Why Londoners Are Flying to Cape Town This Autumn
Where Cape Town’s Food Story Comes Alive
Every autumn, as the clocks go back and the evenings draw in across west London, I notice the same thing among my neighbours in Whitton and along the Richmond side of the borough. Their thoughts drift south. Cape Town is an overnight flight away, with little jet lag to speak of, and when we are reaching for the winter coat, the city is easing into spring with long, golden evenings and Table Mountain standing over everything. In a single day you can wander the painted houses of the Bo-Kaap, drive out to vineyards beneath Chapman’s Peak, or follow the wild coastline around Cape Point. The Bo-Kaap is the place to start. It climbs the slopes of Signal Hill in rows of bright facades and cobbled lanes, and it has been home to the city’s Cape Malay community for generations. Its spice-led cooking runs through the way Cape Town eats today. Nearby, Atlas Trading on Wale Street has been a local institution since 1946, and its back-room spice drawers are where neighbourhood cooks still shop. For anyone who thinks of South African food as a single cuisine, this part of the city is a useful correction. It shows how Dutch, French, Indian and African influences have blended over three centuries into something distinctly Capetonian.
The People Behind the Plates
What makes these places worth the flight is the people running them. At the Bo-Kaap cooking experience, a guided walk through the neighbourhood ends in a family-style kitchen where visitors make samosas, roti, chicken curry and dhaltjies alongside a local cook who has been doing this for decades. It is a small business, and it depends on visitors who want more than a photo of the colourful streets. Out at Cape Point, Veld and Sea is led by wild food forager Roushanna Gray, and its foraging sessions teach guests to identify indigenous plants, coastal greens and seafood along the shoreline. Everything gathered goes into the meal that follows, so the plate reflects the landscape around it. Further along the peninsula, Cape Point Vineyards in Noordhoek runs a restaurant where the kitchen plays with familiar ideas. Its Calgappa tartare, a take on the Indian golgappa, is a good example of the creativity on offer. These businesses rely on tourism, and they also depend on the wider Cape Town community that supplies their ingredients, hires their staff and keeps the traditions alive. When a visitor books a cooking class or a long lunch, that money stays in the neighbourhood and helps sustain the people who make the city’s food scene what it is.
What Local Readers Should Know Before Booking
If you are thinking about the trip, a little planning goes a long way. Flights from Heathrow are frequent, but prices shift quickly around school holidays and the southern hemisphere’s spring break, so set a price alert and be flexible on dates. Because costs are priced in rand, it is also worth checking the exchange rate before you commit. Budgeting for a holiday like this is a more serious exercise than it looks, and it is one reason I recommend keeping every receipt. Many self-employed people in Hounslow and across the borough now handle their own travel records for tax purposes, and a simple spreadsheet or a conversation with a local bookkeeper can save real money at the end of the year. Business travellers should also check whether any part of the trip qualifies as a work expense. For bookings, most of the restaurants and tours mentioned here take reservations online. Foraging sessions and cooking classes fill up fast in spring, so book ahead. Finally, do not overlook the smaller stops, like buying spices at Atlas Trading, which will do more for your home cooking than any cookbook. Pack an extra bag for them.
Source: The Cape Escape | A Mountain of Food on the Table
