I moved to Gardens next, to the wonderful family home of Doreen and Meyer. I loved staying here! Doreen is fantastic and interesting woman. She has worked as an editor and stylist at Elle Decoration amongst other interesting jobs, and now she now runs her hospitality business InAweStays. 

Their house is the old vicarage that belonged to the next-door church and it’s absolutely beautiful. As are all the charming and tasteful cottages that are on the premises, all done up with Doreen’s skilful eye for design.

I loved my new home, an L-shaped loft with magnificent views through the glassed facade towards the Table Mountain. It was not only the stylish design. Or the beautiful setting of this home. The attention to detail here was amazing.

A blackboard with a welcoming message. Handmade toiletries on the bathroom shelves in InAweStays own brand. Masses of thick and fluffy towels changed on a daily basis.

Wonderful treats in the shape of trays with all kinds of delicious nibbles and goodies, appeared like magic when I needed them the most. I always found friendly and smiling faces around me. I felt that I was taken care of in the most beautiful way.

The amazing ambience here has a lot to do with the friendly staff with Robert at the head. Robert and his family also live on the premises. They and the other staff are like an extended family.

The printed textile serviettes have the same motif as the large piece of artwork on the wall. This artwork, made by Michael Chandler, is the result of an artist residency project in collaboration with InAWE Stays, when Cape Town was World Design Capital in 2014. Eight local artists and creatives were invited to stay at InAWEStays and to create an unique piece inspired by their surroundings and by Mother City. His work, inspired by the Cape heritage, is an impressive replica of a traditional V.O.C dish using chalk on paper. And Doreen has since then cleverly adapted the interior design of this cottage to match this piece of art. Visit the project here

This also sums up what this place is all about really. Not just a exquisite space to unwind and relax in. But also a place where interesting people meet, and where exiting things are created.

Another example of this is Doreen and Meyers absolutely delightful daughter Jade. She runs her successful Food Jams from her parents kitchen. Jade is not only a jazz musician but also an accomplished chef, with a background as a Master Chef SA finalist. Her love for food comes from home of course. From the family kitchen and her parents obvious love for food and for cooking have rubbed of well.

One of the most wonderful evenings I had here in Cape Town was when I experienced one of Jades Food Jams together with my new friends and also people I hadn’t met before this evening. This is the beauty of cooking together, and Jades idea with these Food Jams. It really unites people. Bringing people together regardless of background or situation. Before the evening was over I felt like a had made lifelong friends!

We were divided into small groups of two and three and each group was given a recipe each and placed into cooking stations around the big kitchen. We could either follow the recipe or go wild and improvise.

What fun it is to cook without knowing how the end result is going to either look like or taste like! There was such a buzz when everyone got down to work with salsa music, which I love, accompanying us in the background.

Aided enthusiastically by Jade, the music, a glass wine or two and chats about food and life, we all created magic of sorts. And when we were ready we shared the delicious 7-course meal, sitting at a huge wooden table in the pergola in the garden.

What a memorable night! Feeling so grateful. So privileged. Read more about this exiting home in my upcoming book about unique homes around the world.

Have a peak here of our Food Jam. 

Claudia Hannen took the film. Thanks for sharing Claudia! And thanks to also Doreen, Shany, Annali, Carin, Jac, Gavin, Balti, Claudia and of course to you Jade!!!

Visit Jade de Whaal’s Food Jams here

Gardens is a lovely area and they have their share of great design shops, charming boutiques and great restaurants. Here is my pick of my favourites on Kloof Street.

Lim, Cape Towns leading interior shop. Contemporary African design at it’s best. Love the clean but warm minimalist style. Beautifully presented. And have that tactile want to touch and feel everything. Not to mention buy everything.

Ashanti have great contemporary African design. Their products are part of the new up-cycled movement, reducing the amount of castoffs that would otherwise go to a landfill. Fun, vibrant and stylish.

Their beanbags are made of up-cycled t-shirt material.

Manna Epicure is a really good eatery with stylish decor. Their cuisine is a twist of France meeting South Africa. Love this ceiling lamp!

Went here with my friend Mia Strandell who is here in South Africa doing some awesome work for SOS Children’s Villages, filming in Rustenburg for an up and coming Swedish television series called ”En resa för livet” (A trip of a lifetime).

The Fox & Vixen – Hair Tamers Extraordinaire. Brilliant hair salon with an intact 60s decor! You don’t see these anymore.

Antiques On Kloof, is a lovely antique and bric-à-brac shop on Kloof Street. This has to be a must-go-on-a-regular-basis kind of place if one lives here to snap up a bargain before someone else takes it.

Saigon. The best ever meal I think I had here was here. Coming straight from Asia I didn’t hold very high hopes of a culinary high when I went there but wow, this one is up there at the top! Their crispy ginger prawns! Mmmmm! Delicious! This restaurant has been going strong since 1997 and the quality of their cuisine seems to be rock solid.

Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer