Voodoo Boogie Mondays at TRUTH with the Steam-Funk Project

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Karisa

Right, always thought Mondays are bloody boring and there’s nothing better to do than just sit on the couch, surfing channels, having to pick the best thing to watch out of a bad bunch of crappy TV? Well I say no more!

Rather head on over to TRUTH Coffee in Buitenkant St for their Voodoo Boogie Mondays, pull up a seat, get yourself a drink & something to eat and let your earholes welcome some sexy groove jazz funk tunes…

Food wise they have burger, pizza, pasta & salad options… We had the Chorizo pizza (R70), you just can’t go wrong with chorizo. I also attempted my very first Martini without realising how strong they are. So I did the unthinkable and asked the barman for a shot of passionfruit cordial to add in and take the edge off. Bond would certainly not approve… Can you see it now “shaken or stirred”? Me: no, just gimme some sugar baby! Hehe.

The lineup for the evening consists out of 4 guys, all established musicians in their own right, who’ve come together for your pleasure as the Steam-Funk Project:

Say hello to Rus Nerwich, Gorm Helfjord, Kesivan Naidoo, Rob Nel & Lee Thomson

The tunes are smooth… and the vibe is gooood… I think a quote from this 70s Wild Cherry hit best sets the scene:

Play that funky music white boy

Play that funky music right

Play that funky music white boy

Lay down the boogie and play that funky music till you die

Good luck with getting that song out of your head the rest of the day. Ha!

Here are all the deets you need to know:

Where? TRUTH, 36 Buitenkant St
When? Mondays after work until 9pm
Cover charge? Hell no, just rock up and enjoy.

And high 5s all round for shakin’ up Mondays in the city…

xxx

50 Shades of grey at Lion’s Head Bar

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Karisa

My friend Darryn and I headed over to Bree St to check out this new little bar called Lion’s Head Bar.

It’s in the same vicinity as &Union. So it definitely hits the mark location wise with a lot of cool little spots in that area.

From the outside, it had quite a lot of promise, but once inside, I have to say, I was quite taken aback by the overwhelming grey on grey palette.

Darryn coined it when he said “This place is so hipster, even colour is too commercial”

But seriously, it was a little weird. Grey walls, grey floors, grey tables, grey chairs, grey bar, you name it, and it was grey… At least there was some element of grey shading:

Oooh, livin’ on the edge…

But ja… overall, it was weird. I will say though, once my eyes got used to the ocean of grey and my depression lifted - I thought it was quite a quirky spot to have a drink. The wine was really nice and they’ve got a great view of Bree St. Oh and of course, if grey happens to be your favourite colour in the world, you’re gonna freakin’ love this place.

On our way out we spotted this Volksie Kombi and figured it must certainly be the owner’s:

Come on, you just know it is…

Wanna check it out for yourselves? You’ll find it at 103 Bree St and they’re open Tue – Sat 3pm to 2am.

They do also have some light meals on their menu, but on the night they said they didn’t have any food. So can’t comment on that one.

I’m very interested to hear some other thoughts on the place. So if you’ve been there, do leave a comment below.

xxx

Short & Sweet film fest at the new It’s a house

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Karisa

Last year I attended my first Short & Sweet film festival… and I raved about it here on the blog, on twitter, Facebook, BBM, Whatsapp, hell even via old school SMS. Why? Cause the Short & Sweet festival is THAT great. It showcases a variety of international and local short films, animations & music videos from both established & up-and-coming creatives and you leave there every night feeling either moved in some way, totally inspired or at minimum just a little lighter cause you’ve managed to have a bit of a laugh.

It’s good for your soul I tell ya!

Now as much as I loved their Wunderbar Theatre winter home last year, I’ve totally fallen in love with their new summer season location – It’s a house in De Waterkant. In their own words, It’s a house is:

a ‘bespoke lifestyle’, a creative concept geared toward creating an environment where people can embody and express their inner creative being.
An integrated space which promotes interaction, collaboration and offers comfort in a home type ambience where creativity and imagination can breed with ease.

That sounds great for sure, but in my words it’s just simply a damn awesome space. You can browse through some clothing by young designers, grab a coffee, have a drink, get something to eat, and mingle with all kinds of creatives, all under one roof. And the decor is an interesting mix of antique pieces, odd nicknacks and new, modern designs.

The bar needs an extra special mention because it’s truly incredible. Just check this out:

It’s made out of hundreds of odd pieces of wood, carefully put together to create something quite special. Beautiful right?

For the movies, they’ve erected a screen on the left hand side of the venue and they put out seating and all that. But it’s kept quite informal and fun. So it’s definitely a different vibe than sitting in a cinema. I mean, can you enjoy a glass of wine in the cinema? Hell no you can’t…

Movie watching bliss…

Look good? Of course it does. Here’s all the info you’re gonna need…

Short & Sweet need to knows:

When? Every Tuesday eve for the summer season
Shorts are no longer than 15min each and you get to see 8 to 10 shorts in an evening.
Doors open at 6pm and films start at 8pm sharp. But get there early to get a good seat.
Tickets are available at the door, but there are only 150 seats available, so to avoid disappointment rather get them through Webtickets over here before hand.

It’s a house facts:

Address: 20 Jarvis Street, De Waterkant
Opening hours: Mon – Sat 8am to midnight
Contact them on: 021 418 2411
They are fully licenced and apparently the burgers are really tasty.
Go on and give them a “Like” on their Facebook page.

See you guys at the next one?

xxx

Knock knock… who’s there? A new pop-up bar in De Waterkant

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Karisa

A new pop-up bar has opened in the Mother City for the party season. It’s called the Knock Knock Bar and it’s the brainchild of the guys from 3 Blind Mice.

It opened it’s doors back in December and is normally only open on Wednesday and Friday evenings, but I hear this week they’re also piloting a Thursday eve R&B and Hip Hop session. Wednesdays usually gets you moving with live jazz and electro swing and on Friday’s they spin up some old school funk.

Knock Knock mimics the old “speakeasy” vibe from the 1920s in the US. For those who are going “huh?”, a speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold booze during the Prohibition period (from 1920 to 1933). During this period it was illegal to sell, manufacture or transport booze, and any such activity was referred to as “bootlegging”. Ooooooh. Speakeasies therefore became very popular underground party spots and I guess one could say it’s like the old school version of a what we know as a shebeen today.

Anyhoo, now that we’ve gotten the history lesson out of the way, the real important thing to take note of is that you need to knock twice to get your butt inside:

Using the fancy door knocker on the left there of course… And they’re very serious about it btw.

You’re going to experience some weird things when you first enter. There are two rooms you need to pass through before you get to the bar and what happens there I’m going to leave as a surprise (mostly because I’m still a little confused by it all as well ). But forge ahead because the main bar area is pretty cool:

They have Jack Black on tap and some interesting cocktail options, plus a whole bunch of other poisons to choose from. They also do themed evenings, for example when were were there last Fri the theme was “A day at the races”, so you can expect more surprises relating to the theme and dress up is encouraged. (Follow them on Twitter over here for theme updates and other info).

I’d say if you’re in the mood for something a little offbeat, you’ll certainly dig this spot.

Things you need to know:

Address: Rawbone Lane (right in the corner) - Cnr of Rawbone & De Smit St, De Waterkant, Green Point
Doors open at: 9pm
Dress Code: No effort, no entry
Contact them on: 083 399 3334 or knockknock@3blindmice.co.za

xxx

Pete Tong hits Cape Town

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Karisa

So the legendary Mr Pete Tong was actually booked to help us usher in the new year… but the Cape Doctor seemed to have other plans…

Sadly due to the crazy winds we experienced on new year’s eve, the NYE Live City Linkup event which was planned to take place at the V&A Waterfront Rooftop was cancelled due to safety concerns. And I can tell you, there were sad faces all round.

BUT THEN luckily the guys from Samsung #GalaxyExperience as well as the One-eyed Jack crew managed to keep him in town a little longer to still let him show off his skills at The Reserve last Friday evening to a lucky 500 guys & girls, of which I was one. I was unfortunately still fighting a losing battle with that stomach bug, but I was determined not to miss out. So I slept until midnight, then got up and slapped on some (OK lots) of makeup and a party dress, all in the hopes of looking a little less like death warmed up in a microwave and off I went with boyfriend, Bjorn and bestie, Darryn, who were doing a great job of holding me up.

Armed with our Samsung glow sticks we patiently waited for the big man to make his appearance…

That blue hue was exactly how my insides felt at the time. Hehe.

And then, just like that, it all went Pete Tong baby!

Yes, I still felt pretty blegh, but being able to see Pete live for the first time ever after listening to so many of his amazing podcasts over the years, made me very very happy.

So a big thanks Pete… much love…

I didn’t manage to stay until the bitter end, but at least I went, I saw and I loved…

I’m sure Pete’s now fallen in love with our beautiful city as well (I mean come now, it’s impossible not to) and hopefully we’ll see him again soon. I do have a guest bedroom Pete, just sayin’.

xxx

I check out the much talked about Shimmy Beach Club

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Karisa

Now I’ve heard quite a lot of rumours about this new beach club which is only just a month old. Everything from a playground for the super wealthy, high class “ladies of the night”, go-go dancers, pole dancing and mermaids in the pool to very mixed feedback around the service & the food…

So with all this hype around Shimmy Beach Club, I decided I just had to pop in last week to check it out for myself. (even though I was battling some weird stomach bug and wasn’t my usual sprightly self… how’s that for blog coverage dedication hey )

Parking was a bit tricky. There was a Scheckter’s Organic Energy Drink & Full Circle Model Management party happening, so it was quite busy. But the other reason you won’t easily find parking upfront is because parking is reserved for babies like these:

My poor Mini Cooper just didn’t cut it… shame… don’t tell her, she’ll be mortified. To me she’s still my very own Ferrari…. (yes, my car’s a “she” OK. She’s a lady.)

Once inside you’re greeted by lots of silver & sparkle alongside some kick ass sea views:

And then as you walk past the bar to the outside you’ll find the private beach area with lots of white couches & loungers, a dance floor which apparently elevates & lights up as well as a big wooden deck area where one can enjoy some cocktails and chill.

Of course a beach club wouldn’t be complete without an impressive pool (well especially a Cape Town based one, cause the sea water is just too bloody cold ):

And if you’re feeling peckish, they’ve also got a pretty big restaurant which is run by Chef Seelan Sundoo, he previously from The Reserve Brasserie, Grand Café Camps Bay and La Perla. Starters range from R55 – R120, mains from R70 – R250 and desserts from R40 – R75. So yes, a bit pricey, but not crazy compared to Cape Town standards.

Thanks to my stomach bug though I couldn’t eat or drink anything. So my poison for the day was sadly water only. BUT I must say, it was served up with quite a lot of flair which made me feel slightly better about my depressing predicament:

The new standard for water jugs for sure…

Overall I really did like the place from what I saw. It certainly reminds you of the venues you’d see on MTV or Fashion TV with those big parties in Ibiza, Brazil and the likes. As I noted above, I can’t say anything about the food/service cause I didn’t sit down to eat. But from a summer party perspective, I think it ticks quite a few boxes. I also didn’t stay too late, so can’t comment on any activities which possibly happen in the wee hours…

There was no cover charge when we were there, but this past Friday I see they posted the following message on their Facebook page:

Dear Patrons, please note there is a R100 cover charge Monday to Saturday from 20.30 with exception of those with Restaurant and table bookings.

This news mostly got a negative response. In my mind, it’s a tough one, yes one could argue it’s to keep certain unsavoury folks out, but then again you have The Grand and The Bungalow which are both great venues, offering a similar experience and they do not charge a cover charge… so I’d be interested to see how this pans out.

Things to take note of:

Address: South Arm Road - V&A Waterfront – Clock Tower side (From Buitengraght into V&A, head towards the Clock Tower, but pass the Clock Tower and stay to the right, head straight at next roundabout towards the Harbour Control Tower & Shimmy’s behind that to the right)
Tel for bookings: 021 – 200 7778
Opening hours: Mon – Sun 9am to 2am (Kitchen times: Mon – Sun 11am to 11pm)

Anybody else been and have some thoughts to share?

xxx

I rediscover the Planet Bar at the Mount Nelson

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Karisa

It’s funny how sometimes, even though you do love a place, you get so caught up with finding the next new thing that you forget about an “old goodie” you might have left behind…

One such spot for me is the Planet Bar at the Mount Nelson Hotel. I was there recently purely because a friend of mine was staying at the hotel and I had to step back and go “wait just a minute, this place is really great, why’s it been so loooong?” Thinking back it must be about 2 years since I was last there, taking in the beautiful decor and sipping on a delicious glass of bubbly. And I realised there & then that I really really missed it.

So anyways, if I like me you haven’t been there in a while, why not pop in to say hi. If you actually haven’t yet made your way there, all I can say is that it makes for a really great spot for pre-party drinks or just a chilled, sophisticated evening with friends.

xxx

Ticket giveaway – NYE Live City Linkup Cape Town featuring the legendary Pete Tong

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Karisa

So one New Year’s eve celebration which is certainly going to be HUGE is the Live City Linkup which will be taking place at the V&A Waterfront Rooftop Party and featuring iconic international electronic DJ, Pete Tong (he of some of the biggest parties in Ibiza and the most legendary radio shows, the Pete Tong Show and Essential Mix). I’ve listened to quite a few podcasts in my lifetime and can tell you that I’m a very big fan. So I’m quite sure you guys will love him too (if you don’t already).

Brought to you by Samsung Galaxy, 5FM and G&G Productions, this party will see two cities, Ballito & Cape Town, and approx 21,000 people come together through a live broadcast. Pete will start off the evening in Ballito where he’ll be doing his thing at their NYE street party and then he jets of to the mother city to welcome in 2013. Sjoe, hopefully there aren’t any flight delays.

Other acts include 5FM DJs Fresh, Roger Goode, Gareth Cliff and Poppy Ntshongwana as well as Live Veranda Panda, Nick Supply, Royal K, Justin Miller, Chris Jack, Kyle Worde, Spindoctor, Tomorrows Will, Niskerone, Dunn, Gio Ricca, Greg Watson, Peter Booth, Funky G, Benny Maverick, Bhashkar, Amigo, Mark E Mark and more.

Important info to take note of:

Date: 31 Dec 2012 (duh… of course)
Venue: Cape town – Waterfront Rooftop Party, V&A Waterfront (7pm to 4am)
For more event info, check out: www.newyearsevesa.co.za and www.5fm.co.za or email them on info@newyearsevesa.co.za
Tickets: Available through Computicket over here.

But listen up guys: I’ve got 2 General Admission tickets to the Cape Town party to give away, valued at R380 each. One MLAWCT reader will get them by simply sending the following tweet:

Hey @CTmylove I want to party at the Cape Town NYE Live City Linkup with Pete Tong #LoveNYEwin

Terms & conditions:

This competition is only open to people who will be in Cape Town on 31 Dec.
Only one entry per person
Competition closes at midnight on Wed, 26 Dec
Winner will be determined by lucky draw & announced here on my blog and on Twitter on Thu, 27 Dec

Good luck guys. And happy partying!

xxx

MCQP’s Fairytale Fantasy: The outfits, the craziness and the 2 dead unicorns…

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Karisa

Yes, that’s right… 2 unicorns died in the making of this evening. BUT I can totally explain, I promise.

MCQP is just one of those events where I don’t really have to explain too much cause the photos do the talking. And with this year’s Fairytale Fantasy theme, I was desperately trying to keep up with my camera, cause the outfits were absolutely brilliant.

I went as Pocahontas (my first outfit which was a slutty mini mouse fell through aaargggh) and got my outfit from Justagirl.co.za. My friend Darryn hooked us up with his lovely friend, Ash Barber, (the lady who put together our 5Gum Terror Island Experience zombie looks) to create a really awesome Cheshire cat:

I had to laugh at his hair paint bottle though. It says it makes you “Temporarily Beautiful” Hehe. What happens at midnight? Do you turm into a pumpkin or something?

The venue for MCQP this year was the Green Point Stadium. They also used it a few years back for their Flower Power party and I must say it makes for the best venue ever. It’s big and there are lots of rooms and areas which can easily be transformed into different bars and dance floors. I mean this year they had an 80s dance floor, a trance dance floor, the big main house dance floor, a cabaret marquee and a live band stage, just to name a few.

So before we get into all the outfits, here’s a few venue shots to set the scene:

mcqpvenue1

mcqpvenue2

mcqpvenue3

Ooh and then hitting the bar was actually quite a pleasure, cause all the barmen were in their undies! Yeah baby…

Take your time boys… take your time…

Right, onto the outfits. From kings & queens, to fairies & monsters, Smurfs, white rabbits and everything in between. The whole fairytale spectrum was covered. Sit back & relax and check this out:

Just for clarity: Siv was BEE Santa who’s clearly been hitting the gym and Angel was Religion. Very higher grade for MCQP.

Wait, let’s just pause a few seconds to ponder this sign… hmmmm…

OK then. Good to know.

And then shake our heads at Pocahontas’ very bad behaviour. Sies man!

Right, back to the outfits:

Victoria was a total champ. She stayed on those roller skates all night long. (And she already has a broken wrist from a skateboarding accident – respect)

On the left there – we found another Cheshire cat!

So… onto the story of the unicors then. Unicorn #1 I stole from the 80s dance floor decorations. I loved her soooooo much and decided to call her Betty:

BFFs for life… or so I thought…

We had sooooo much fun together…

Too much fun it seemed… cause Betty ended up like this:

Nooooooo!!!

I was very upset. I loved her too much! And she just couldn’t handle it. Luckily I spotted another Betty and the universe gave me a 2nd chance.

The term “50% love” then became the catchphrase for the evening. Everyime I’d would get too excited, someone would say “remember, tone it down to only 50% love”… and more fun was had… betty2

But in the end, Betty # 2 suffered the same fate as Betty # 1. CLEARLY I’m not responsible enough to own a unicorn people.

2 down & I figured I better quit before they’re all extinct…

Even though I was incredibly sad about the Betties. This was an evening for the record books for sure. Let’s do it all again next year, OK?

xxx

Belvedere Vodka throws an end of year bash at the “new” Orphanage

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Karisa

Last Wed eve I got totally spoilt with some haute couture cocktails & canapes at the Belvedere Vodka End of Year celebration which took place at the new extention of The Orphanage.

But before we get into the nitty gritty of what went down, let me first share some interesting titbits about this premium vodka brand, I mean you never know, it might come in handy one night during a particularly heated game of 30 seconds or something. And then you’ll be thanking me all the way.

It’s a Polish vodka and the name “Belvedere” was derived from Belweder, the Polish presidential palace.
It’s distributed by LVMH (that’s Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy daaahlings) which was formed in 1987 with the merger of Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy (a company which was formed back in 1971 thanks to a merger between champers producer, Moët & Chandon, and cognac specialist, Hennesy). So read “super fancy” here.
It is quadruple distilled, so it’s smooooooooth.

Right, now that we have that covered, you might be wondering what I meant by the new extension at The Orphanage. Well, the cocktail emporium I already love & highly recommend for a good night out has now expanded by adding a 2nd entrance on the Orphan St side which leads to a shiny new bar and upstairs dance area. For this event the upstairs area got a little Belvedere makeover of course, giving it a bit of a winter wonderland feel…

That’s my favourite mixologist, Nick Koumbarakis from http://alchemistsays.tumblr.com/, bottom right. He makes magic happen in a glass people.

The drinks & snacks for the evening were actually done as carefully planned pairings. For example with the Belvedere Pure Angels’ Innocence (the first drink below in the champers glass) we got beautiful steamed crayfish, on a toasted butter bun with some scallion mayo. Yum! And with the Belvedere Intense Dark Storm (the blue drink below) we got some tuna tartar with a sesame seed sprinkle on a wasabi & Nori omelette as well as some smoked Springbok carpaccio served on puff squares, drizzled with a balsamic reduction and sprinkled with micro greens. Canapes don’t quite get more high fashion that this.

Of course any good party needs some interesting folks on the scene as well:

Clockwise from top left: Me with favourites Leigh & Clouds, Kobus Dippenaar (the fabulous man who let me wear one of his creations to the SA Style Awards), the gorgeous Tanya Nefdt fome eTV News, dance expert & top choreographer Didi Moses and journo & all round lovely, Clayton Morar.

You might have noticed that I look quite shiny in the pics above. That’s because it was like a gazillion degrees that day and I was melting even though my dress had a ventilation system en als:

Hehe. Thought this would do the trick to keep me cool… but damn this crazy weather we’ve been having. It’s going to be a HOT HOT summer indeed.

People who were clearly dealing with the heat way more fashionably than I was were these gorgeous models in beautiful Jenni Button cocktail wear. Their looks were completed with striking hair & makeup by Cape Town hair extraordinaire, Marios Hair and makeup expert, David Sharp:

I would personally not be able to rock this hair, mainly because I wouldn’t fit into my Mini with it…

Other great looks were thanks to fashion power couple Elrico from Luxo Blog and his lovely girlfriend, Ritza. Seriously, they always look like they’ve just walked off the cover of a top fashion mag, like ALWAYS. I once ran into them at Canal Walk, just doing a bit of a casual shopping. They looked like perfection. I on the other hand was one step above rocking pajamas… Anyhoo, Ritza was wearing a really great short suit by Cape Town College of Fashion Design student, Julia Kimberlee. These two are planning on working with a lot more up-and-coming local designers to help them get their names out there, and I absolutely love that idea.

Loved Elrico’s awesome bowtie and bright shorts as well. Fun & colour are always winners in my book.

Thanks to Vivid Luxury for an awesome evening. It was certainly a nice way to finish off the year. And looky looky, I even made it into the City Press newspaper after:

OK yes, they misspelt my name AND they thought I was a fashion blogger. But who cares, it still counts dammit! I’ll be storing this clipping with my Huisgenoot spread OK.

xxx

My Love Affair with Cape Town…

Just random fun in my mother city

Category Archives: Night out on the town