A colleague newly returned from Joburg sent this link to me this morning. (Shout out to DK!) I like the second last paragraph best! It’s nice to be related to a “literary type.” (Though I object strenuously to the mini-rail against moms and babes.) Read the Found: one café society member, from the Business Day article.
The article proved to be of personal insight too. I’ve been known to have exacting standards for my cups of decaf cappuccino. It’s a pass/fail grading and I’d rather ‘go dry’ than sip something sub-standard. (And yes, to those who remember, the Google Map of ‘global coffee purveyors who pass’ is still… “in progress.”)
As it so happens, ‘The Chef,’ the cafe featured in the article, is one I frequent often when in the company of the person mentioned in the second last paragraph. ‘The Chef’ gets a pass, as does ‘Service Station’, another delightful eatery in the Melville neighbourhood of Johannesburg.) (And if you’d like to read more about baker Stuart McClarty, read this profile from ‘The Baker’, a local trade magazine, from which the above photo is taken.
But that’s not the insight, it’s this: Is what I’ve always considered a wholly personal preference actually a national characteristic shared among my generation? I think this calls for a cup.
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