Growing up in the 70s, every Saturday morning my brother and I would toddle down to our local tea-room. Clutching our hard-earned pocket-money we had the luxury of a spending spree every Saturday morning. Michael’s “thing” was a shiny new comic. What was my childhood vice? Well – it was a doughnut! I started my love affair with food very young in life.
The Corner Café takes me right back to those wonderfully carefree childhood days of lazy walks to the local shop. On the corner of Brand and Cromwell Roads in Glenwood – you can take a trip down memory lane. Judd and Jeannie Campbell have rescued this architectural gem from certain destruction – poured tones of love and creativity into the space and strive constantly to create “The Greenest Café in the World.” So far, let me tell you, they are doing a pretty damn good job.
Here’s how they’re doing it:
* Chef Jeannie sources local produce where ever possible, and always seasonal.
* A grey water system which collects all the water used for laundry and filters it to be used on the gardens.
* 3 wind turbines power 50% of the café’s needs.
* The electric fence is solar powered as well as their 300l geyser.
* No microwaves, no chip fryers, no straws.
* Suppliers have a strict “no plastics” criteria to follow.
* Herbs and some vegetables are grown with an endless supply of worm tea.
* Waste is separated and recycled.
These two “super-heroes” of the “green” world don’t bang on about green – they DO GREEN. Their décor is complemented with many ‘re-purposed’ items. I can hear the cries from the public already, “Yes, but what’s the food like?” The food is absolutely sublime – it’s organic, seasonal, healthy, delicious, creative, and attractive and did I mention delicious?
My sister ordered the nutty beetroot patties served with a barley wheat and celery salad with uber creamy mayo (R43.00) and I ordered off the daily special menu – the roast butternut, cream cheese and quinoa salad with an ice cold glass of ice cold refreshing organic sauvignon blanc from The Ladybird in Stellenbosch. We lazily munched our way outside on the patio – under the shade of their billowing sails, oblivious of the world.
Their menu is innovative – and to my personal absolute delight – it’s seasonal! I bang on with chefs so often about seasonality and freshness of produce etc. No imported Italian tinned tomatoes here with carbon footprints as long as the Comrades Marathon – just great fresh seasonal food that is prepared with love and is mindful of our fragile earth. And it’s absolutely gorgeous. Check out the fabulous picture gallery.
You leave The Corner Café – having eaten extremely well and feeling as if you have saved just a wee bit of the earth, and this all in your lunch hour!
The Corner Café was reviewed by Janice Tripepi. Check out her fabulously droolworthy blog.