>> page 8

Show you care by giving responsibly

CITYVIEWSYOUR FREE CAPE TOWN CENTRAL CITY PAPER July 2011

WINTERCITY

Cape Town as a

>> page 2 >> page 4

Mother City makes World Design Capital shortlist

>> page 6&7

Great things to do when it’s chilly outside

CLEAN | SAFE | CARING

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BEST FOOT FORWARD

It’s winter in Cape Town, bring-ing with it the rain and reduced sunshine hours. But a drop in temperature doesn’t mean a

drop in activity. After all, our city had just been shortlisted, together with Bilbao and Dublin as World Design Capital 2014, an incred-ible honour – for Cape Town and the continent. This is, after all, the fi rst time an African city has been shortlisted. And there’s much work to be done. The panel of judg-es will be visiting Cape Town in late July, before making their fi nal decision and announcement in Oc-tober in Taipei. We hope that they will get to enjoy the city’s unique winter charm.

With the turn of the seasons, our thoughts also turn to those

who live through the worst of the weather. The numbers of home-less in our city swell in winter, when fl oods and fi res displace so many across the metropole. Cape Town as a business centre and economic hub naturally attracts a range of people looking for op-portunities – including the impov-erished, the homeless and foreign nationals looking for a better life. They congregate on the streets, under bridges, and where there’s high foot traffi c.

We at the CCID are heartened to hear that the City of Cape Town, under the leadership of new Ex-ecutive Mayor Patricia de Lille, is putting more money into social development and addressing the needs of those on the street, and we look forward to working with the new Mayco member for Social and Early Childhood Development Beverley Cortje-Alcock. But we can all contribute to making Cape Town a more caring, inclusive, liveable city.

New city by-laws make it illegal to sleep on the streets. There are shelters that offer alternatives, but charities and shelters need your support to ensure alternatives are adequate. Instead of giving a few rands at a traffi c light, we’re ask-ing that you Give Responsibly and give where it counts. As the CCID

we are challeng-ing businesses in the Central City to give of their time and resources to a local charity or an NGO that works with the home-less.

For more ideas on how to Give Responsibly, turn to page 8, where you can fi nd the names and contact details of charitable or-ganisations we’ve

partnered with, together with their needs. While the organisa-tions profi led there are vastly different, you’ll fi nd many of the needs at this time are the same: shoes, warm clothes, and food.

We at the CCID have already giv-en out 1000 bags containing per-sonal care items and 500 pairs of men’s shoes as part of our winter readiness programme, but these

items can only go so far. Partner with us to create a more caring city, one with opportunities and alternatives for all.

I’d welcome your thoughts and ideas on how to do this, and details of what you’re already do-ing, at info@capetownpartnership.co.za. I look forward to hearing from you.Tasso

Tasso Evangelinos is the COO of

the CCID

2 about town CityViews July 2011

FROM TASSO

Tasso

Making Cape Town amore caring winter city

Published by:The Central City Improvement

District (CCID)

For more info: Judith Browne: 021 419 1881

judith@capetownpartnership.co.za

Website: www.capetowncid.co.za

Design: Infestation021 461 8601

CITYVIEWS

Cape Town CBD, despite the heavy rains in winter, is 98% fl ood-free. How? Straatwerk are employed by the CCID to clean out over 1 200 stormwater drains so you don’t have to wade your way into work.FLOOD-FREE CBD

The Cape Town Central City Im-provement District (CCID) is a di-vision of the Cape Town Partner-ship, a collaboration of the public and private sectors, working to-gether to develop, promote and manage Cape Town’s Central City since 2000. The Cape Town Partnership and the CCID were formed when the City of Cape Town, the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA), the Cape Town Regional Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry and other stakeholders came together to address issues of ur-ban degeneration, disinvestment in the Central City and related so-cial problems. The Central City’s rapid regeneration process has been built upon the strength and pillars of successful private-pub-lic partnerships at both opera-tional and strategic levels, and a shared vision for a clean, safe and caring Cape Town CBD.

SAVE THESE NUMBERS ON YOUR PHONE

CCID Security Manager: 082 453 2942

CCID Deputy Security Manager: 082 442 2112

CCID 24-hour number: 082 415 7127

SAPS Control Room: 021 467 8002

Social Department082 563 4289

CCID in the city’s artscapeUrban and industrial landscape painter Mary Visser’s most recent exhibition, Along These City Streets, featured many of the people, places and buildings of Upper Long Street, Cape Town – including CCID cleaners.

Walk on over to www.maryvisser.co.za for more.

The City of Cape Town’s solid waste management team are handing out heavy fi nes for all waste-related offences, in accordance with new city by-laws.

If you work in the city and

generate waste, you have to have an adequate contract for its removal. Putting business waste into a street litter bin or putting rubbish bags or boxes out on the pavement will cost you a minimum

of R1000 if you’re caught. Likewise, a cigarette stompie thrown on the ground may become the most expensive smoke you’ve had – at R500 each.

Even more reason to reduce,

reuse, recycle.

Help keep your city clean:

Report illegal dumping by

calling 021 400 6157 or emailing

solidwaste.bylaw@capetown.gov.za.

STREETS

“We can all contribute to making

Cape Town a more caring, inclusive,

liveable city.”

Spot fi nes for litterbugs

1 Switch off all equipment and lights if you’re the last to leave the offi ce, as well as computers: Screensav-ers don’t save electricity

2 Switch equipment off at the wall when not in use: Standby mode still consumes electricity

3 Unplug chargers and adapters: They use electricity even when not in use

4 Photocopy in batches: Less stop-starting means less electricity consumption

5 Install energy-effi cient lightbulbs: They use signifi cantly less energy than incandescent bulbs and last much longer

6 Turn off non-essential lighting: Use daylight or task lighting instead

7 Set the thermostat between 20°C and 24°C: Setting it outside this band results only in over-cooling or over-heating, which uses excessive electricity

8 Cold? Put on more clothing rather than use a portable heater

Eight electricity-saving tips in the workplace

The CCID receives many thank you notes for good work, but this particular one from Kirsten Nortje stood out:

“I would just like to commend the CCID on the good work they are doing! I walk down Long Street every morning in the early hours when it is still quite dark and the CCID guards provide me with such a sense of safety and security! Keep up the good work!”

Thanks, Kirsten! The CCID is committed to clean, safe, caring streets – for you and all those that live, work and invest in the Central City.

SAFE

For more information, visit www.savingelectricity.org.za.

It’s winter, when the electricity bill for your building rises sharply – along with the price of electricity itself. What can you do to save on consumption and cash?

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July 2011 CityViews 3 about town

The Cape Town International Con-vention Centre (CTICC) has won the Meeting Professionals Inter-national (MPI) Recognising Indus-try Success and Excellence (RISE) Award for organisational achieve-

ment, in acknowledgement of the centre’s innovation, infl uence, global transferability and impact on complete sustainability.

CTICC is one of the few conven-tion centres around the world

that runs on a profi t, netting more than R13-million and contribut-ing about R2.3-billion to the na-tional gross domestic product last year, directly creating around 3000 jobs in the Western Cape.

“Winning the award is not just an accolade for the CTICC but for Cape Town, as it raises the global profi le of the destination as a leading business tourism desti-nation,” says Toefy.

Three panel members – Wayne van der Vent from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Gerhard van der Merwe from dhk Urban Concepts

and Rashid Toefy from the CTICC – updated a packed gathering of Central City stake-holders on their respective developments in the V&A Waterfront, Culemborg Quarter and CTICC.

The three projects, besides representing considerable investment in the Central City, are also key developments towards chang-ing the face of the city and integrating the Foreshore with the city.

The projects signify strong confi dence in the future of the Central City and surrounds, particularly in terms of high-end, mixed-use urban spaces.

The PIC, together with Growthpoint Prop-erties, recently acquired the V&A Water-front for R9.7-billion and will now begin to develop and redevelop facets of the proper-ty. Said Van der Vent, “Cape Town is a global city in Africa. It made sense to acquire an asset here.”

He called on the property development sector to propose ideas for the reshaping of the space, which will happen over the next 10 to 12 years. Addressing the divide be-tween the Central City and the Waterfront, Van der Vent said, “We want to see the Wa-terfront become more integrated with the city of Cape Town. We want to make the Wa-terfront, in the psyche of Capetonians, part of Cape Town again – a place where not only international tourists go, but local tourists and also tourists from our own city. We want them to utilise it more fully than they have to date.”

He said that the Waterfront developments would play a catalytic role in job creation in the city and surrounds.

In his presentation on the new urban re-generation project funded by the City of Cape Town, the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Cape Town Interna-tional Convention Cen-tre, Rashid Toefy said the project is due for comple-tion by the end of 2014, beginning of 2015.

Toefy said the CTICC is the only convention centre in the world that makes an operating profi t, adding that the expansion is happening in response to the boom-ing conference and expo business. The develop-ment also speaks to the increased profi le of Cape Town as a business tourism destination.

Toefy said the CTICC currently hosts 49 conferences every year, but that, to get into the global top ten of convention centres, it would have to double that fi gure. “I believe we can do that,” he said. Toefy also spoke passionately about a six-star green build-ing as an important component of the ex-pansion.

The Culemborg Quarter was the third mega-project on the agenda. While the project is at the planning and urban design stages, it is hoped that the eight-block area will become the new gateway to the city, transforming the landscape as seen from

the highway entering Cape Town Central. All the project developers spoke of the

need to ensure that their projects are in-tegrated with the CBD – with links to the integrated rapid transport system, pedes-trianised hubs and green spaces – and

sustainable. Toefy pointed out that his new devel-opment would not put further strain on the grid as it planned to generate much of its own electric-ity and water. Job creation and lower income housing were essential to the eco-nomic sustainability of all the projects.

Cape Town Central City Improvement District COO Tasso Evangelinos said that the integration of the Northern Foreshore and Waterfront areas prom-ised to further enhance

Cape Town’s profi le as the country’s premier CBD.

Said Cape Town Partnership CEO Andrew Boraine, “We have experienced very suc-cessful public-private partnerships in the city in the past and we are hoping to con-tinue this trend, with public transport and pedestrian infrastructure supporting these new developments to form an integrated, easily accessible city. We are pleased to report that the City of Cape Town is very proactive in this regard. The systems must sustain the whole as we move towards a more liveable city for its citizens and visitors.”

“We want to make the Waterfront, in the psyche of

Capetonians, part of Cape Town again – a place where not only international

tourists go, but local tourists and also tourists from our

own city.” – Wayne van der Vent

“Cape Town is open for business,” was the strong message coming out of the most recent Central City Partners’ Forum on 14 June, co-hosted by the Cape Town Partnership and the South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Foreshore and Central City development at the forefront

“Inner-city living is catching on in the Mother City – for both investors and those who see it as the ultimate place to live, work and play.” – Kathy Malherbe, Live Out Loud, June 2011

“We’d like to identify several potential creative solutions to ensure that the building remains Newspaper House, a historical Cape Town landmark, and that Independent Newspapers remain headquartered in the building.” – Guy Lundy, Accelerate Cape Town

“It’s the advice I always give young journalists – go hang out on the streets. Stories seldom come to you over the telephone … Somehow I don’t think I’m going to pick up any stories in Canal Walk or Cavendish Square.” – Tony Weaver, Cape Times

“Newspaper House, home of the Cape Argus and Cape Times, has always been regarded as a key part of the city’s heritage. We, together with other signifi cant stakeholders in the city, stand ready to assist Independent Newspapers in fi nding a creative solution that will benefi t both themselves and Cape Town.” – Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana,

Cape Town Partnership

City says “Stay”

CTICC raises the global business profi le of Cape Town

Why we want to keep Independent Newspapers in the City Centre Cape Times columnist Tony Weaver has wondered aloud how journalists will keep their fi nger on the pulse of the news far away from the heart of the city – bemoaning the impending sale of Newspaper House and the possible move of Independent Newspapers from the buzz of the Cape Town CBD to the sleepy suburbs. Cape Town Partnership and Accelerate Cape Town agree, and have lobbied for Independent Newspapers to stay – in Newspaper House if possible, given the building’s historic importance, but failing that in the economic and judicial hub of Cape Town, the City Centre.

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Speakers from the Central City Partners’ Forum at Strand Tower

Hotel

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about town 4 CityViews July 2011

centralcity

“I live in the

Branding, says Bruce Good, the founder of a new Cape Town campaign, Name

Your Hood.And brand Cape Town

neighbourhoods based on their distinct local fl air and public participation is pre-cisely what he is looking to

do. Why? “It’s about reclaiming Cape

Town. It’s about igniting com-munity pride,” says Bruce.

“The capture and labelling of a hood’s distinctive ethos … leads to a clustering ef-fect,” he explains, speaking of how those who respond to the character of an area

in turn help enhance that character: In this way, Long Street becomes even more lively, Green Point more green (take the new urban park by way of example), Heritage Square’s history more accessible.

And clear signposting makes for a more navigable

city: “At present one is forced to trawl through extensive lists of properties in the City Bowl when in fact you’re just looking for a property in a particular neighbourhood. There is a massive advan-tage for the property indus-try and those looking to sell or buy homes in each hood.”

You might not live in New York, but you might’ve heard of TriBeCa in Lower Manhattan, a district pep-pered with artists and celebrities and home to a world-famous an-nual fi lm festival. What makes the Triangle Below Canal Street any more signifi cant than Upper Long Street or Greenmarket Square?

In Diamonds are Forever (1971), 007 Sean Connery fi rst

expressed his desire to visit South Africa.

Now, thirty years later, he gets his wish: The

new James Bond novel Carte Blanche is set in Cape Town – with fi lm rights pending.

Author Jeffrey Deaver reportedly chose the Mother City because

it is “beautiful and exotic and appealing”.

Cape Town is one of three cities to be shortlisted for World Design Capital 2014, alongside Bilbao and

Dublin. It is also the fi rst in Africa to come this close to taking the prestig-ious title, awarded biennially by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) to cities that are dedicated to using design for social, cultural and economic de-velopment.

“Just as the World Cup was a coup for Africa, this is a signifi cant mo-ment for the entire continent. Being shortlisted for World Design Capi-tal 2014 is a unique opportunity to change perceptions and to position Cape Town, South Africa and Africa for the knowledge economy,” says

Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana, MD of the Cape Town Partnership, the bid’s curator on behalf of the City of Cape Town.

At a World Design Capital event in Khayelitsha on 13 June 2011, both Mayor Patricia de Lille and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille came out in strong support of the bid – empha-sising how Cape Town has already won, by using design to reconnect people and places, to rebuild com-munities, and to reposition the city for the knowledge economy.

“We are building an inclusive city, one based around fi ve pillars: the opportunity city, the safe city, the caring city, the inclusive city and the effi cient city. Design is a tool for all of these areas of building a truly in-

clusive city. It is able to inform us as to how we can best provide employment and upliftment to improve the quality of life of our citizens,” said De Lille

“Even if we don’t win, we can’t lose,” emphasised Zille, speaking nonethe-less of the “wonderful confl uence of circumstances” if Cape Town should be designated World Design Capital: “2014 marks the 20th anniversary of our democracy.”

What next? The city can expect stiff competition in the upcoming months: The ICSID judges will arrive for a site inspection in late July, and World De-sign Capital 2014 will be announced in Taipei in October. Cross fi ngers, cross thumbs, but know that, regard-less of who takes the title, Cape Town has already won.

What can you do? Support Cape Town’s

bid by writing and blogging about it,

downloading the support button from

www.capetown2014.co.za, joining the

Facebook fan page, and dreaming up

your biggest and wildest plans for 2014.

“We are building an inclusive city, one based around fi ve

pillars: the opportunity city, the safe city,

the caring city, the inclusive city and the

effi cient city. Design is a tool for all of these areas of building a

truly inclusive city. It is able to inform us as to how we can best

provide employment and upliftment to

improve the quality of life of our citizens.”

– Mayor Patricia de Lille

Cape Town shortlisted for WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL 2014

NEWS FLASH

CV Why do you choose to live in the Central City?MM I love the buzz, the en-ergy and the convenience of being in the Central City and enjoy having easy access to everything – the town, the waterfront and the highway.

CV What are some of your favourite places in Bree Street?MM I love &Union and Caveau. &Union has brilliant beer and live music. Caveau has wonderful patrons, most-ly Capetonians. The food is always evolving and tasty.

CV What do you plan to do in the Central City

this winter?MM I plan to go to cosy places like Caveau, Asoka and Fat Back Soul. Asoka is a sexy bar with sexy people and brilliant tunes all the time. Fat Back Soul is also sexy and cozy in winter.

CV What are some of the highlights of Cen-tral City Cape Town, in your view?MM I enjoy the live perform-ances, the nightlife and the fantastic restaurants.

CV What music best sums up Cape Town for you?MM Happiness by Claude Challe.

Cape Town, get ready to Name Your Hood

I live in theMzi Mbane

From Cape Townwith love

Think about what makes your particular neighbourhood, your part of the city, special – and then come up with a name that captures its character. Names can be submitted at www.nameyourhood.co.za or via pamphlets distributed throughout the city, and a panel of experts will compile a shortlist of the best and most appropriate names, on which all of Cape Town can then vote. Two neighbourhoods will be named per month, and the campaign kicks off on 4 July.

Voting will take place

online and via SMS. Watch

www.nameyourhood.co.za

for details.

Bruce Good

Cape Town Partnership’s Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana and Andrew Boraine with Mayor Patricia de Lille and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille

Mzi Mbane is a marketer for a cosmetics house and lives in what he describes as “rustic but chic New York-style loft apart-ment” in Bree Street. City Views caught a few minutes of his time

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

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July 2011 CityViews 5 about town

Fired up at Freeworld Design Centre

“I love cities in winter. You can see the buildings, as all the trees are stripped bare, and cities are more affordable and real.” – Neil Stemmet

CV What’s happening at the Freeworld Design Centre? LS The Freeworld Design Centre is a marvellous resource for Cape Town. Its auditorium and rooftop venues have been used for a number of exciting events that contribute to the cultural life of the city. Just this week alone we’ve had a TV and magazine shoot, a debate about modern development versus heritage preservation, a gala event for two international speakers on architecture, and a discussion around the future of the Fan Walk. The Freeworld Design Cen-tre also offers an excellent colour consulting service to the trade and houses South Africa’s only dedicated gallery space for the promotion of interior design.

CV The centre backs onto some fairly historic build-ings – the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Dutch Embassy, the Gold Mu-seum. Does the design of your centre speak to this heritage?LS Yes, very much so. If you recall what was there before, it

was an ugly facebrick build-ing – the Cape Waters Hotel – that totally obscured the vestry of the church. Our ar-chitect opened up the whole existing structure with glass, demolished exist-ing structures in the courtyard like toilet blocks and stairwells, removed the clutter of garbage bins, and upgraded the courtyard into a space that the public can now visit and admire. We love the fact that all this history, which was previously hidden and inac-cessible, has been opened up for people to appreciate.

CV How is Cape Town beginning to apply design intelligently to the urban landscape?LS It is incredible to see the

inner-city rejuvenation that is happening in our street. I love the Prestwich Memorial and the public space surrounding it. It has been handled both sensitively and beautifully, and I would really like to see more spaces like this in the city.

CV What’s your favourite winter activity in the city?LS Catching rainbows. Seriously! I have just started photographing them and hotfrogging the images to the Freeworld Design Centre’s twitter feed, #FreeworldDC. Rain-bows are the ultimate, gobsmack-ing, jaw-dropping lesson from nature about the colour spectrum.

CV Any local creatives that are capturing your attention at this moment?TL I love how new de-

signer stores are popping

“We have become a living, breathing, world-class inner city. Hallelujah!”

– Neil Stemmet

The Freeworld Design Centre

on the Fan Walk, which offers design

consultation services to the

industry, was only launched in March

this year, yet is already a hive of creative energy. Director Lauren

Shantall spoke to City Views about the

signifi cance of the centre.

The courtyard at Freeworld

Design Centre

Lauren Shantall

Freeworld Design Centre will be hosting a Women’s Day event on 4 August, at which they’ll be unveiling a Rock Girl bench, promoting Safe Spaces for women. Mayor Patricia De Lille will be speaking, the new interior design exhibition Spring Break will be launched, and soccer balls designed by acclaimed creatives like Zapiro, Skinny laMinx and Lauren Beukes will be auctioned. Be there!

Freeworld Design Centre

71 Waterkant St

T: 021 427 8918

www.freeworlddesigncentre.com

EXHIBITION

Openness to Explore is a winter décor exhibition on at the Freeworld Design Centre until the end of July 2011. City Views spoke to some of the creatives behind the inspiring design concepts.

Tracy Lynch

Neil Stemmet

Safe Spaces for women at Freeworld Design Centre

up all over Woodstock and the City Centre. Pedersen + Lennard are truly inspiring, with fl atpack furniture and reconditioned bicycles be-ing their focus, as well as a

CV You moved your showroom into the city centre, from Woodstock to Wale Street. Why? LM Woodstock is wonder-ful, but I needed to move to slightly larger premises and also wanted to be closer to my clientele, who mainly operate from the City Centre. It’s wonderful here. The energy is great and I love being so close to everything.

CV Tell us more about the Bacchus Chair fea-tured in your pod. LM My Bacchus Chair is manufactured from the

wonderful coffee shop and showroom called the Field Offi ce.

CV You’ve said that design is the response of an open mind to op-portunity. Could you then say that Cape Town is full of open minds AND opportu-nity? TL Yes, absolutely! Capeto-

nians are wonderful crea-tives and very resourceful. We have a unique mix of cultures and I fi nd that expressed on the street in the way people dress, in the way street vendors make items from discarded waste and trendy areas are fi lled with designer boutiques and new galleries.

CV What do you think Cape Town can learn from its past as inspi-ration for its future? NS Look at the Company’s Garden, the Bo-Kaap, the beautiful Koopmans-De Wet Huis, Iziko National Gallery, Mount Nelson, Long Street, Kirstenbosch, Rhodes Memorial – all visual relics of the past. People travel to experi-ence a new country in all forms: food, music, archi-tecture, heritage, gardens. Update, yes, but always stay true to Mother Cape Town.

CV Where does winter fi nd you in the city? NS In bed working on my laptop, or catching a movie at the Labia, or coffee at one of the many inner-city coffee houses – I think we should support them more. We really have wonderful spaces to escape to and we should support them. We have become a living, breath-ing, world-class inner city. Hallelujah!

Liam Mooney

staves of a single wine barrel. As we live in wine country, getting my hands on these barrels isn’t very diffi cult. What is diffi cult is seeing 200-year-old French oak being hacked in two and used for pot plants. I was convinced there was a new way to use the staves. The Bacchus Chair is part of my range that only uses micro in-dustries. The micro crafts-men in our country very often work in techniques and use materials that are unique to Southern Africa, so it’s about being creative with the materials around us and encouraging manufactur-ers to continue working in traditional methods.

CV The theme of the exhibition is Open-ness to Explore – which parts of Cape Town do you think should be explored more?LM It may sound strange, but African curio shops (of which the inner city has plenty) are interest-ing to me at the moment... They’re a hotbed of inspiration.Neil Stemmet’s pod

Liam Mooney’s pod and Bacchus Chair

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can grow tourism, steer development in upcoming design-ers, grow the com-mercial viability of the fashion sector and highlight new trends such as “sus-tainable luxury”.

With the support of the Cape Town Fash-ion Council, SA Tourism and Cape Town Tourism, AFI have invited selected design powerhouses to present their Summer 2011/12 collections – the impressive line-up includes Thula Sindi, Stefania Morland, Leigh Schubert, Abigail Betz, Gavin Rajah and David Tlale. Other designers invited to showcase their collections are Danielle Margaux, Doreen Southwood, Habits, Un-dacova, Dax Martin, Lisp, Nucleus, Lalesso, Tart, Michelle Ludek, House of Monatic, Fa-biani and Strato.

Cape Town Fashion Week

Cape Town International Convention Centre

13 to 16 July 2011

www.afi sa.co.za

For trendspotters, the highlight of Cape Town’s winter events schedule is undoubtedly Cape Town Fashion Week (CTFW), which takes place

from 13 to 16 July 2011 at the CTICC. This year, apart from dishing up a healthy

serving of glamour, Cape Town Fashion Week means business. In a fi rst for South African fashion, organisers African Fashion International (AFI) have partnered with SA Tourism to develop tourism through fashion. AFI sees fashion as a business platform that

Cape Town Fashion Week

Get your fashion fi x from 13 to 16 July when Cape Town

Fashion Week comes to the CTICC

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1. Swim at the Long Street bathsThis original bathhouse, dating back to 1908, is an old world ex-perience with modern conven-ience – the 25m pool is heated, and the baths are open between 07h00 and 19h00 throughout winter, meaning you can fi t in a 45-minute swim before or af-ter work, or even during lunch. When City Views last checked, the lanes were full of winter swimmers … but take time be-fore you take the plunge to read the rules, which forbid “animals, running, pushing, ducking, pet-ting, pushing, bombing, shouting, horseplay, infl atable mattresses, playing of radios and prepara-tion of food”. When you’re done, wander into any good Long Street café, whether to warm up or cool off.

Long Street Baths

Cnr Long & Orange Street

T: 021 400 3302

6 special focus CityViews July 2011

South African playwright Athol Fugard was honoured with a Tony Lifetime Achievement Award in New York last month, alongside two graduates of the Michaelis School of Fine Art in the Central City, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, of the Handspring Puppet Company.

In keeping with such award-winning company, the Fugard Theatre is showing silver screen classics almost every night until 16 July, including Brokeback Mountain and All the President’s Men. Screenings will start at 20h00 every night, with hot soup, fresh garlic bread, Thelema Wines and a warm atmosphere awaiting you from 19h00. Tickets are R40 each, and bookings can be made on www.computicket.com or by phoning the box offi ce directly.

The Fugard Theatre

Cnr Caledon & Lower Buitenkant

T: 021 461 4554

www.thefugard.com

Fugard receives a Tony Lifetime Achievement Award

Winter in the Mother City has its own charm… and this July there’s ample to keep you occupied.

Here are eight great reasons to get going.

1

2

8 GREAT REASONS TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE THIS WINTER

3

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2. Lunch at the Fabulous French Friday MarketEvery Friday between 10h00 and 14h00, a little market magic trans-forms the Alliance Française in Loop Street. Run by Suzanne Himely – a champion of the subtleties and histo-ry of French food – the market sells a large range of French products, from pâtés and rillettes to mustards, vin-

egars, cheeses and breads. Foodies who have discovered this marvel-lous market range from students who buy 50g of cheese to fi ne dining restaurants who buy kilos of it.

Alliance Française

155 Loop Street

T: 083 300 6725

3. Take the kids to the topTake advantage of Table Mountain Cableway’s Kidz Season, when two children ride the cableway for free when an adult return ticket is pur-chased. Included is a treasure hunt and a special offer on pizza and hot chocolate at Table Mountain Café. Kidz Season, which ends on 30 Oc-tober, applies on weekends, public holidays and during the school holidays, and a special entertain-ment programme for kids will run during school holidays. The cable-way operates weather permitting.

Table Mountain Cableway

T: 021 424 8181

www.tablemountain.net

4. Make timewith TretchikoffDon’t miss the retrospective exhi-bition of controversial self-taught artist Vladimir Tretchikoff (nick-named the “King of Kitsch”) at the Iziko South African National Gallery, which runs until 25 Sep-tember. Tretchikoff might have been maligned by members of the established arts community, but he was a fi rm favourite amongst many South Africans, and spent much of his life living and working in Cape Town. The exhibition, enti-

July 2011 CityViews 7 special focus

FOCUS ON CV What direction is Stra-to’s Cape Town Fashion Week range going to take?MM Strato will launch Summer 2011 at Cape Town Fashion Week with bright colours and contrast trims on structured, fresh sil-houettes. The collection shows a sporty replay of French Riviera, with some highlights of grey denim.

CV Why did you choose the Cape Town Station as the site for your Strato store?MM Accessibility ... it’s the only place everybody goes through to get in and out of the city.

CV What was your biggest career break to date?MM Opening the store in May has been a highlight.

CV What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?MM Ambition, hard work and consistency.

CV Where does the Strato name come from?MM It’s South African slang for “street”.

CV What about the Cape Town CBD inspires you?MM The diversity of the people walking about the city.

CV Who are your favourite Cape Town designers?MM Darkie, Stiaan Louw, Tart, Craig Native.

CV Describe your style.MM I maintain a colourful street-urban lifestyle.

CV Who are your customers?MM Trendy urban youth.

CV What are your favourite hangout spots in the CBD?MM My store, plus Deluxe in Long Street, Cappello in Riebeeck Street, the Executive Club at the Westin Grand Hotel and Cubaña in Green Point.

CV Where do you shop in the CBD?MM I don’t shop for clothes, I make them.

CV What are you listening to?MM Deep House Sounds Vol. 8 mixed by Vinny da Vinci.

City Views caught up with Maloti Mothobi, Cape Town Fashion Week

designer, entrepreneur and owner of Strato, a new fashion store on the Cape

Town Station deck in Strand Street.

Kloof Street with two screens. Watch out for movies screened by the group While You Were Sleep-ing, a Cape Town-based non-profi t collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream doc-umentary fi lms with important so-cial and environmental messages to audiences in South Africa.

The Labia

68 Orange Street

T: 021 424 5927

www.labia.co.za

6. Get cooking at the Chefs WarehouseBook yourself into a cooking class – and what better place to go than the Easy Entertaining Evenings course offered by celebrated Cen-tral City chef Liam Tomlin of the Chefs Warehouse. The Chefs Ware-house, which opened about seven months ago, is a treat for any cook, aspiring or otherwise. Not only does it sell a range of goods asso-

ciated with cooking, it also stocks top ingredients (the stuff you see in cookery books but cannot fi nd in stores – like dried porcini, gela-tine, truffl e vinegar, vanilla beans and Iranian saffron) and doubles up as a cookery school, regularly featuring some of Cape Town’s top chefs as guest teachers. Check out the designer chopping boards, the Egyptian cotton uniforms and the custom-designed mise en place table (which literally translates as “putting in place”, with space for everything needed by a cook). And if you want to get your knives sharpened, a professional sharp-ener comes in every Monday. Liam Tomlin, originally from Ireland, has lived in South Africa for six years. He’s one of those people who came on holiday, loved it, and decided to stay. The Easy Entertaining Eve-nings course will be held over fi ve evenings and aims to show you how to put a quick meal together and make entertaining easier. The next course kicks off on Thursday, 4 August at 18h00.

Liam Tomlin’s Chefs Warehouse

50 New Church Street

T: 021 422 0128

www.chefswarehouse.co.za

7. Visit the South African Jewish MuseumThe museum’s architecture alone will make the visit worth it, for the skill with which it has assimi-lated the Old Synagogue into the complex. South Africa’s fi rst syna-gogue was built in Cape Town in 1863, but, by 1905, the growing Jewish congregation needed some-thing larger. The Gardens Shul was then built next door and, in 1958, the Old Synagogue was converted into the Old Jewish Museum of

South Africa. In 1996, a larger building was erected, bringing into being the South African Jewish Mu-seum. Exhibits include paintings by Irma Stern, a study of human rights activist Helen Suzman, and Japanese art collected by the Isaac Kaplannet. A highlight of the mu-seum is a display of a reconstructed shtetl, the Yiddish word for village.

South African Jewish Museum

88 Hatfi eld Street

T: 021 465 1546

www.sajewishmuseum.co.za

8. Grab after-dinner drinksRelative newcomer to the Central City, Fat Back Soul, is upmarket yet unpretentious, retro-cool, and reportedly a hang-out spot for an international celebrity or two. It is small and intimate, no cameras are allowed in, and by the look and the feel, you might be anywhere once inside – Los Angeles, New York or London. If soul classics are your style, then this is the place for you.

Fat Back Soul

289 Long Street

T: 021 422 4086

www.fatbacksoul.com

tled The People’s Painter, was cu-rated by Andrew Lamprecht and contains a range of unpublished works as well as reproductions of many of Tretchikoff’s most popu-lar paintings. Tickets are R20 and under, and the gallery is open daily between 10h00 and 17h00.

Iziko South African National Gallery

Government Ave, Company’s Garden

T: 021 400 3065

www.iziko.org.za

5. Have a look-see at the LabiaPlace your order for a steaming cup of Milo and take in an arty movie at that wonderful inde-pendent movie house, the Labia. It’s well worth a visit just for being the oldest independent art-reper-tory cinema in South Africa and for the fact that the original build-ing was once an Italian embassy ballroom. The theatre has two locations: the original 68 Orange Street location with four screens and the Lifestyle Centre at 50

4

6

CV What have been your most signifi cant career milestones?MM Starting a business from nothing as well as the ability to have conceptualised a sim-ple idea and developed it into an amazing brand.

CV Which Capetonians do you admire?MM Those that have left com-fortable jobs and followed their dreams – it’s those that live for a living and those that are in constant pursuit of a better life.

CV Where do you see Strato in fi ve years?MM In a path of progression, across South Africa, Africa and the world.

CV If you weren’t a fashion designer, what would you be?MM A DJ. Music is life.

Strato

19 Strand Street

T: 021 447 7337

www.wearstrato.com

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, Mut

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8

Before being elected, Mayor Patricia De Lille pledged to put homeless-ness high on her agenda,

outlining a six-point programme to “build a caring city in which everyone who needs help receives it and an inclusive city where eve-ryone has a stake in the future”. This programme included a one-stop assessment centre to help people get access to necessary service and expanding and reori-enting the Displaced Persons Unit (DPU) to a social development response before law enforcement enters the picture.

Now that she’s been inaugurated as mayor, she’s included a new portfolio – for social and early childhood development – in her mayoral committee and appointed Beverley Cortje-Alcock at its head. The City of Cape Town budget has been approved, and this portfolio, together with economic develop-ment, is to receive approximately R300-million. Furthermore, from

R25-million available from rates income, De Lille has allocated an additional R2-million to help the city’s homeless, emphasising, “Only by helping the most vulner-able can we speak of a city that is truly inclusive and cares for all.”

While more specifi c plans for allocated resources might take time, winter has already arrived, and with it the increased risk of fi res and fl oods in the metropolis – meaning more homeless and desti-tute people. In anticipation of this increased need during the coming months, the Central City Improve-ment District has distributed 1 000 care bags – containing per-sonal care items such as soap, deo-dorant, toothpaste, a toothbrush and a facecloth, together with a winter beanie and socks – and 500 pairs of men’s shoes, to local charities who work specifi cally with the homeless and the desti-tute in the city.

Says Tasso Evangelinos, COO of the CCID, “The CCID’s social de-velopment arm works with the homeless year-round, but winter is a particularly hard time to be on the streets. We’re challenging businesses in the Central City to follow our lead and to give respon-sibly – by giving of their time and resources to a local charity. It’s important that everyone works to-gether to make Cape Town a more caring and inclusive city.”

Dine out to donate: Add a Street-Smart donation onto your restaurant billIt’s hardest not to give to those in need when you’ve just enjoyed a hearty meal yourself, but Street-Smart has a solution: They’ve part-nered with city restaurants to add a minimum donation of R5 to your bill. Donations go to reintegration, education and skills training ini-tiatives for street kids. From 18 to 24 July, furthermore, they’re run-ning a Winter Restaurant Week. Participating Central City estab-lishments include 6 Spin Street, Aubergine, Fork, Frieda’s on Bree and Savoy Cabbage.

StreetSmart

Cnr Buitengracht & Riebeeck Street

T: 021 418 0621

www.streetsmartsa.org.za

8 CityViews July 2011around town

18 July is Mandela Day. What are you doing with your 67 minutes – in honour of Mandela’s 67 years committed to social justice – to inspire change in your community?

CARING WINTER CITY

HOMELESSNESS high on city agenda

Give ResponsiblyWhere homelessness remains a reality in city centres around the world, and Cape Town is no different, what can you do?

“Only by helping the most

vulnerable can we speak of a city that

is truly inclusive and cares for all.”

– Mayor Patricia de Lille

“We’re challenging businesses in

the Central City to follow our

lead and to give responsibly – by

giving of their time and resources

to a local charity or shelter. It’s

important that everyone works

together to make Cape Town a

more caring and inclusive city.” – Tasso Evangelinos

INSPIRING

THE CITY

The CCID donated 500 pairs of men’s shoes to shelters

across the city

Give a helping hand up, not a hand out. Giving a few rands here and there might help soothe your conscience, but did you stop to think you might be condemning someone to perpetual life on the street? There are various initiatives in place and a number of organisations working to provide alternatives to those who need it. Channel your donation effectively and help break the cycle of poverty and dependency.

So, what do I give? Many city NGOs are in need of shoes and clothes this winter. Here are the details.

The Ark gives temporary

refuge to those in need. To continue doing this, they need maize meal, soup mix, blankets, warm socks, and cement and roofi ng sheets for the completion of their dining room. They also need help fi nishing their website.

5 Old Faure Road,

Eersterivier

T: 021 843 3927

www.theark.org.za

The Carpenter’s Shop provides rehabilitation services and skills training for adults. They urgently need warm clothing for men in particular (pants sized 28 to 32, shoes sized 5 to 10, as well as jackets

and caps), clothing for women (clothes sized 28 to 34, shoes sized 3 to 6) as well as computers. Clients of theirs also need sponsorship for their studies.

14A Roeland St

T: 021 461 5508

www.tcs.org.za

Catholic Welfare andDevelopment puts together crisis relief basins in winter, for families made homeless through fi res and fl oods. They need blankets, soap and tinned food to put in these basins before they are distributed.

37A Somerset Road

T: 021 425 2095

www.cwd.org.za

The CommunityChest has launched its Keep Cape Town Warm campaign, to help provide emergency relief to those who experience the worst of the weather across the Western Cape. Donations of blankets, warm clothing and non-perishable food can be made at any Absa branch, the SABC studios in Sea Point, or the Community Chest offi ces at 82 Bree Street.

82 Bree Street

T: 021 424 3344

www.comchest.org.za

The Haven helps get the homeless home. They are in need of men’s clothing – socks, shoes, pants and beanies – and jackets

and jerseys for men and women, as well as tinned food and ingredients for soup.

2 Napier Street,

Green Point

T: 021 425 4700

www.haven.org.za

The Homestead provides residential care and family integration for boys. They’re in need of long pants and warm tops (sizes 9/10 to medium) and shoes (sizes 3 to 8) for their boys, and well as a general handyman who is willing to give of their time and expertise.

150 Strand Street

T: 021 419 9763

www.homestead.org.za

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, Mut

i

Wendren Setzer, a Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) graduate, didn’t think

much of corporate life, so she started her own business – mak-ing bags. And hasn’t looked back since.

Her bags – handbags, totes, purses, pouches, sling bags, shop-pers and laptop bags – are made out of grain sacks and linen, with laptop bags made out of discarded cement packaging. They are sold online at www.etsy.com (an on-line shop for people who produce handmade goods) and can be found in select stores, such as The Fringe Arts in Kloof Street and the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. She also exports to Sweden, the UK and Germany.

A graduate in textile design (and now a lecturer in design foun-dation, also at CPUT), Wendren ascribes a large chunk of her en-trepreneurial success to the skills she learnt there: “At CPUT, I learnt a different way of thinking – that design is not just about creativity but how you ask questions and how you fi nd answers. I learnt that skills can be temporary – for instance, painting for design is now generally computer gener-ated – but the way you think and approach things is timeless. If you know how to think, you can adapt.”

Wendren grew up in Botswana, Namibia and Mauritius and has lived in Cape Town since 1997. After completing her four-year de-sign diploma (with a distinction) she took up a position as a design-er in the corporate world.

“It didn’t work out. There was not much space for creativity. I realised I wanted to go out on my own and be creative.” At the time, she was looking for a new bag that was “special, simple and practical” and couldn’t fi nd one she liked.

“So I decided to make one ... ”It wasn’t long before she was

taking orders, and had to call in the help of two independent local seamstresses.

Asked what drives her, she says, “Finding new materials of natural origin, both obviously beautiful and not, then fi nding ways to chal-lenge the perceptions held by peo-ple about the boundaries of these materials.”

Wendren is a regular blogger – about her journey as an entre-preneur and about the inspiration she fi nds along the way. She also loves lecturing at CPUT, saying it allows “time out” while

still allowing her to be involved in the design-thinking process. As for time off, she enjoys the cup-cakes at Charly’s Bakery, walking up and down Long Street and the surrounding side streets, and is a regular at Café Royale and the Book Lounge.

Wendren considers herself a big fan of the Central City and The Fringe, for the creative potential evident in both: “Young design-ers with an idea, talent and pas-sion are opening shops. They start small and they are growing. I love recognising the names and know-ing how they, like me, started off.”

For more information about the

WREN design, see www.thewren

design.com.

July 2011 CityViews 9 from the fringe

Creative Wendren has it IN THE BAG

One of the many places delighting visitors to Cape Town’s innovation

district – The Fringe – is Oh! Café et Gourmandises (which translates as “Oh! Coffee and Tasty Treats”).

The café, which was estab-lished late last year to service the clubbing crowd, started off by opening only on Friday and Saturday nights – and oc-casionally on Wednesdays – from 20h00 until about 04h00.

More recently, the café has been opening in the mornings until after lunch, from Mon-day to Friday.

Oh! Café is the brainchild of French-born Stephane Gi-bourdel, who works as an assistant director in the fi lm industry, and casting director Rae Goodwin.

Rae says the concept of the café was to create a sensual “1958 Paris street kiosk” ex-perience.

The café plays retro French music, has French-speaking staff and features French cook-ing, as well as fabulous coffee and shakes, prepared by Con-golese barista George Tamfuri.

Asked what prompted her to open the café, Rae says, “I bought the building in 2001 to house my casting studio. De-spite the fact that it was a bit of a rundown neighbourhood at the time, I fell in love with the area. I renovated, included

a swimming pool and moved into the apartment above the studio with my two kids.”

“Over the years, with the re-markable input by the Central City Improvement District chaps, the neighbourhood has become quite abuzz.”

On living in the fast-revi-talising Fringe district, Rae says, “I’ve always been drawn to this area. The Diaz Tavern is an old favourite of mine –

I actually spotted the ‘for sale’ sign on my building from their window. Charly’s Bakery makes the world’s best lamb pies and The Assembly rocks.”

Oh! Café

46 Harrington Street

Oh! It’s a treat!

Oh! Café started by serving the clubbing crowd – but is now

open in the mornings, Monday to Friday

“With the remarkable input

by the Central City Improvement District chaps, the

neighbourhood has become quite abuzz.”

– Rae Goodwin

Goematronics, a national remix competition held in conjunction with BPM magazine, Mutha FM, Creative Cape Town and African Dope Records, is launching 1 July 2011 and prizes over R40 000 in value are up for grabs, including Red Bull Studio time and studio software Cakewalk from Paul Bothner Music.

To enter, create your own track of new music drawing on Cape Town’s musical legacy, goema. (You can create your own samples or draw from those on SoundCloud.)

Competition closes on 28 August 2011 and winners will be announced

during Creative Week Cape Town. See www.goematronics.co.za for more

information.

COMPETITION

DESIGN INNOVATION

Wendren Setzer

Phot

o: R

icha

rd A

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, Mut

i

Get mixing it’s Goematronics

Phot

os: R

icar

do v

an L

inge

n an

d M

ike

Thom

son

(art

ist)

“At CPUT, I learnt a different way

of thinking – that design is not just about creativity, but how you ask

questions and how you fi nd answers.”

– Wendren Setzer

10 on the town CityViews July 2011

Twin sisters Jesse and Jamie Friedberg are turning heads in Loop Street with their luxury café, Skinny Legs &

All. The former site of the João Fer-reira Art Gallery, Skinny Legs & All opened in April – and the sisters say business has been steady, with an excellent return rate.

Big on atmosphere, the café has retained the gallery feel by continu-ing to feature works on loan from Ferreira – who has moved to Hout Street – and display Art Deco ob-jects and art books.

When City Views visited the fi rst time, works by Beezy Bailey stood side by side on one wall, while books on the likes of Marlene Du-mas and Robert Hodgins graced the shelves alongside an old LP record player and some LPs. (“Our parents sent them down. We have a good se-lection of James Taylor, Carole King, Janis Ian, Paul Simon, Bread, Simon and Garfunkel … ”)

The sisters, who grew up in Jo-

hannesburg, took up their under-graduate studies at the University of Cape Town and fell in love with the city.

“We’ve always wanted to have our own café, to spend our days involved in intimate conversations revolving around food. When this spot, with its pressed ceiling and wonderful sense of space, became available, we snatched the opportu-nity,” they say.

“We wanted to create a place where the design is timeless and the quality of our dishes shines – real food, unadulterated and una-dorned. Here, the boundaries be-tween kitchen, counter and dining area are blurred.”

The name of the restaurant has a literary reference: “Tom Robbins’ novel Skinny Legs and All is one of our favourites. We like the feeling the name evokes of a quirky, street element – a fi tting title for the axis around which spins a fun-loving, alarmingly provocative, yet tasty,

culinary experience.” Jamie is in charge of the food,

while Jesse operates as coffee ba-rista and manages the fl oor. The lunch menu features a range of sal-ads and sandwiches, main courses like Franschhoek trout, charred

lemon and rosemary chicken and Moroccan-styled meatballs, while the soup changes daily.

Drinks include lime, grapefruit

and ginger juice; homemade lemon-ade; a green shake and a raw choco-late shake – as well as a warmed cup of almond or sesame milk.

Asked to describe their philoso-phy on food, they say, “In our food preparation, simplicity is key – allowing the honest fl avours to simply be. Our food resonates after-wards.”

Their favourite ingredients are extra virgin olive oil, Maldon sea salt, blackstrap molasses and thick Greek yoghurt.

As for experiencing the Central City, the twins are hooked. “The hustle and bustle is contagious and the colourful characters make for good company,” says Jesse, who lives on top of the Eastern Food Bazaar, between Longmarket and Darling streets, and cycles to the restaurant every day.

70 Loop Street

T: 021 423 5403

www.skinnylegsandall.co.za

Skinny Legs & All, these girls are going to make it!

Roast fi gs, goats’ cheese, crispy Parma ham and rocket salad

4 large ripe fi gs 50g goats’ cheese 4 slices Parma ham 30ml red wine vinegar 50ml olive oil 10g pine nuts Baby rocket salad

Method:Cut the tops off the fi gs. Stuff with the goats’ cheese and season with black pepper. Wrap each slice of Parma ham around the stuffed fi g. Cook in the oven at 180°C for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the Parma ham crisps. Deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar. Strain this liquid, add the olive oil for the dressing, and season well. Toss the dressing over the baby rocket and pine nuts. Top the rocket salad with the warmed fi g.

Hot on the heels of his New Orleans-styled Down South Food Bar at 267 Long Street, renowned Central City chef Giorgio Nava has opened the Down South Pie Bar right next door. This brings to six Nava’s tally of food outlets in and around Cape Town – four of which are in the Central City.

Award-winning French chef Laurent Des-landes opened

his restaurant, Bizerca, on the Foreshore in late 2007 and has already built up a dedicated clientele.

CV Where does the name Bizerca come from?LD When my South African wife Cyrillia and I moved to South Africa after living for 17 years in France and Australia, our friends told us we were “bizerca” (berserk). We kept the name – if only to show them how our move has paid off!

CV Who comes to Bizerca?LD Regular customers from all over. When we opened, we thought nobody would come here at night, but we’re full virtually every night. Business people come for lunch. For dinner, we see more couples and families. We know many of our clients

by name and many of them have become part of the Bizerca family.

CV What’s on the menu?LD Our basic cuisine is French. We have a small main menu and a black-board with daily specials. The menu could feature anything from braised pig trotters with seared scallops to homemade sausage or Karoo lamb stew – and a range of desserts like apple sorbet. We use a lot of vegeta-bles and fi sh, fresh from the sea. I call my fi shmonger every morning and he tells me what he has. We’re so

lucky because we can easily fi nd beautiful rabbit, duck, buffalo and the best qual-ity meats and vegetables throughout the year.

CV Do people feel safe coming to the Central City at night?LD I believe they do. It’s wonderful here at night. The hotels around us buzz with activity, we have beautiful lights in the square, and we look out on artist Ralph Borland’s ghost shark sculp-tures.

CV What brought you to the Central City?LD There were very few stand-alone restaurants in the Central City when we fi rst opened. The Central City needed good restau-rants. That’s why I came here! We’ve been busy from the fi rst day we opened.

CV What can Cape Town’s Central City learn from other cities?LD Sydney has a far more

active CBD than Cape Town. I would love to see our Central City become more active. In Sydney, as well as Paris, where I lived for 17 years, you get beautiful res-taurants where the owner is a chef, so they cook and host. It’s a wonderful concept.

CV What’s your philoso-phy on food?LD I believe a chef should enjoy every day at work. We should take pleasure in cooking. That way we bring pleasure to our customers.

CV What are some of your favourite ingredi-ents as a chef?LD I love fi gs. I also love working with ginger and lemongrass. This probably sounds funny for a French restaurant – but they are wonderful ingredients and not too strong to overpower the French cuisine.

14 Jetty Street, Foreshore

T: 021 418 0001

www.bizerca.com

“When we opened, we

thought nobody would come here at night, but we’re full virtually every

night.” – Laurent Deslandes

Jesse and Jamie Friedberg are hooked on the “hustle and bustle” of the Central City

Great Chefsof the Central City, Cape Town

RESTAURANT

Phot

o: S

uppl

ied

by S

JM A

rchi

tect

s.

A series featuring chefs who are doing great things in the Central City. Laurent Deslandes, Bizerca Bistro

Phot

os: A

dria

an L

ouw

Ladies, does this sound familiar: You’ve seen a picture of your mother, dat-

ing back to way back when. She’s young and dressed to kill in a jacket and boots that you would give anything to have in your wardrobe right now. But … she didn’t keep it for you.

Help is at hand – in the form of a new store in town, Afraid of Mice. Run by sisters Bianca and Simone Brandi, the store brings yet another burst of energy to the much-loved Long Street.

“We always dreamed of having our own store in Long Street. But not just any space. It had to be just right,” said Bianca in an interview with City Views. “It took us a year of shop-hunting joys and sor-rows until we fi nally found

the shop we wanted to call our own.”

Afraid of Mice has been raising the eyebrows of trendsetters and hipsters since it fi rst opened its doors in the Runwell Building, Woodstock, in February last year. One year later, the sis-ters decided it was time to move – from a studio to a

shop with dedicated trading hours and higher foot traffi c.

Stocked with all the clothes you wish your mother had kept for you, sourced ahead of season to keep up with current trends and runway styles, the shop doesn’t feel second-hand or second-rate. It’s not cluttered or dusty, with overstocked rails, and

you don’t have to battle to fi nd your dream dress. The sisters have done all the hard work for you.

“Women have realised the

11 on the town July 2011 CityViews

VINTAGE STORE, AFRAID OF MICE, OPENS IN LONG STREET

A STREET AT A TIME

We operate from 210 Long Street, and I chose to work in Long Street because

I want to be at the heart of the ac-tion. I’ve always thought of myself as a traveller – but, when I fi rst ar-rived in Cape Town in 1999, I put down my bags, looked around and said, “I’m home.”

Cape Town activates all parts of a person – the social development, business, creative and artistic sides as well as the wine-drinking and living well sides. South Africa is a stunning country. In 1999 there was this feeling of a “glass half-empty”, since then it has changed to a “glass half-full”.

I love the bits of trivia which con-tinually emerge about this city. For instance, if you turn off Long Street and walk up a little into Bloem Street, there’s a row of metal tubes that have been constructed on the side of the building. Run your pen

along them and you’ll hear the fi rst line of the song Mannenberg by Abdullah Ibrahim. I love it! Did you know that the original name of Long Street was Olifant Street? Go to the building called Langham

House in Long Street, opposite On Broadway. There’s a placard ex-plaining.

My favourite part of Long Street is from Fork restaurant upwards. There you can fi nd some of my favourite spots – there are too many to mention – and I frequent all of them! There’s Fork, Cape to Cuba, Lola’s, Long Street Café and Maremoto … Fork epitomises life in Cape Town. I go there with friends for the pieces of kudu fi llet, the pancetta-wrapped prawns and the other delicious tapas treats – and generally fi nd that before we know it, it’s midnight.

That’s when we make our way to places like the bar at the back of Cape to Cuba. Nobody knows about it. Or to the Julep Bar – another gem of the Cape Town Central City, just off Long Street in Vredenburg Lane. Or to Fatback Soul, which has such an easy-going vibe, it feels as if you are at a spontaneous house party thrown by a friend. There’s also Ra-gazzi, the bar for trendsetters who don’t want to be trendsetters.

For me, Maremoto has incredible character – with the infl uence of the poet Pablo Neruda and other special touches. I go there for meetings, for lunch or to meet a friend for a drink.

For a coffee break, I go to YoursTruly. It’s so sincere. And U & Me Coffee to pick up a beanie or something like that! Rcaffé makes the most wonderful Emmentaler

sandwiches. For music, where else to go but

the wonderful African Music Store. It’s impossible not to go in when you hear the sounds coming out of there! For exercise, the Long Street Baths, of course. For shop-ping, one of the best places for a guy like me is Imagenius. If you have no idea what to buy for some-body’s birthday, go there. You’ll feel like a genius when you walk out. Then there’s Second Time Around, which I love for special items.

For anything related to the skate-board culture, there’s Bonafi de. For über-cool clothing items, there’s Thulare Monareng’s Collage Fash-ion Deli. Did you know she brings out a different design for a t-shirt commemorating Soweto 1976 every year? Then there’s Wag and Darkie, two wonderful shops.

I am not one of those people who wants to see Long Street pedestri-anised. Stand on any balcony in Long Street and see the ice lorries, taxis, trucks, cars and people. That is Long Street. Maybe take away one row of parking, but don’t de-stroy the whole nature of the street.

After we turn 21, we forget how to wander into a place … I always say to people, “Go to Long Street and walk around for two or three hours with no objectives. See what you fi nd.”

For more inspiration on what to do in

Cape Town, go to www.capetownmaga-

zine.com

“Why I love Long Street” In this series, City Views

takes a closer look at some of the Central City streets and why we love them. This month Marc Zandhuis, owner of Cape Town Magazine, the city’s largest internet magazine, tells us about Long Street.

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ond

Louw

by Marc Zandhuis

“I chose to work in Long Street because I want to be at the

heart of the action.” – Marc Zandhuis

value of integrating vintage into their everyday style. It adds to originality and it’s fashion recycling. We stock a combination of vintage, second-hand and a few fi rst-hand items of designer cloth-ing. In the next month we will also be stocking local women’s wear brand, Chris-topher Strong.

“Part of what we sell is a fantasy,” says Bianca. “There are dresses that seem like they could tell stories of nights spent doing the Char-

leston and jackets worn by 80s Wall Street types. Every piece feels special. “

The girls stock labels that cannot be found anywhere else in South Africa. “We have one-of-a-kind pieces from Chanel and Oscar de la Renta to Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Stella McCart-ney. Our secret desire is that a Chanel collector leaves everything to us in her will. So here’s hoping.”

Interestingly, neither of the sisters has a background in fashion. Bianca studied copywriting at the Red & Yellow School and worked in advertising for two years, and Simone has her master’s in organisational psychology and consults part-time.

The sisters are thrilled to have made the move: “Cape Town has a lively, well-es-tablished street culture. You get to experience al fresco shopping amongst authentic old buildings. We love the people, the energy, the way everyone interprets style so differently. That beats any air-conditioned mall.”

86 Long street

T: 021 423 7353

http://afraidofmice.com

Phot

os: L

ari M

eyer

“You get to experience al

fresco shopping amongst

authentic old buildings. That beats any air-conditioned

mall.” – Bianca and Simone

Brandi

CityViews July 201112 my town

Straatwerk has job rehabilitation

projects for men and women.

021 425 0140

The Haven’s vision is to get the

homeless home. 021 425 4700

The Homestead provides residential

care and family integration for boys.

021 461 7470

Many children and young adults living on the streets have severe drug addiction problems. More often than not, the money they receive from begging is used to buy their next “fix”.

The CCID therefore requests that members of the public do not give money or handouts directly. If you would like to help, please contact one of the listed organisations mentioned.

Contact the Central City Improvement District’s (CCID’s) Social Development Department for further information or assistance.

Ons Plek provides residential care while undertaking reunification process for girls.

021 465 4829

The Carpenters Shopprovides rehabilitation services and skills training for adults.

021 461 5508

Salesian Institute Youth Projects provide education, skills training and rehabilitation to vulnerable youth.

021 425 1450

www.capetownpartnership.co.za

Pat 021 419 1881 | Dean 082 928 3862Headman Sirala-Rala 082 262 0113 Mark Williams 082 262 0112

CV What’s in your store for winter?TM Beautiful college and baseball jackets.

CV What trends will you bring us next summer?TM For us, summer will be about African prints – Ndebele, Zulu and others – and a lot of twill fabrics. We’re moving away from big, bold prints to subtle prints.

CV What’s inspiring you at the moment?TM The dividing factors, cultural clashes and disparities between rich and poor in our society – the fact that I can feel I’m black, that you can feel you’re white, that an Indian and a coloured person can feel they’re Indian or coloured. It inspires me to wear statement t-shirts. Creative people break the rules. I try to raise what’s happen-ing underground up into people’s consciousness through shows, slogans and window displays. The tourists who come into our city also inspire me. I love the way they don’t see the difference between black, white, coloured and Indian.

CV What are some of the highlights of being based in the Central City?TM I like the fact that our brand is exposed to such a range of differ-ent people. Being in the CBD we get inspired by what’s going on and by the people around us.

CV Is Cape Town an inspiring city?TM Very. I love Cape Town. I have

been invited to live in cities in Europe, Asia and the United States, but none of them offer what Cape Town as a city and the Western Cape as a province do. The creativ-ity and the nature keep me here. Nothing comes close to that.

CV Where do you go for coffee in the Central City?TM YoursTruly, also in Long Street.

CV What’s your lunch spot of choice?TM Café Royale for a burger.

CV What do you do to relax in the Central City?TM I like walking in Church Street and Wale Street. I also love going through the antique mall in Long Street.

CV Could Cape Town be the World Design Capital?TM We could be, but I think we need to be more unifi ed in order to do so. Rather than everybody doing their own thing, I feel if we can work together – and get rid of that hesitation and fear about being copied, etc – then we can win anything we want in the world. If Cape Town wins the bid, we must involve Johannesburg and Durban. It is not nice to celebrate without your neighbours. We are all South Africans. You can be the most creative city in the world, but if you don’t have unity as a country, then what’s the point?

CV What would you change about Long Street if you could?

TM One of my biggest dreams for Long Street would be to close it off from cars and parking. I’ve been to Sweden and other countries, where the roads are shut down, and no vehicles, except bin trucks, are allowed in the street. It brings people to a city centre and makes them want to be part of it. I will never forget last year, during the opening of the World Cup, when the whole of Long Street was closed to cars. Everybody was walking up and down the street. We were all so happy. They don’t even have to shut down the whole of Long Street – just part of it. I’d also like to keep Long Street busy by encouraging people to trade until early evening, like 18h00. Sometimes, on a Satur-day, if I am in Long Street at about 15h00, I am ashamed in front of the tourists. The only shop that’s still open then is Darkie. We stay open ’til 17h00 on Saturdays. We used to open ’til 23h00, but we were the only ones. You can’t tell the tourists to go to a mall.

CV What aspects of design do you love about the Cen-tral City?TM The architecture. There are so many buildings I love in Cape Town. I just wish they could stay like that and be occupied by creative young minds. Some of the most beautiful buildings are not used for the right reasons. It is very important to preserve these old buildings.

CV What building would you happily demolish in the CBD?TM Some of these new “lookalike” buildings should be demolished – those ones made of glass and stainless steel. I hate it when they demolish a beautiful old building and put one of those up.

CV If you could pass any law in the city, what would you do?TM I would get rid of parking guards. They kill our business. People don’t want to drive into town, and then pay R4.50 to park for half an hour. You can’t try on a pair of jeans or a t-shirt in half an hour. If our public transport was sorted out, there might be a case for charging for parking. I still can’t get over the fact that, every time I deliver stock to my own shop, I have to pay a parking guard.

CV Which other internation-al cities do you love?TM Amsterdam

CV What can Cape Town learn from Amsterdam?TM How to shop! We don’t have a shopping culture.

Darkie Clothing

159 Long Street

T: 021 424 2993

Themba Mngomezulu, designer and founder of Darkie Clothing at 159 Long Street has, besides making a name for his funky clothing, worked on projects like the design of the Nando’s uniforms, clothing lines for government, and private and corporate design. He prefers not to be photographed.

My Cape Town: Themba Mngomezulu

FOCUS ON

“The creativity and the nature keep me here. Nothing comes

close to that.” – Themba Mngomezulu

Phot

os: R

icha

rd A

aron

, Mut

i