, live music view. The area having emerged as a brews. We are constantly pushing Woodstock. We were all sceptical about made for browsing, rustic furniture and a great vibe dominate under leader in the craft beer movement, a boundaries infusing cherries, the idea but it worked. One of the outlets, a jewellery workshop and a a huge Bedouin tent. Here are visit to a brewery, like the Devil’s Peak grapefruit juice, even wine, into our 10 best restaurants in the world, The home-brew shop. The Woodstock are located the Art Lab, a digital Brewery with a view of its namesake, beers. The demand has shocked us! Tasting Room, is located here. Exchange too boasts artisan shops imaging facility, a pottery workshop is a must.

20 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 21 Candy Land Long and short of it Keep your camera at the ready as The CBD displays a big-city vibe as you wander into Bo-Kaap, Cape well as being rich in heritage, culture Town’s most colourful district, one of and nightlife. A mix of architecture its oldest residential quarters, also lends a distinctive air with early known as the Malay Quarter, located Dutch buildings, British Victorian at the foot of Signal Hill. Associated architecture, French influences as well with the Muslim community of the as modern buildings. Swing around the Cape, the area features cobbled built in 1666 and streets with row houses painted pink, the City Hall nearby where Nelson purple, green, blue, in vibrant disarray. Mandela stood to deliver the famous While some opine that this could freedom speech in 1990. The CBD have been a reaction to the mainly centres around Long Street with its white Cape-Dutch architecture or a restaurants and vintage and second- creative assertion of a newly found hand boutiques. Church Street is freedom (in the past, slaves who were for art lovers and is spangled with imported to the Cape were housed galleries displaying modern South here), it is enough to enjoy the colours African art. Visit the Company’s and take a photograph against the Garden where the Dutch settlers in brilliant-hued homes. The Bo-Kaap the 1650s first grew their fruits and Museum showcases local Islamic vegetables, today a place for outings culture and heritage. Minstrel parades and outdoor picnics. Bordering the or , held on January garden is the Iziko South African 2 every year, were started by slaves Museum, a natural history and science who traditionally enjoyed the day as a museum. A must-visit is the buzzing holiday, ending in the Bo-Kaap district. with its souvenir stalls, antiques and African market, between Longmarket and Shortmarket Going indigenous Streets. There is much entertainment for the evening on Long Street as well Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams, head she says. as nearby Bree Street. And for some chef at The Table Bay hotel on the So, the young chef conducts luxury on call, check into Taj Cape V&A Waterfront, never sits down on foraging tours to pick up edible plants Town, a hotel that will remind you the job — literally. She believes in the even from the V&A Waterfront. She of home. simplification of what she calls Cape has added wild olives, wild rosemary, Facing page: a street in Bo-Kaap Town’s ‘comma cuisine’, where too hibiscus and soutslaai that grows Top to bottom: Long Street in the CBD; many things are happening on the in the coastal areas, which means Chefs Warehouse & Canteen plate, at the same time. She describes ‘salt salad’ in Afrikaans, and has a the food here as “a big history of a “thick leaf, meaty almost, crispy and melting pot of different ethnicities and gorgeous to eat.” cultures.” She adds, “South Africans Some of the places she loves to have a very warm palate which can eat are at the Spier Wine Farm, at translate into sweetness.” She is the their farm-to-table restaurant that has Cool restaurant strip ambassador for simpler food “with a hoghouse as well; The Roundhouse While Long Street in the CBD, with quality becoming more important. Restaurant that offers the best picnics its Victorian shops and cafes, clubs, I am pushing for edible indigenous in the summertime, with incredible sundowner pubs, bars, filigreed foodstuff in South Africa. There are views; the Pot Luck Club which is balconies and white facades, is thousands of species of fynbos, some good fun; The Foodbarn Restaurant in considered the ‘party street’ by of them edible, that no one has looked Noordhoek and Cheyne’s at the younger set which may liken it into. Since this was a colony, a lot which makes the best baos in town to a mini Bourbon Street (in New of foodstuff was imported and the including duck-and-apple and softshell Orleans), it is Bree Street close indigenous stuff was not discovered,” crab baos…. by that is reinventing itself into the city’s most trendy street. Business

22 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 23 Right: Open Door Restaurant Below: platters at Chefs Warehouse & Canteen

Ishay’s Top 10

Ishay Govender-Ypma, freelance from the city. Book a table with a view travel, food and culture journalist, of the waves, a full-circle experience blogs, writes and scouts around her if you order a bottle of bubbly and a city with passion…. seafood platter.

Coffee: Espresso Lab Microroasters Restaurant: Lauded chef Luke at The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock Dale-Roberts’ Pot Luck Club — my has arguably the best coffee in the top pick to take friends and visitors city. They make no-fuss iced coffees for the views, the laid-back vibe and and grind the beans for you to take most importantly the carefully crafted away too. sharing plates.

Brunch: Hemelhuijs in the city Spa: One&Only Spa at the One&Only centre combines Chef Jacques Cape Town — exceptional therapists, Erasmus’ impeccable design aesthetic using ESPA products which my skin with his nostalgia for the Afrikaans adores. Once in, you’re ensconced food of his childhood. Expect the best in privacy. in-season produce and take home his gorgeous amber jars of spice blends. Gallery: SMITH studio — an inner- city art gallery, it’s become a space Seafood dinner: Harbour House, for emerging artists to help define a — worth the 40-minute drive new luxury.

Jewellery: Kirsten Goss — high- quality materials, including diamonds, are used for these elegant statement pieces. It’s fun and irreverent. Of wine trails We have delicious Boutique: Mungo & Jemima — fresh, Twenty minutes’ drive from the octopus ribbons easy and classic pieces that flow. Have CBD brings you to an area of big with fried anchovy loved their Long Street store for years. houses along long driveways with and the pan-roasted linefish tennis courts, swimming pools and which today is yellowtail, all washed Chocolate: Honest Chocolate — establishments, bicycle shops Bar for your after-work G & T and the stables, walking and riding trails down with a refreshing Chenin blanc. raw chocolate sweetened with agave and offices are being increasingly controversially named Orphanage, for and a general feel of the English Another afternoon sees us enthralled and wrapped in artful wrappers, swamped with boutiques, stores and some of the most expensive cocktails. countryside. Constantia is one of by award-winning chef Mike Bassett’s I’ve been taking these as gifts on restaurants. Beat the rush with an Stores worth mentioning here the oldest regions in Cape Town contemporary fusion menu at his new travels for years. They’ve got a lovely early lunch at the very popular Chefs are Kluk CGDT for couture gowns, and home to some of the country’s venture, Myoga, in the Vineyard Hotel crowdfunded chocolate cafe in Wale Warehouse & Canteen and discover Avoova for fine handicrafts, Kirsten oldest wine estates. For those with and Spa. In a stunning setting, we Street too. the best tapas in town. Further down, Goss Jewellery and Skinny Laminx for little time to go further afield into enjoy heirloom tomatoes with toasted Charango Grill & Bar is the city’s go- illustrated fabric, among others. First the Cape Winelands region, this is cheese ice cream (outstanding!), Cards and Stationery: Lauren to for great Peruvian cuisine. On a Thursday every month is dubbed First a perfect alternative. Visit for walks sea bass with risotto and shrimp, Fowler, designer and artist, is one of hot afternoon, drop in at Weinhaus + Thursdays Cape Town, and means amidst panoramic scenery, for world- hoisin baby kabeljou (a local fish) the city’s most interesting creatives. Biergarten for some cold craft beer late-night at Bree: its art galleries class golf greens, one of the area’s and a dramatic death of strawberry Her love for flora and fauna shines or visit Jason Bakery on its strategic stay open, offering events and wine numerous spas, or just to lunch at a shortcake, a strawberry bombe and through her whimsical designs. corner, touted as the finest artisanal tastings, and people unusually roam wine farm’s stellar restaurant. We visit white chocolate sponge that melts bakery around. Birds Café and IYO the street at night, all beautifully two, both worth recommending. Open unexpectedly under warm strawberry (You can read more on Burger for the best burgers in town. dressed and swinging to the carnival Door Restaurant at the Constantia coulis. Live the experience as you foodandthefabulous.com) Bocca Restaurant, across the road, atmosphere with Cape Town’s famous Uitsig Wine Estate is a bustling, bistro- walk through the estate’s six-acre serves tapas and Neapolitan-style food trucks adding their might to the style restaurant with an open kitchen, garden or relax through a treatment thin-crust pizza. Mother’s Ruin Gin evening’s merriment. parquet flooring and wooden tables. at the spa. V

24 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 25 happening around food and wine and “Approach love and cooking beer, these days. And a lot of outdoor eating. The men in South Africa, they all think they can braai but in my with reckless abandon….” classes I am teaching the ladies to Capetonians live life to the fullest, as evidenced by entrepreneur Denise Levy gourmet braai!”

who speaks about the city’s love for food and the outdoors Lifestyle…. “I love the outdoor aspect of the city. People exercise, walk, trek, swim…we are so lucky to live by the sea. I love the fact that we he lives the Cape Town family, chop, stir, pour the wine, fabulous food. The Old Biscuit Mill can stay fit in an outdoor, natural kind lifestyle. We meet Denise put on the music and then, let’s all is fantastic to visit on a Saturday of way. We live amongst wonderful Levy in her beautiful old eat together….” And so the Levy morning for the Farmers’ Market. nature here. You must do a walk on home that she calls the home sees two interactive cooking Saturday mornings also sees the Lion’s Head — the views are amazing.” ‘peppermint palace’ due experiences a week, as well as private Waterfront Market where you can Sto its faded green colour. Several functions, MasterChef-style parties, eat, sample or take home a variety of Restaurants…. “Trending right now dogs and cats wander over to check meetings with major companies, food. The entrepreneurship here is is the Bree Street area and Chefs us out as we walk into a stunning board meetings and so on. “I felt that I amazing and everyone loves what they Kitchen; Liam Tomlin is really pretty modern kitchen. The house has white earned the right to pursue my passion do. Last Wednesday of the month, the much the top chef in the city. Kloof columns, an outdoor porch, a large after putting so many years into a Waterfront has a late-night market Street too has a lot of restaurants and outdoor dining table, a large indoor career,” she says, very rightly! where furniture and interior products bars, my favourite being Hallelujah dining table, paintings by local artists, are on display; there’s very nice food which has only 10 items on the menu a bathroom laden with family portraits Denise Levy speaks about…. as well. There is a market in Hout Bay which are all great. Camps Bay has a and cookbooks everywhere. A small as well, on a Saturday.” good strip of restaurants; pool and outdoor furniture make for Cape Town’s markets…. “I love Café Caprice is where comfortable seating when the weather food markets, fish markets and Braaiing…. “South Africans are the youngsters hang out. is good, which it mostly is. delis with wonderful international generally very warm and hospitable And yes, there’s The Born in Argentina, this former products, and even the humble people and will invite you into their Grand Cafe & Beach on international model of the ’80s, supermarket holds wonder for me, at homes. There is a lot of socialising the Waterfront towards who has travelled the world, started the possibilities that it has to create at people’s houses. There is so much — that’s really Cape Town Productions, becoming a feet-in-the-sand kind a pioneer in the stills production of place with great business and running the ‘biggest and food — one of the few best’ production company in Cape places that is right on Town. Even then, she spent “many the beach….” years of client-entertaining at home, from 10 to 50 guests, fearlessly and History of cuisine…. effortlessly”. And then, at the age of “There’s such a mix of 58, she changed careers with aplomb cusines here since Cape Town is so and started Ginger & Lime, with the cosmopolitan, everybody has had a concept of opening her kitchen to little influence somewhere! We tend others who are also passionate about to think of traditional South African food and who enjoy the experience food as the Cape Malay cuisine with of cooking together. “My concept recipes that have come down from is, come to me, become part of the the 17th century when kitchen workers would add their own spices to dishes. The Dutch and British added their bits too. And the French arrived and started the wine industry. Right: Denise Levy’s home kitchen Facing page: Denise Levy in her kitchen; details of Our wines are fantastic, we are her home and products very lucky here….” V

26 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 27 boats dredging anywhere else in the World’s largest the sea floor. We are world. Unique diamonds diamond fortunate that nature did are easily available here. the mining for us. Besides, you are buying from a wholesaler rather than a retailer. The world’s largest gem-quality Brilliant Experience Where are the Tourists also get back the 14 diamond at 3106.75 carats was Cape Town boasts several jewellery and diamond shops that showcase South Africa’s diamonds cut? per cent tax when they leave discovered in South Africa at the We cannot cut the small the country. Premier Mine outside Pretoria, dazzling mineral wealth. Visit one of the finest, located right in the centre of the city diamonds in South Africa in 1905. It was presented by the so these are sent to India A tip for diamond buyers? Transvaal provincial government to where the technique exists Today, diamonds are being King Edward VII who had it sent to and they are then sent back branded but these are actually Amsterdam where it was split into obsmacked even as chairs to the old kitchen area where create wealth with’. to us. We only cut diamonds that the same as unbranded ones — only nine big diamonds and 96 smaller you enter the historic an ancient well is covered underfoot. The charming Dr Petré Prins, are over a quarter of a carat. more expensive. We do not brand stones. The largest of these, called Huguenot House (circa Utensils discovered on the site, fossils, though bustling and busy, takes our diamonds, though most of the big Cullinan I or Great Star of Africa, 1752), boutique, on Loop ancient guns decorate the place. It time off to show us around and for Which are some of the unique diamonds, half-carat upwards, have an was set in the royal sceptre while Street in the heart of is charming. a quick chat…. gems that come from South international certificate. the second-largest or Cullinan II, the GCape Town, you realise that this is In the basement, we observe Africa? Lesser Star of Africa, was set in the going to be more than a jewellery- goldsmiths precisely at work. Here What is unique about South Tiger’s eye, blue lace agate. Tanzanite What are the design trends of Imperial State Crown. store experience. A 1993 restoration is located, also, the Prins & Prins African diamonds? comes only from Tanzania and is the day? Other large diamonds from of the interiors has uncovered wall Diamonds Museum of Gems and South African diamonds travel available here. Unfortunately, styles change South Africa include the Red Cross murals of the former householders Jewellery. Unambitious in scale uniquely through fire, ice, water and dramatically every five years. Modern Diamond, a canary-yellow, cushion- as gods Luna, Bacchus and Ceres, but packed with information, the wind. Volcanoes erupted millions of Why would an Indian buy communication, as well as the fact shaped diamond at 205 carats, today back on view. The walls were exhibition, Earthly Treasures And years ago bringing up the diamonds. diamonds here? that it has become easy to make (present owner unknown), and the De painted to resemble wood panelling, Human Ingenuity, is dedicated to Glaciers scoured the earth bringing First of all, while we send diamonds jewellery by machine, is responsible. Beers Diamond, a coloured diamond the ceiling fashioned of South their interaction, showing how ‘human these down. The wind and rivers to India to be cut, Indians are unable Styles are put out on the Internet and that in 1928 was set in a ceremonial African yellowwood and the floor of craftsmanship in stone and metal carried them into the sea. Most to buy them there since they are sent things become fashionable. That is the neckpiece called the Patiala Necklace, burnished teak. To offset this charming has, since prehistory, created items South African diamonds are marine back. On the other hand, you can find modern way of things. We endeavour by Cartier. room, today, are wooden, jewellery- to communicate, to beautify and to diamonds and De Beers has huge stones here that are not available to create things that will last. V display cupboards, a carved sideboard and plush sofa. No wonder, we take a breath before proceeding. Prins & Prins Diamonds is one of Cape Town’s numerous excellent diamond and jewellery stores, showcasing South Africa’s dazzling mineral wealth. You may select your diamond, tanzanite or gemstone from a large collection, choose a ready setting for a quick two-day delivery, customise your own special piece or merely browse through the private showrooms laden with ready creations. And all this in a beautiful, historic setting! As we are free to wander, we drink in the beauty of the place, walking through a tiny courtyard with vine trellis and wrought-iron

Right: interior of Prins & Prins Diamonds Facing page, bottom left: Dr Petré Prins

28 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 29 o trip to Cape Town can succeeded by Simon van der Stel be complete without who founded what would become a visit to the Cape South Africa’s second town, Simon Winelands, a 45-minute van der Stel de bos (Simon van drive from Cape Town. der Stel’s bush) later contracted NEven a quick mention of this idyllic to Stellenbosch. Van Riebeeck had A Taste of Terroir area to cityfolk brings unbidden smiles planted the first vines at the Cape Stellenbosch, South Africa’s principal wine-growing region, is awash with to instantly happy faces, probably in the Company’s Garden in Cape made of memories of holidays, Town and after the establishment breathtaking scenery, unique wine farms, remarkable cuisine, history and art relaxation, scenic beauty, great food of Stellenbosch, more vines were and, of course, fantastic wines. The planted here. In the time of King Winelands almost seem to be a Louis XIV of France, 150 Huguenots physical and psychological extension were given refuge from prosecution of Cape Town, a place to escape to, in the Cape. From 1688 they were for a meal, a day, a week…. granted land mainly in the area around The Stellenbosch wine route is Franschhoek. The Huguenots brought a circular route that leaves Cape with them an advanced knowledge of Town via the to the , viticulture, which together with the then over to Stellenbosch, up the mild weather and unique terroir, made Helshoogte Pass for panoramic views this the centre of South Africa’s and back down via wine estates en wine industry. route to the or N2. Spend a couple The town of Stellenbosch is of days in the picturesque town of situated on the banks of the Eerste Stellenbosch or escape to one of River (First River) in the midst of the wine estates that offer overnight spectacular scenery. It has been called stays. Visit several wine estates, taking Die Eikestad which means ‘city of in the atmosphere as each one is oaks’ due to its many sprawling oak different from the other, and indulge trees that line the narrow streets, in wine tastings and cellar visits. And the oldest dating back to 1812. These good food paired with great wine had been planted with hopes of is, of course, never far away. In 1971 fashioning wine barrels but the wood Stellenbosch became the first wine proved too porous and today they region in South Africa to establish a provide shade and beauty instead. wine route, an organised network of The town streets are lined with stores, wineries, along which the aficionado cafes, artist studios, restaurants, may experience the region’s famous guesthouses, hotels and public art. wines, in all seasons. The Stellenbosch Souvenir and antique shops, art Wine Routes offer a coordinated galleries and pavement cafes abound network of more than 152 wineries, on Church Street. This is a cultured each with a unique cellar door town with history, art and heritage in experience. This has been divided into evidence. A mix of architectural styles five sub-routes to make travelling on imparts a quaint look to the streets. them easier. Cape Dutch, Georgian, Regency The history of this area is closely and Victorian buildings, with stark tied with that of the early European whitewashed facades, offer variety. settlers. In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck Here too is located the prestigious established an outpost for the Dutch Stellenbosch University, a world-class East India Company on the shores institution, imparting the look of a of the . He was large village and student town rolled

Facing page: Stellenbosch Wine Route vista

30 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 31 suites, a state-of-the-art conference the award-winning lawns and garden, couple of nights to explore the area and event facility and two boardrooms all paired with the estate’s iconic from. The Lanzerac Spa is an ideal in its historic manor house. We have wine range including their unique place to relax in five-star comfort. The a wonderful lunch at the fine dining Pinotage. You could also grab fresh, Lanzerac Wine Tasting Room offers Governor’s Hall Restaurant, with its artisanal offerings from the deli for a several wine pairings and gala dinners damask tablecloth-covered tables light meal. This 155-hectare, working in the maturation cellar. ‘We’ve been Left to right: church in Stellenbosch; and silent servers. An al fresco lunch wine estate is surrounded by dramatic preparing for your arrival for over 300 beauty of the Cape Winelands is available on the shaded Terrace mountain ranges and vineyards, years’ runs their catchline and the Facing page: wine cellar and deli at Lanzerac Hotel and Spa Restaurant or a picnic-basket meal on offering an ideal venue to spend a experience proves this to be true.

Pet a cheetah

into one. And of course where there classic Cape-Dutch home, or spend These wines are complemented in This has got to be one of those life- Reluctantly leaving our cheetah is a university, there will be sport. the afternoon people watching at a some estates with restaurants serving affirming moments…. I am petting a ambassador behind, we meet the For well over a hundred years, sport pavement cafe. There is so much to do exquisite food. Many wine farms offer cheetah, up-close and personal, and Anatolian shepherd dogs that are has been closely associated with here but the main thing would be to activities like birdwatching, boule, can feel the strong purring of this part of the plan to address the Stellenbosch and its university has actually get out and about…. carriage rides, fishing, game drives, magnificent animal under my happy conflict between cheetahs and South become the country’s finest training Stellenbosch provides a horse riding, hiking trails and wine fingers. Goliath, a rather large cub, is African farmers who kill predators ground. Stellenbosch also boasts the springboard to explore the myriad drives. There are golf courses too for a hand-reared, captive-born cheetah that attack their livestock. These dogs world’s oldest rugby club. wine farms that could be a day’s the interested. and ambassador for the endangered have for centuries guarded flocks Bicycle around the shaded streets; outing or more. Explore the Winelands Here are some farm estates worth free-ranging cheetah, at the Cheetah of sheep and once trained, they are visit Oom Samie Se Winkel (Uncle and taste some of the world’s finest visiting…. Outreach project near Somerset given to farmers, ensuring that they Sam’s Shop), an ancient general store wines. The wine farms in the region West. This has been set up to can continue to make their livelihood. retaining its original look, for bokkoms range from magnificent traditional educate people about cheetahs and The funding comes from people who (dried fish) and biltong (dried meat) estates with stately manor houses, Lanzerac Hotel raise funds for initiatives to prevent visit the cheetah ambassadors, take on Dorp Street which has one of the fruit orchards, rose gardens and lawns and Spa their extinction in South Africa which photographs with them and learn longest rows of surviving old buildings to modern estates with state-of-the- Nestled in the foothills of today has 1,000 of only 7,500 in more about these powerful animals in any major town in southern Africa. art cellars. The tasting experiences Stellenbosch’s idyllic Jonkershoek the world. The cheetah, the fastest and their conservation. Visit for Wander the university campus, pay offered too are different, combining Valley and steeped in a history dating animal in the world, is heading very that photo op as well as to make a visit to the Village Museum, pop wine tasting with cheese, biltong, back to 1692, this hotel with a five-star quickly for extinction! a difference! into the Burgherhuis Museum, a chocolate and other accompaniments. rating has 48 luxurious rooms and

32 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 33 Delaire Graff Estate bistro-chic cuisine and Indochine Fashionable Visit this estate for a true-blue serves up pan-Asian fine dining while conversations luxury Winelands experience. The the team is always happy to advise on first thing that strikes me is the art private dining events. all around, starting with powerful The Delaire Graff Spa offers a Stellenbosch is not merely a town examples of Dylan Lewis’ towering panoramic retreat for rejuvenating of fine views and wines. Style icon cheetahs in the vast gardens. This is spa therapies and skin treatments like Jackie Burger has returned to her indeed a world-class art destination, the Diamond Tip Microdermabrasion, alma mater with Salon 58 which showcasing pieces of Laurence Graff’s while more active guests may visit the conducts fashion soirees inspired by (of Graff Diamonds) carefully curated gym for the latest machines and free the Parisian salon of legendary fashion collection of some of South Africa’s weights. And after all that hard work, designer Coco Chanel that she visited finest contemporary artists. The for some high-end retail therapy, visit in 2012. “In the 17th-18th century in setting is astounding: luxury lodges Graff Diamonds for sparkling gems, France, salons liberated women. This offer uninterrupted views of the 100% Capri for fine linen clothing movement became very strong and Stellenbosch Valley with sweeping and homeware and VanaShree for was grounded in the arts and culture vistas of the wine estate. The spacious handbags and accessories crafted in and became meeting places for artists, Waterford Estate light-filled lodges each come with their sustainable crocodile, ostrich, python thinkers and writers,” she says, as we We are seated on cushions in a tree- own private, heated plunge pool. and stingray leathers. meet in Stellenbosch’s oldest hotel, lined courtyard sipping bubbly at 10 The dining here is world-class with the Oude Werf Hotel. The idea of the in the morning, and listening to the green gastronomy at the heart of the pop-up salon, the context of which song of the cicadas and the Waterford cuisine. Fruits, vegetables and herbs covers beauty, fashion, food and decor, fountain, which has been immortalised are picked seasonally from the came to her after she resigned as on the Waterford wine bottle label. In estate’s greenhouse and gardens, editor of an international magazine. this, the first week of harvest, things for optimum freshness. The Delaire “Style and substance are important are busy as we take a tour of the Graff Restaurant offers its signature to me as a woman,” she says. “It is the cellars and bottling facilities. The cellar, principle of reinvention. I had come with its 1,300 imported oak barrels, is to the end of a journey knowing that unexpectedly hung with chandeliers: something new awaits.” “This room is called our cathedral,” Facing page: Waterford Estate says our guide. Wine is a religion here, Bottom left and right: Delaire Graff Estate we realise, as we set off on a wine drive in a safari-type, game-viewing Land Rover, through the vineyards on the slopes of the Helderberg. “The Waterford Way is a philosophy that celebrates prosperity, life, food, wine, family and friends and guides all that we do here at Waterford,” we are told. Nestled in the picturesque tall trees along the boundaries. Having Blaauwklippen (‘blue stone’) Valley, experienced the terroir that makes the 120-hectare property boasts these wines so inimitable, we return to orchards, citrus groves, rolling lawns, the winery, the architecture of which ponds, lavender beds as well as is inspired by the classic Bordeaux tracts left untouched, to preserve the chateaus of France, for a wine and natural fauna and flora. The idea of chocolate experience. A series of the ‘safari’ is to taste award-winning milk and dark chocolates is paired estate wines in the vineyards of their with the estate’s Shiraz, Cabernet origin, and we are expertly guided Sauvignon and Natural Sweet wines. through the aspects of what makes It is interesting to see how the notes this area so biodiverse and unique. of the wines change and resonate This is such a delightful experience, to the sweetness or bitterness of with the mountain ranges all around, the chocolate, imparting a feeling of the precision of the rows of vines, the immense well-being.

34 MARCH 2016 | VERVE | SOUTH AFRICA vervemagazine.in vervemagazine.in SOUTH AFRICA | VERVE | MARCH 2016 35 Dinner with Nocawe Lourensford Wine Estate Top to bottom: market day at Lourensford It’s Sunday morning, market day at Wine Estate the Laurensford Wine Estate. Under Facing page, clockwise from top: classical cuisine a permanent roof structure, making at the Waterkloof Wine Estate restaurant; view of vineyards from the Waterkloof Wine Estate; it an all-seasons market, a live guitar wine fermentation boosts things up while we roam jewellery stalls, taste the aromatic coffee, consider barbecue, Greek food, beer made on the premises and of course the estate’s wines and some refreshing honey liquor, even as the premises are overrun by families and pets. The manicured gardens outside feature two artists’ studios displaying original works. The estate, established in 1700 has 135 acres of quality vineyards, orchards of apples, pears and plums, and is bordered by the ranges of the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland and lies eight kilometres from the sea. The beautiful mountain slopes are covered by pine plantations, trout Nocawe is dressed in her finery for is cultivated in the streams for the dinner. Her friends and neighbours exclusive fly-fishing club, people come shout to her as we walk down from afar to stock up on their coffee the narrow streets of the black township of Kayamandi (‘nice home’ in the Xhosa language), a place that symbolises the cruel segregation of South Africa’s former apartheid regime, today a suburb of Stellenbosch. This has got to be the most breathtaking view, I am thinking. We walk past homes made of tin sheets and a bar that boasts a fridge Waterkloof Wine with a glass door. Estate Nocawe can only be proud of We are perched seemingly at the her pretty home. Her sister is the very edge of the Schapenberg chef this evening and serves us some Mountain with spectacular vistas of home-made ginger beer and local and the sea, in a glassed down by the estate’s exceptional Boutinot’s eschewing of conventional African food. We start with magwinya promontory, where the estate’s Sauvignon Blanc, perfect for this very farming methods for natural (fried bread), chicken, umngqusho signature restaurant’s French chef, hot afternoon. biodynamic farming, to produce (corn and beans), tomalo (spinach), Gregory Czarnecki, serves classical Proprietor Paul Boutinot meets fine wines with a sense of place. uthanga (pumpkin) and chakalaka cuisine with a modern French touch. us at the lunch table. “First of all, our “Our farming is based on old Indian (vegetable stew). The dessert consists He uses the freshest ingredients wines do not taste like Stellenbosch farming techniques,” he says. “We use of dumplings soaked in sugar syrup. like free-range eggs and farm-reared wines…technically we are Stellenbosch horses for ploughing and the actions The conversation is about South from their roastery or eat delicious Schapenberg lamb. The modern but we call ourselves Schapenberg that we take are determined by the Africa, India and the world and we meals at the Millhouse Kitchen interiors have a touch of the rustic and wines.” Schapenberg in Afrikaans movements of the moon and stars….” feel completely at home here, in this restaurant. Site of fabulous weddings a contemporary fireplace takes pride means ‘sheep mountain’, and these Going back to basics, however, seems hospitable family home. and international film shoots, the of place together with the open-plan animals have been reintroduced in the unreal here, in this fabulous glass property also boasts a rare polo field. kitchen. It is an excellent meal washed area to fertilise the land, as part of building on the mountainside. V

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