What do you do when you’re in Cape Town? EAT and EAT and EAT SOME MORE!

This vibrant diversified city of 400,000 is a melting pot of dozens of cultures. Sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and Table Mountain, Cape Town was not only named BEST city in the 2018 Travelers Readers awards,but also has won BEST CULINARY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

So our entire first day was spent with a local, our new friend Anine Moore, who walked our legs off covering downtown and the surrounding districts (yelp…Tommie had to walk all day😜). We tasted goodies from street vendors; drank all types of coffees, teas and juices; devoured ribs, ostrich, jerkys and other delicacies; and sampled some of the best desserts and pastries ever made. At each stop we met the owners and learned about their business. My favorite was a woman, Koek Sister, who actually put Dunkin Donuts out of business in Cape Town. She was diagnosed with breast cancer 20 years ago and lost her job because she was too sick to work. In order to raise 4 girls as a single mom, she began frying and selling her “donuts” out of a cart on the corner of a side street near downtown. A few years ago, Dunkin Donuts came to town and put in a store a few blocks from her corner. The locals tried the “new” donuts once or twice, but quickly returned to her corner for their morning pastry. She cooked a fresh batch while we visited with her, and after sampling her version of a donut, I can easily see why Dunkin left town. Hers were Yummy and original!!!! She now supplies numerous bakeries around town, as well as maintaining her street cart.

Another great find was House of H… a famous chef, who used to be in charge of 7 restaurants in Cape Town, decided to take a leap of faith and turn a parking garage located in the CBD (city business district) into his own restaurant. Joined by his decorator wife, they furnished it with “unique & wild” decor, inclusive of turning his original VW into a bar. No more white table cloths or fancy prices, no waiters, you just grab a computer card and walk up to the different food stations, order what you want and they swipe your card at each station… so when it’s time to go, no high prices to pay, and no worries over “splitting” the bill or waiting on it. AND, you can even watch him cook your meat… the ribs melt in your mouth. The owner, Henry and Tommie hit it off and talked endlessly. Henry finally took Tommie to his office and traded him a custom ball cap from his collection for Tommie’s favorite race horse hat.

At one point during our walk, I looked up to see a large building marked as “Slave lodge”. Anine told us this was where 500 slaves were housed at any given time between 1670 and 1836 … when slavery in Africa finally ended. That’s BEFORE it ended in the USA. The slaves were brought from Indonesia, India, and Madagascar.

As we wandered on thru town, we stopped in on Biltong & Blade- now I’m NOT A JERKY FAN but this was the best I’ve ever eaten. My favorite was Springbok (naturally very salty) & TR’s was Kudu… all varieties were moist and easy to chew.

And finally we ended our LONG walk by stopping in at TRUTH- a famous coffee/pastry house where a 1940s coffee roaster was brought in from London. Not only is it impressive to see this gigantic machine, but it can roast over 60 Kilos (132 lbs) of beans at one time. AMAZING!

A testament to why Cape Town is the gourmet capital is The Pot Luck Club. I had been warned to make a reservation at least 2 months in advance, and they required a deposit with my credit card… but boy was it worth it! Probably in the top 5 places I’ve eaten in my lifetime. There’s a manila card on the table and you write down 6+ dishes you want to sample off the menu. Our favorite was the springbok… a venison. It had no game taste and melted in your mouth. Great food and great view of the waterfront.

One morning we set out to explore the countryside and coastal towns. There are 4 million people in the entire Cape area which attracts more visitors than any other place in Africa. We had a driver take us all the way to Cape of Good Hope at the end of the continent. We saw Baboons frequently as we drove the jagged rocky coastline. In one small city, we saw a female in heat sitting on a fence… her red swollen buttocks is to attract the male. The baboon is a protected species in Africa, so they have security guards stationed all around the smaller coastal cities to make sure they don’t get into people’s homes as they are very cleaver in opening locks… and very mean. They will grab your bag if they think it has food in it. We were warned to freak out and attempt to play tug a war for our bag if approached, because the baboon will simply go a few feet away, stop & search it for food and drop it. Then you get your passports and money back unharmed.

We also visited Boulders Beach in Simons Town to see the large colony of African penguins. They were cute little birds…we were told they mate for life. Now that’s a challenge I’m sure. 😉

AND, what would a trip to the Cape Town area be without a visit to a local South African Winery. We chose Steenberg… one of the oldest. in the region. After faithfully sampling numerous types of red, I settle on Catharina (named after the founder) which was a blend of 70% merlot, 25 sharaz, and 5% petit verdot. And imagine this….they will gladly ship your selection home…so you can order as many bottles as you desire. What a deal!

Cape Town has earned its name as Best City and if you ever have the chance to visit, I suggest you allow at least 3 full days to explore… and expect to gain a few pounds😜