Asking a local is the surest way to shortlist some must-visit spots in a city because even if some recommendations fall short, you’ll have tried something new and different to the mass-appeal buffet of generalized travel itineraries curated with generality in mind.
This Summer Guide is the next in a series of love letters to the untamed summer spirit of the Cape – vetted to ensure you spend your dime on the experiences that count!
You are invited to build a bespoke adventure itinerary that will take you in and around the Mother City as locals do from sun up to sundown. From where to sleep, to where to languish, and the best supplier of the blessed morning elixir called coffee; take the adventures you want and leave something for your next visit too.
Welcome to the Cape! Now do it as the locals do…
THE STARTERS
WHERE TO WAKE UP: Lanzerac
Neighbourhood: Lanzerac Rd, Jonkershoek Rd, Stellenbosch, 7600
Waking up at Lanzerac feels like a gift – whether you’re cocooned in the warmth of plush bedding, or taking the measure of your stunning green-lined surrounds over a hot beverage, it feels both intimate to be in the secluded alcoves of the hotel’s various suites and rooms, as well as like you’re welcome to engage the world around you when you venture out of bed.
There’s only joyful escape here, at this 155-hectare Stellenbosch location.
With the kind of hospitality that sets award-winning standards and which institutions write textbooks about, Lanzerac Estate is one of the finest examples of hotel excellence that’s subsequently made it a stalwart 5-star hotel in South Africa for many years.
Whether it’s this summer or any other season, rest easy knowing their consistency is unmatched and their unique estate and decadent offerings represent a pinnacle of quality that makes for good memories – whether you’re there for a brief tasting or a medley of Spa treatments, outdoor adventures, or simply luxuriating in your hotel suite.
Indulge in a visit to this sensational convergence of heritage and modernity in symphony, and wake from between crisp white linen, refreshed, and with a lingering pleasure similar to the taste of Lanzerac’s own critically acclaimed wines.
WHERE TO GET YOUR COFFEE FIX: Lello Caffè
Neighbourhood: 5 Jarvis St, De Waterkant, Cape Town, 8001
Cape Town is a smorgasbord of cultures, food & drink, and ethnicities at play, and the coffee scene here is no less diverse.
One of the latest haunts frequented similarly by business professionals on the go, influencers seeking an aesthetic, and everyday locals meandering, is Lello Caffè.
Situated in a colourful lifestyle-centric neighbourhood beloved for its vibrant townhouses, celebrity-spotting, and proximity to the famed & historic Bo-Kaap district, the family-run deli and cafe makes its home along a darling cobbled side street and reminds passersby’s and the coffee-deficient of Europe’s people-watching cafe culture.
Authenticity is the name of the game here (a.k.a no flat whites, no cortados, and NO WIFI!), and the clean canvas of white walls makes way for warm woods, and pops of colours among the cornetti pastries and drinks available. The scent of espresso and Lello Caffè‘s signature schiacciata paninis is sure to tempt, and the Italian ingredients like fior di latte or slow-cooked pork, and the likes of pistachio crema, will satiate your tastebuds, rest assured!
Drop in for a to-go or sit-down beverage and breakfast, from a menu that wouldn’t even disappoint a true Italian on their morning coffee run!
WHERE TO SAMPLE THE WORLD: SALON Restaurant
Neighbourhood: Ist Floor, silo building, The Old Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Rd, Woodstock, Cape Town, 7925
The kind of food that makes you pause…the kind of flavours that make you think…the kind of experience they write Michelin Guides about – THAT is Salon Restaurant.
More a biographical concept restaurant than any brick-and-mortar ‘foodie’ establishment you’ve ever come across, Chef Luke Dale Roberts’s ‘Journey‘ and ‘Explorer‘ menus at Salon are a well-realized taste adventure through the man’s most defining moments in life, with food at the helm and heart in every recipe.
With a talented team as passionate as they are diverse, take a gander at personable fine dining made to the exacting standards of a masterful chef. Salon Restaurant has already nestled itself into the lexicon of local diners with a hankering for a new experience, and you should get in while the getting is good!
*By the way: The acclaimed chef has recently published a cookbook, and you can now attempt some of The Test Kitchen’s most awe-inspiring gastronomy at home. Shop ‘The Test Kitchen’ here.
MAINS
WHERE TO FORAGE & FROLICK: Boschendal Farm
Neighbourhood: Boschendal Estate, Pniel Road, Groot, Franschhoek, 7690
I really love Boschendal.
It is sweet, irreverent, and so pragmatic about being a working farm while also offering a darling romanticized pastoral fantasy – delivering quality for every visitor, whether you’re a solo traveller, family, business pro, couple, fauna & flora enthusiast etc.
The expansive Cape Winelands property, complete with bird-spotting hot spots, a tree House, cottagecore-leaning hotel suites, horse riding, and an art gallery in and above the restaurants, is an all-day/all-weekend wonder!
A visit or stay here means uncomplicated logistics and outdoor diversions spanning miles. You can frolic in the greenery of the lawns, perhaps forage & learn as you’re guided through Boschendal Farm‘s indigenous gardens (I’m talking fresh herbs off the shrub), and you can feast indoors or outdoors thanks to the multitude of eateries available which all produce cuisine at a high and fresh level thanks to the farms soil-to-fork dining methodology.
Boschendal‘s wines are nothing to sniff at too, by the way, with their truly crisp white wines and full-bodied reds.
This historic place is the convergence of a wonderful selection of experiences teasing the senses, on one farm!
WHERE TO PLAY: Tuft Crowd
Neighbourhood: 243 Bree St, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
I haven’t even been, and I know you’ll want to add it to your itinerary too! Get a tangible reminder of a great summer, with a one-of-a-kind rug you make.
Your own design. Their equipment and guidance. All of the fun!
Tuft Crowd is Cape Town’s latest hot spot, bringing people from all walks of life to the inner city, for the low-impact activity that produces minimum waste and lets you play with colour, texture, and shape in a safe environment and near some of the city’s most exciting eateries and bars.
Laugh and get your creative juices flowing with Tuft Crowd. They’re offering you the opportunity to finally design a decor item for your personal spaces. Another perk of this one is that you don’t have to be a pro to do it. Come as an amateur or as a rug-making aficionado. Just book the activity when you’re keen to learn and play.
Bring the vision you’ve always had, which isn’t sold in any store, to life!
I’m already contemplating buying the Tuft gun anyone can shop for, from the store or online too!
WHERE’S THE HIDDEN GEM: Cape to Cuba
Neighbourhood: 165 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town, 7990
Head out of the city proper, for a taste of the seaside AND old Havana!
Chic Bohemian furnishings, vintage artefacts (like wooden religious figurines), and bold art deco items dot the establishment that brims with light, good music, and tangy colours. Overlooking Kalk Bay’s fishing bay and docked boats, the clean, comfy, and pretty damn cool Cape to Cuba restaurant and bar is definitely what constitutes a local treasure, and even has a cigar bar stocked with some of the finest cigars from the region available for purchase.
It’s picture-perfect in its eclecticism, but more than that, it is a wonderful opportunity to gorge yourself on some of the most brilliant flavours of Africa and South America. The menu fluctuates from fresh seafood picks like Paella and the restaurant’s legendary Grilled Prawns, or other options like Tortillas, Cuban Bread, yummy Coconut Creamed Spinach, and so much more delicious offers for the vegetarians and carnivores wanting to revel in an amazing food experience.
Don’t be fooled by the fusion cuisine portion sizes, by the way, as this place’s food & drink (like their favoured Mojitos to Margaritas or the Rooster Rojo Reposado on offer) comes potent too!
Grab a Panama hat and come for some live music when the weather is grand, and settle in for a while because you’ll be comfy the minute you sit, and unwilling to leave once the food flavours and drinks hit.
DESSERT
WHERE TO TOAST & QUENCH: ARIEL
Neighbourhood: 90 Regent Rd, Sea Point, Cape Town, 8005
Accessible luxury – tasty on the tongue first, and visually delicious right after!
This is the grown-up answer to those glossy kinds of places you’ve ever wanted to eat & drink at but thought you couldn’t afford.
Hitting the high notes of restaurant and design trends of the last 2 years, ARIEL is a cream stucco walled and brass finished modern Italian restaurant (with a wine bar!) now at home in Sea Point, and is a stunning example of what you get when you localize an offering to appeal to general regional budgets and tastes.
ARIEL is cool but won’t alienate you and anyone you come with – feeling as much like the hangout of the cool and pretty, as it is for everybody else once the drinks start flowing. They just also happen to have a wonderfully warm atmosphere in their generously sized restaurant, and also deal out Neapolitan and New York-style Italian cuisine dishes (think genuinely yummy wood-fired flatbreads, parma ham, even black truffle, and the likes of lamb ragu) that match the excellence of their decor and the efficient & knowledgeable proficiency of their restaurant team.
Its high-quality ingredients prepared deliciously; its sensual and rich interior design including pops of burnt orange and luscious greenery, and a pretty decent address along the bustling Sea Point main road that makes for perfect people-watching from the banquette seating, with a glass of one of ARIEL’s frankly startlingly good cocktails (like The Cloudy Apple) or crisp wines like Nomoya Vermentino. And I swear it’s not too bad on prices by Cape Town standards.
ARIEL makes an impression and is good enough to warrant revisits quickly after! So come be one of the cool kids.
WHERE TO SAMPLE TREATS BEST: Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel
Neighbourhood: 76 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001 South Africa
The Belmond brand is synonymous with being ateliers of pristine and powerhouse hospitality and luxury in travel, and Mount Nelson is an elegant, pink-painted pleasure that adds to the brand’s reputation favourably.
Known to consistently deliver one of the Top 3 best Afternoon Tea experiences in South Africa, the hotel levels up tea drinking and getting a hit of something sweet or savoury with lunch. Truly, it’s worth it first, on the simple merit of the fresh and flavoursome cuisine, that balances a wonderful dining experience in tandem with teas so rich in aroma and provenance.
There are quintessential and prestige blend tea choices that range from Oolong Teas teasing senses with robust aromas, to Herbal Infusions and even White Tea choices from China. Should you be like me, and enjoy a strong flavoured black tea as your essential choice, do double-check with your attendant that the Earl Grey to be steeped from their stock, is not too aromatically light. And I highly recommend trying the rather memorable (and incredible) Mount Nelson tea – expertly blended with the likes of Darjeeling, Kenya, Assam, Keemun, Yunnan, Ceylon and rose petals from the Mount Nelson garden.
The five-star Grand Dame of the Cape also refuses to be pigeonholed by foodie convention so their Afternoon Tea includes choices like smoked Franschhoek Trout sandwiches, Mushroom empanadas, as well as Cauliflower and onion pakora – this in between a steadily replenishing range of quintessential Afternoon tea finger foods like Scones, and crustless sandwiches with cucumber and cream cheese.
As someone with the mother of all sweet tooths, the tea’s sweeter food picks still have me sighing today. Chantilly cream atop confectionary of all sorts, semblances of white chocolate cake, chocolate torts and milk tarts (powdered with Cape Malay cinnamon and cardamom) delicately sit atop the tea stand, and it’s a dare to indulge.
Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel is sumptuous at every turn – food, decor, outdoor grandeur, comfort, class, and exceptional service too.
Whether you come for Afternoon Tea or the limited picnics on offer for the season, I very much doubt you’ll regret experiencing this city oasis one way or another.
Mount Nelson promises an unforgettable summer experience. Go!
AFTER DARK TEMPTATIONS
WHERE TO CATCH THE VIBE: Tjing Tjing
Neighbourhood: 165 Longmarket St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8001
Shirk your Western sensibilities for a taste of the East and Japanese subcultures (or sometimes a fusion of them).
The three-storey Japanese emporium Tjing Tjing, is celebrated for its stand-out offer of incredibly flavoursome & textured food, otsumami (Japanese snacks), a fair few inventive beverages, and a relaxed ambience.
While the rooftop bar isn’t a den of iniquity, Tjing Tjing is favoured by locals for its all-around rich interiors, cityscape skyline, and more than decent drinks menu.
- Try the Kasai cocktail for a really punchy first drink at this bar – Fireball Whisky, Ginger, Pineapple, and spicy chilli with a dash of lime
- Though the Shinjuki (Takamaka Rum, Pineapple, Star Anise, Almonds, Grapefruit, and Lemonade) is one of the most well-defined cocktails I’ve ever had. It doesn’t overwhelm or contradict any meal you may be having at TJING TJING.
The music is also more than adequate for the vibe-seeking hoards wanting more than Lo-Fi cafe music or Amapiano mixes alone, with Tjing Tjing‘s mix of jams setting the tone of a late night of unplanned and low-pressure fun and filling indulgence in one of the world’s most vibrant, sun-kissed cities.
GOT ANY QUESTIONS? ✨ RECOMMENDATIONS?
Drop them in the comments! 😊 I can’t wait to hear from you.
