Capetonians! Before this rain (and therefore your excuse to eat comfort food, laze near a fireplace and drink wine) disappears… get to Kloof Street House for a cozy and vibey Thursday night.

Start off with a warming drink in front of their fireplace. It’s the perfect hideaway in weather like this, and their food is imaginative and delicious.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve only been there once this year – but I’ve no doubt summer jazz brunches on their patio will be something we’ll do.

 

 

From the 9th until the 14th the Open Book Festival is hosted by the Fugard Theatre and the Book Lounge .

The Book Lounge is another rainy day gem. Besides their eclectic book selection, I go for this wonderful thing called a Love Coffee. It involves chocolate, and it makes me happy. Sometimes on a random weekday you’ll find me there, lost in their little basement lounge, overdosing on the written word and caffeinated deliciousness.

The Open Book Festival includes book signings, readings, discussions on the writing process, poetry, and more. Full details on their website.

 

 

Hipsters rejoice! Also running all weekend is the Vintage With Love market . Held at 15 on Orange Hotel, tickets for Friday have sold out online already – get Saturday or Sunday’s here . Beautiful vintage fashion – on sale to benefit education-based charities – with snacks and bubbly to boot.

 

 

 

Fancy yourself a bit of a cook? Or maybe you just want a reason to eat four gourmet courses while having a laugh and getting involved in the cooking to some degree.

One Ingredient with private chef Matt Manning might still have a few places open for Saturday night. I’ve worked behind the scenes here, and attended as a guest, and I can guarantee you’ll have a really fun, different night out. Each month, the menu is created around a specific ingredient.

Usually Matt will demonstrate at least two of the four courses – and you’ll replicate them in teams at your cooking stations – before sitting down to enjoy your genius creations.  

 

Most of the prep and hard work is done for you though, so you can indulge in the carefully paired (excellent) wines and laugh at your mate’s attempt at creative plating without breaking too much of a sweat. Have a look at this month’s Lemon Menu on the link above. Drool.

 

 

A bit of a drive but totally worth it – is Wellington’s Fork and Cork Festival on Saturday. Probably best to book yourself into a B & B out there…it turns into quite a party. There are accommodation specials on the link above.

This little town knows how to throw a festival. In fact the proud locals thrive on showcasing their wines and local producers of all things food and drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Journey’s End Estate on Sunday, from 12-6pm, Wine Car Boot is your opportunity to taste and buy wine from the premium independent wineries of South Africa. There’ll be a collector’s corner – with rare older vintage wines for sale too.

Food stalls, wine olympics, a children’s corner and live music. Tickets are limited.

 

Some notes on the coming weeks for you:

 

It’s National Clean Up Week from the 14th – 20th of September.

Also, while looking for a way to do my bit, I came across these guys, CleanC , who organize beach clean ups around Cape Town on the first Saturday of each month. Bags and gloves are provided and they usually start around 10am and go on until around 11:30. These guys do far more than just clean up our beaches – they have community education and upliftment programmes too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reminder that Franschhoek Uncorked is coming up on the 26th and 27th of September. I think we all know what this entails. The culinary and wine capital of SA isn’t about to do things in a mediocre way. I wouldn’t miss this… tickets here.

 

Have a fantastic, busy, rest of your September everyone! We’re racing towards that intense summer sun, windy city heat, smug kite surfers, salty sea skin, 9pm sunsets and Vaalie Camps Bay traffic. Enjoy this change of season and the mellow weather while it lasts…

 

Photograph from The Book Lounge by Paula Johnson

Photographs from the other events sourced from the event pages and social media channels

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