Dennis and me are very different when it comes to cooking. That’s why it is surprising that we love each others food so much. His own creations are mostly healthy with a French touch. Where Dennis says “Salmon with roasted Brussels Sprouts” I’d say “Pop out the skillet and let me make you some Southern-coated chicken!”. At the end we both enjoy indulgent food and work well as a team in the kitchen. When it comes to spices we are also quite different, there’s a lot to learn from each other. Where he says fresh Basil and Sage, I say Barishap and Cumin! And when he says “more herbs” I say “more cream”. I’m much more of a Nigella Lawson in the kitchen. Nigella has never watched out for her weight and she has never shied away from that extra bit of indulgence. Her recipes are also very simple and unpretentious. I like that, and she is definitely a great inspiration to me in the kitchen.

Dennis is still tired from a party last night, so we decided that I take over the reins for today and cook a robust and aromatic Mutton Curry according to an old Cape Malay recipe! Dennis will prepare the starter, watch and learn!

A week ago Dennis and I start to plan a dinner for Ive and Till. We’d been meaning to invite them over to Dennis’ new cottage for food and drinks for a while now. We start thinking about what we should cook and as it goes, Dennis and I bought this traditional Cape Malay cookbook to experiment with different recipes. He wants to learn more about the different flavors and spices in the Cape Malay cuisine. I grew up eating Cape Malay food, I am definitely not a beginner, but there is definitely also room for me to improve. As we were browsing through the pages, looking at all the different recipes, it wasn’t hard for me to decide that our first meal should be a good ole Mutton Curry.

Mutton Curry is a favorite in Colored families and I cannot count the times I’ve had it, but I have always wondered why it always tastes so different all the time. Well, I guess everybody has their own unique recipe. I don’t mind the variations, but adherence to fresh quality ingredients is essential. I opt for the traditional method in this recipe, for it you will need the following:

800g of cubed Mutton, or medium-cut chops

2 cloves of garlic

A thumb-sized piece of ginger

2 white onions

10 curry leaves

2 bay leaves

I can of whole peeled tomatoes

1 teaspoon of sugar (if you’re Coloured)

A fist full of freshly chopped

1 sweet potato

Spices:

[The following could be substituted with 4 tablespoons of a good 12 in 1. I recommend Atlas Trading Company  in Bokaap, an established spice shop that has been trading since 1946.Be very specific when buying 12 in 1.]

You could go the complicated route and buy these spices individually, but if you don’t, make sure you get a twelve in one that contains them anyway. Here they are:

1 teaspoon of Jeera (cumin),1 teaspoon of Barishap (fennel),1 teaspoon of Koljana (coriander), 4 sticks of cinnamon, 4 karamonk pods (cardimon), 5 knaaltjies (cloves),1 teaspoon of borrie, or if you’re really a domestic Goddess you can use a few strands of Saffron, Salt, 1 teaspoon of chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper, 3-4 Pimento Berries (Allspice)

Braise your onions in vegetable or olive oil for about 10 minutes. These needn’t to be finely chopped, as it becomes part of the sauce at the end anyway. Once the onions are both brown and transparent you can add the mutton. If you have opted for the medium-cut chops, I suggest that you remove some of the excess fat. Add your spices (along with fresh ginger, garlic, curry and bay leaves) at once (whether you opted for 12 in 1 or not). Some people add their spices while the onions are braising, this is wrong, because you are likely to burn the spice in that way. Let this fragrant mixture cook for 30-40 minutes.

Now pulverize the blanched tomatoes (old girls grate, young girls pulverize), but not too finely. With this, you add one sweet potato to give the curry some body. Cook for another 15 minutes until potatoes are cooked. You can add the salt during this process, as you like. Turn down the pot, add the fresh coriander (finely chopped) and let the flavour trek (draw). Always add fresh herbs at the very end, otherwise you end up losing all the flavour. Vois là!

I buy the rotis, because they simply take too long to makes. I like to stay focused on my carry anyway. Par-made roties must be fried in butter and then crimped once fried.

As a dip on the side we serve a yogurt, mint and cucumber mix. You could also do this with fresh sambals, atchars or pickles.

Dennis prepares a delicate salad creation for starter with a couple of carefully selected ingredients: Asian salad leaves tossed in lemon juice, olive oil and a hint of Dijon mustard, topped with finely chopped radish, green apples, dried cranberries, baby tomatoes braised in garlic, fresh basil and olive oil and a baked Camembert wedge. Very quick, but fabulous all the same. An unusual, but very suitable starter for a spicy main course!

Ive and Till are an inspiring couple. Till is an East German who is very much into technology, literature and film. He has a huge talent for photography. A pair of black Yves Saint Laurent sunglasses and a black V-Neck is his trademark. He reminds me of one of the Lost Boys. Ive, is a woman with a clear-eye for style and aesthetic. This became clear when she arrived being tugged by her tall dog, sporting black webbed heels and a fine black pinafore reminiscent of 90’s PJ Harvey. A charming pair indeed. The night proceeds with a good energy and the spirits keep flowing. The kitchen soon becomes smoky and there is laughter in the air. Friends, food and firewater. La vita e bella.

The Paleo diet is a performance orientated diet and not only increases athletic performance, it is also considered the be the world’s healthiest diet for a number of reasons which i will tell you about soon! Personally, I like Paleo food because it is light, full of natural flavors, always wheat-free and doesn´t leave you heavy or even bloated after a meal. It´s clean food, free of any unhealthy processed ingredients!

Paleo butternut bake

half lamb/ half grass-fed beef mince

brown mushrooms

carrots

parsley

oreganum

sage

red chilies

slices of butternut

free-range eggs

(green peas)

Firstly fry 500 grams lamb and 500 grams grass-fed beef mince in a frying pan with some butter! Add some finely sliced garlic, carrots, ground fennel seeds and turmeric powder. Add the mix into a big oven dish. Fry brown mushrooms, red chilies and two hands full of fresh garden herbs in butter in a separate pan and add a layer on top of the mince mix. Three or four slices of butternut on top and 3 organic eggs – done! If you want to go 100% Paleo, leave the peas out – they are legumes.

The following is recipe for a healthy ostrich-granadilla wrap. Be sure not to overcook the ostrich to prevent it from becoming dry. This protein-rich, lean meat does not need a lot of time to cook- shown here is a super juicy and tender version, topped with fresh chilies!

If you follow these four steps, rolling a wrap will be super easy:

1. Spread some fat-free cream cheese, tahini and chili chutney on your wrap and place this, together with the filling in a neat line in the center of the wrap. I used some ostrich filled cubes, salad and tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, a little bit of salt and fresh lemon juice, spring onions, sweet gherkins, fresh avo, as well as low fat cream cheese and low fat cheddar and about 4 halves of granadilla.

2. Fold the two opposite ends of the wrap over the stuffing, squeeze tight but be careful not to  tear the wrap. It helps if you, warm the wraps in the oven and wet them with a little water.

3. Roll the wrap from one open end over the 2 folded sides.

4. Roll the entire wrap tightly. Done.

I am serving the wrap with a simple veggie stir-fry consisting of spinach leaves, slices of pepper dew, butternut and some cabbage.

ostrich granadilla wraps 

low GI wraps

ostrich fillet

granadillas

sweet gherkins

tahini

fat-free cream cheese

low-fat cheddar

home-made chili chutney

mixed salad leaves

tomatoes

olive oil

avo

spring onions

fresh lemon juice

sage & almond pumpkin seed pesto

sage

basil

1 tbs. Almond butter

olive oil

crushed pumpkin seeds

spring onions

1 glove of garlic

salt to taste

bit of parsley

It was surprisingly good, with such a dedication to detail, our meals are beautifully presented and the poached eggs were certainly up to scratch: Just the right thing to have before a work-out at the gym. That special moment when I cut into my warm poached egg and the egg yolk runs out slowly. So good. Lots of light is shining through the windows, which I always find important. I also like the Book Lounge at the corner of Buitenkant & Roeland Street and Truth Cafe in Buitenkant St, but believe it or not, we actually ended up at Blend because the light is better. I am super sensitive when it comes to eating in the dark. A bit morbid for breakfast don’t you think?  Also really like the “chic school cafeteria atmosphere” and the black and white colour theme, although I must admit that I am slightly bewildered by the black chandeliers. Black chandeliers and I just don’t seem to get along so well, but that’s secondary because we are here to catch up and enjoy our food! A couple of Elle fashion editors and their entourage are sitting right between the pot plants in minimalistic steel containers and a couple of wooden crates filled with old cookbooks. Very European in its flair busy but cosy – It’s hardly surprising the owner is originally from Switzerland.

It gets quite busy during Lunch-time, it got about like bushfire that they sell the largest collection of locally roasted coffees. I am also really impressed by their nice collection of super nice wheat-free sandwiches and home-made Oatmeal cookies. One of the owners is telling me how he is planning to expand his kitchen to be able to bake more. I am excited about what they will come up with. I feel kind of obliged to have taste of their most famous sandwich with Prosciutto, bacon, Brie and fig preserve. Delicious!

Depending on your preferences you can play around with the ingredients and use whatever substitutions you are happy with, once you bought the basics it is super easy to prepare in three simple steps which I will explain to you now.

All you need are the following basics: 1/2 a can of thick coconut milk, ginger, 2 lemons and 1 lime, 6 cups of organic chicken stock, 4 gloves of garlic, 7 – 8 brown mushrooms and red chillies. These are the basics, the rest is optional and depends of your preferences.

Obviously the soup needs some substance in form of eighter chicken or seafood and fresh herbs. I chose prawns and chunks of fresh hake fillet but you can add whatever else you like be it squid, clams or even chicken strips.

Step 1: Start with the stock. Cook 2 – 3 halves of lemons in 6 cups of chicken stock. Add some lemon grass and lime leaves (kaffir lime leaves) if you want to give it an extra exotic taste.

Step 2: Once the soup boils, add some finely chopped ginger, finely chopped chilies, garlic and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender. Now add the seafood or chicken, tomatoes cut in fine strips and some chopped chinese cabbage. I use small cherry tomatoes for the looks but you may just as well chop up a normal one. Today i am using some nice king prawns and chunks of hake. Add them and then stir, and cook for about 5 minutes, until prawns are pretty pink. Almost done already. For some extra crunchiness add some broccoli now.

Step 3: Finally, reduce heat and add the coconut milk, fish sauce and 1 shot glas of soy sauce. In the end add some fresh coriander. I like fresh herbs so much, I also add some chives and fresh basil leaves roughly chopped! Lastly, just to give it some fire I add some extra cayenne pepper.

Thai cuisine. It’s definitely one of my favorite Asian foods. The first time I had Thai, was at my aunt’s. My mother’s youngest brother, back then a really handsome gangster cutie and member of a gang in Frankfurt, was married to a tall and slender Thai katoi. She was working for him at the main train station district at a whore-house called “Kontakthof”. Every time she used to babysit for my cousin Patrick and me, she took us with to work and we would hang around the other Katois. They are such funny people, always laughing and still totally fragile and everyone of them with an unique and sometimes heartbreaking story, which I won’t tell you about right now because you might lose appetite. Anyway, without getting to much into detail here, my aunt is called Oy. I haven’t seen her since my uncle threw her out. He has married a Maroccan girl, she got pregnant and lives in the US now, she left him. My beautiful uncle is not beautiful anymore.

The most profound thing I remember about the time was the delicious Thai Food Oy used to serve me and my cousin and that she used to crush garlic with her feed. She also might live a sinful lifestyle, yet she is highly religious. I remember how she would buy flowers every Thursday and cooked a little steamed dumbing, both would be placed in front of a huge buddha that sit in her living-room. She might have disappeared out of my life somehow, but I will never forget what fantastic That food she prepared.

Today, I really enjoy cooking Thai Food. It’s healthy, goes super quick and I guess I am a bit accustomed to it’s flavors also. Crunchy vegetables, fresh fillets of meat or fish, a couple of spices, fish sauce, coconut milk and et voila! So easy. In future I will definitely show you a couple of my Thai recipes, but let me start today with a very simple one, a real classic – Tom Yum Talay Soup.

Just because I have a crush on fresh beef patties I order two burgers. The irresistible smell of a good old beef patty didn´t want to let me go. Well, I am on vacation and I am feeling a bit indulgent, so let me have two. Jamie Lorge the owner herself is preparing my burgers with devotion and love. Both patties are surprisingly tasty, one can´t go wrong with a nice and juicy beef patty anyways, but this is probably the best veggie burger I ever had! The patty is full of flavor and the texture is just perfect. Next time I go there I will have a hard time deciding if I want the beef or the veggie one, which is saying something! And think about it, if you would have to choose between two men, a vegetarian and a meat eater, which one would you go for? Right, there you get it.

I like the way she stands there so confidently, very hands-on that girl, behind her rustic wooden buffet counter, preparing our burgers so unceremoniously herself.

Basic but convincing lunch and breakfast menu with a touch of love for food: Incredible home-baked pastry changing on a regular basis such as cheesecakes, cookies, marshmallow-brownies and magic-bars. A balanced collection of interesting salads, each of them optional with fish, meat or chicken. Specials such as Lasagna, stew, pasta, curry and cottage pie for around R40. All food is beautifully arranged on a large buffet table. People are feeling obviously at home, I haven”t seen such great family atmosphere combined with a truly felt warm hospitality in a while. I am here with friends today, the idea was to take little chief Luthuli out for a burger and for me to finally get to try that famous veggie burger. Luthuli definitely found a new friend, he’s in love with Jamie. Unfortunately he didn’t like the burgers much and sticks to his french fries with tomato sauce. He’s in that age where he basically doesn’t eat anything.

Contact Love Food for Catering inquiries or if you are interested in booking the location in Braamfontein for an event:

tel: 083 602 6511

email: jamie@love-food.co.za

4 Ameshoff Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg

http://www.facebook.com/lovefoodkitchen  

https://twitter.com/lovefood_cafe

Finally I have some time to share this beautiful and special recipe with you. But let me tell you a little story first! A couple of weeks ago I was organizing a 3 course dinner at the Dermalogica Studio in Cape Town. Check out my post for pictures and more infos. The idea was to bring people together to have a healthy dinner, get pampered with facials, buying grooming products and have a good time. Myles and I were organizing the dinner, cooked and served everyone. What looked like a childs play wasn’t one at all! One of the greatest challenges was to decide on the dessert. I don’t find it very difficult to choose a starter or a main course, deciding on a dessert however, always causes me a headache. After a couple of sleepless nights browsing through mountains of Woolworth’s Taste Magazines, Food and Homes and my whole range of cookbooks I still couldn´t find the perfect dessert that suited a light and healthy dinner. I just didn’t find the right one! I wanted something that is fun to prepare, makes an impression and is special. It was frustrating. Then something unexpected happened. I went to work in the morning and my colleagues were organizing a potluck. A little event at my office where everybody brings something small to eat, everything will be placed on top of a table and then people can help themselves. My colleague Marcel de Klerk baked the most delicious Lemon Meringue Pie I ever had. He didn’t even work that day and only came to the office to drop off the pie. Later I found out that he was a notorious baker! After I had the first bite, I knew I found the perfect dessert for our dinner! Suddenly I had an image in mind, something like a lemony little cloud with a hint of vanilla! That was it! Simple and yet divine. At least the penny dropped!

There was just one tiny problem! A Lemon Meringue Pie is very difficult to cut and how could I possibly be able to present it nicely on a plate and serve it to my guests without making a mess – how could I turn this massive pie into tiny little clouds?! I am not a very experienced baker at all. But I believed that it would be somehow possible to create little tarts, all I needed was someone with experience and enough skills to teach me. I couldn’t wait for Marcel to return to our office and ask him. So the next day, I walked over to his desk, looked at him and asked: “Would you be interested to come to my house and bake with me?” Sounds a bit odd, I know, but he didn’t have a problem with it at all. I was lucky. Eventually, we had two baking sessions at my house and he taught me how to bake little Lemon Meringue Tarts, that are easy to serve and decorate on a plate. I find they look actually really cute and you don’t need much to decorate them at all, simply a little bit of icing sugar and lemon peel or even little yellow edible flowers and that’s it. Lemon Meringue Tarts are the perfect dessert if you want something different for (delete) than another malva pudding, chocolate brownies or cheesecake. (Don’t get me wrong, I love malva pudding, chocolate brownies and cheesecake!)

The preparation

Don’t be afraid to try something different. Have some courage. I just talked to someone from Lazari, in Vredehoek. They are selling a Lemon Meringue Pie which looks lovely. She told me how difficult she finds it to prepare it. Well, I absolutely agree. It took me three attempts, three nights of baking until I got it right. Have a look at the pictures below. The curd is the most difficult part. But it’s not impossible. My house-mates and colleagues at work were happy about me trying it out three times and taking the test models with me to work. And I think there is nothing better than surprising your dinner guests with something home-made that actually cost you some effort. Far too often we choose the safe option. Sometimes we should start to come out of our comfort zone sometimes (delete). Lemon Meringue is not that hard to prepare, it consists of three parts, which is the base, curd and meringue. And this is how it works:

1. Base

The base is the easy part. A very basic biscuit dough. All you need is 250g butter, 250ml sugar, 1 egg, 675ml of flour and some vanilla. It is up to you if you want to use extract or fresh vanilla. First mix butter and sugar together until smooth. Then whisk the egg and vanilla to the creamed butter simple biscuit dough. (Was meinst Du damit?) until it forms a simple biscuit dough.

2. Curd

Okay, the curd needs a little bit of practice and conviction – if I can do it, you can also do it, believe me So let’s do this. Warm 300ml of the milk in a pot, while simultaneously whisking the rest of the milk with 300ml flour until it forms a paste. Add flour paste, 250ml sugar and 1ml salt to the heated milk. Before the mixture is too thick, add 60ml butter and 75ml lemon zest. Place on the stove and boil until thick. Remove from stove and add 3 separated egg yolks and keep the egg whites!

3. Meringue

Whisk egg whites until stiff, add 5ml lemon juice (I like a bit more) and 100ml white sugar and whisk again until stiff, white and glossy.

Bake the base in the oven for about 30 minutes, remove and add the curd. Top with meringue and back into the oven for about 2 minutes.

]]> http://dennismolewa.com/2012/12/21/lemon-meringue-tart/feed/ 0 DSC_0187 dennismolewa 74893_458938354159160_974408187_n DSC_0183 DSC_0175 Cape Town-20120927-00423 copy DSC_0180 DSC_0178 DSC_0184 DSC_0186 http://dennismolewa.com/2012/12/12/neighbourgoods-market/ http://dennismolewa.com/2012/12/12/neighbourgoods-market/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:58:44 +0000 Dennis Molewa http://dennismolewa.com/?p=987 Continue reading →]]> I just love it, walking through a market with a shopping bag squeezed under my arm and a leek sticking out of the bag. I used to visit the Viktualienmarkt a lot when I was living in the center of Munich and loved buying fresh tuna steaks there, that I simply toss in my pasta stir fries. I also like the local markets in Frankfurt a lot where my grandmother took me to when I was still a child. She would chat to local farmers, ask questions such as which vegetable is in season, what kind of meat is on special or how fresh the bread is. She would never buy a loaf of bread that is not baked in a local bakery, the same morning she buys it. The idea of a market is essentially that local food and speciality traders come together and sell fresh local products to the community. It is busy, vibrant and personal. Since 2006 Rhodes and Cameron Munro are the poster children for the local food movement in Cape Town. They turned their food dreams into a fantastic project and organize a weekly food market at the old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town. The stylish market in Woodstock has been such a success that they opened a second market in 2011 in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. In this way The Neighbourgoods market celebrates the revival of the local outdoor market in a new form in South Africa. Pretty cool! Both markets are not limited to local food, they also sell fantastic wine and coffee as well as stylish clothing designed by local designers. My absolute favorite is Adriaan Kuiters and his classic tailored menswear.

I personally prefer the Neighbourgoods market in Joburg because of it’s beautiful absurdity. It is a fairy-like glade in a massive dark concrete jungle. A true oasis for local food products of all kind in the heart of Johannesburg Downtown! The perfect place to take a time out from the Jozi buzz and enjoy good food, drinks and live-music on occasional events.

The choice is overwhelming though and it took me a couple of visits to figure out what my favorites are. Whereas I absolutely love the eggs Benedict on a crispy hash-brown with salmon at the Old Biscuit Mill, I have chosen the famous Balkan burger as my favorite when I am in Joburg. The burger is divine, absolutely delicious with red pepper sauce and succulent, spicy meat. The service is very charming, I like the Balkan mentality, very hospitable, friendly and hotheaded.

It’s so much fun inspecting the market from head to toe! Besides the Balkan Burger I can also highly recommend Richard Bosman’s Quality cured meats, Spanish seafood paella, Rochelle”s Cupcakes, absolutely amazing meat pies and super tasty Ethiopian Injera. However, Injera at the market is ridiculously expensive. So if you are in Johannesburg and you really like Injera, you might just want to check out a fantastic, genuine little Ethiopian restaurant in 30 Bree Street, right in the center. Absolutely affordable and authentic, which means double the size and half the prize.

In case you like chocolate as much as I do, you should try out the organic chocolates from HONEST, a team of four super creative guys with a very interesting story who produce 100% genuine, raw and organic chocolate. A beautiful chocolaty South African success story!

That’s exactly the sort of vision people have nowadays when they dream of the ultimate contemporary, little eatery in a central urban area. A dream of providing space for people to be inspired to create new things. Many owners of small, charming little cafes try and build a sort of hub for local creatives to expand their ideas and messages.

We all know places like that. They can be found in all hipster districts around the globe such as Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, Soho in London, Södermalm in Stockholm or Hashberry in San Francisco. Arty cafes for all the Karl Lagerfeld’s of tomorrow. Cafes for tall, slender guys with pony-tails, wearing a vintage Ray-Ban, always in a rush with a MAC Book squeezed tightly under the arm. That´s the picture we have in mind when we think of arty farty cafes, isn’t it? I see him right in front of me, looking pleased with himself, sipping elegantly on his flat white, eye brows raised, all absorbed by the latest edition of the IQ Magazine. Many self-proclaimed creative hubs of today are incredibly pretentious, forced casual and therefore totally unsexy. It used to be cool in the 90s to be an artist although today it is quiet different. Big cities are overcrowded by musicians, full-time models slash muse of someone we don’t care of. Artists nowadays spring up like mushrooms. Everybody can be an artist and everything can be art. Places that truly stimulate new, fresh and progressive ideas, that are not generic have become scarce.

On these grounds I am happy to introduce you to a very special place in Johannesburg. Forget the annoying stories about another arty farty place opening up for a moment. Vélo sticks out. Not because it is glamorous and sells little art works that we can’t afford. Vélo is more genuine and it clearly does exactly what it says on the tin: ART, COFFEE and FOOD. A fresh wind is blowing on a Saturday morning and I am here to have breakfast. I have a random conversation with an Australian journalist who came to Johannesburg to study. In his opinion there is no better place in this world to study politics, he looks at me excitedly and explains me that there’s just so much happening in South Africa right now. I notice the fresh Art being displayed here, the room looks like a mixture of a cafeteria at a university campus and a gallery. People are focused on their work, eating sandwiches and drinking good coffee. The waitress explains that exhibitions are taking place on a regular basis showing artists such as Caitlin Fay Smith, Rudi Trap and Sleepy Joe. Check out their website for more information on exhibitions. http://lovevelo.co.za.

Cafe Velo reminds me of the IG Farben Building in Frankfurt, which was built in the 20s as the cooperate headquarters in Germany by an architect who was highly admired by the Naziregime. It used to be the biggest building in Europe until the 50s. Today it belongs to the Frankfurt University Campus and it will soon be turned into Europe’s most modern campus! It is surrounded by a beautiful green garden and wonderful weeping willows. Students mingle everywhere and socialize. As teenagers, my cousin Patrick and I loved getting stoned and then driving with the paternoster elevator, which consists of a chain of open compartments, moving slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. It smells like fresh paint, concrete and freshly ground arabica coffee. Everywhere are those typical university chairs and wooden tables scribbled all over with ballpoint pens and permanent markers. People are not quite pretentious, everybody minds their own business. Typically Frankfurt, modern middle class early 20s, a moderate amount of foreigners and some late starter hippie students, my sister Iris being one of them in her long dresses, her big breasts and black curly hair. The campus at the IG Farben building is a very clean place with a spare elegance despite it’s gigantic size! I always perceived it as a place that can clear your mind. The cafeteria is worth a visit, the mindless style and atmosphere is brilliant, nobody pollutes the place with unnecessary colors or sculptures. That’s how I imagine the perfect cafe for artist clientele to be like, open and wide, with a lot of natural light, a simple menu with fresh appetizers and strong, black coffee served in plain white paper cups.

Vélo is based in the heart of Johannesburg, yet it is quiet. No loud music is playing during the day, which I find very pleasant. There are only very few places in Johannesburg central where you can actually relax and focus on your work. The food is simple, fresh and honest. Very good prizes, one can have a decent breakfast below R40. Check out their menu online for more information. My Tip: The bacon, perfectly fried and super crispy. It is my second time at Vélo  and I will be definitely back for a third time for sure. Also check their Facebook page for upcoming events.

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