Anyway, I got up a bit lazily (no surprise when one goes to bed at 3:30, by far the latest so far on the trip), with not too much planned other than my "first whole day in Cape Town" standard of hiking The Pipe Track trail that traipses along the side of Table Mountain base towards the 12 Apostles. Why is this a standard? We'll get to that.
First, I had a quick coffee at Bootlegger's a Cape Town chain that has a location at the foot of the road my AirBNB is on. Then off to an early lunch at Between Us, which is a great lunch spot (they serve dinner as well) half the way from the Waterfront area to the turn-off towards Table Mountain - where the Pipe Track Trail starts. Between Us hasn't altered its menu much over the years, but arguably has no reason to - the dishes are all quite good. I got a ricotta and marjoram gnudi as a starter, which was tasty but not at all what I expected visually - being more just quinelles of ricotta cheese and diced marjoram, with full leaves of marjoram to add a final kick. For the main I got the oxtail ragu parpardelle, wihch I've had before but wanted primarily due carb up before the hike.
The hike starts literally at the meeting point on Google Maps of the large green expanse marking Table Mountain, and the smaller green expanse marking Lion's Head (the second most famous peak in the area). One day I may hike Lion's Head also, but today was not that day. The Pipe Track follows the side of mountain, with incredible views of Table Mountain (though from the side, so not the famous flat-top view), Lion's Head, the glistening Atlantic Ocean, Camps Bay town adn beach, and the series of peaks that are visible for a few miles before slightly turning inward and down, ultimately ending at Cape Point.
It's not the most arduous hike, and if anything the main issue is the lack of shade. There are the picturesque shaped-by-wind trees at spots, but generally you are exposed to the sun. That same brilliance of a fully blue sky doesn't help so much now. What the path does have is just endless moments where you have a feeling of (1) it's just insane being here, this far away from home, staring at the beautiful Atlantic and (2) it's just too beautiful. Truly, it's an amazing visual experience, and ends at the rows of amazing houses built into the lower cliff-face above Camps Bay. Often I've looked at the prices of these houses - given exchange rate they're not outrageous, but also probably not worth it if I'm here just five days a year!
After was my first go at ambling around the waterfront (I guess second, since I did a bit of that yesterday). Again, no real object in mind, just strolling through the lifeblood of Cape Town, just as post work on a Friday mood setting in for the locals. Again, without a cloud in sight I couldn't stop myself from taking even more pictures. It might be the best view in the world from anywhere in a major city - except maybe beaten by the view from Signal Hill in Cape Town itself. After a couple more cocktails at Cause Effect, including one of their classics of a honey gin lime drink with frozen nitrogen and stuff, I was ready to go to my first tasting menu meal of the time in Cape Town.
For years, the most prominent restaurant in Cape Town was The Test Kitchen, run by Luke Dale Roberts. It was a notoriously difficult table to snag, and I never had luck in my 2018 and 2020 trips. By the pandemic, it shut down, with him keeping on running the sister tapas style restuarant of The Pot Luck Club (been 2018, 2020, 2023 and going again Monday for lunch). Well, I guess Mr. Roberts, through a combination of the world economy recovering, and the itch for brilliance, opened a new space called Salon - an 11-course tasting menu journey across all types of cuisines, but all places that Roberts worked or lived. Three of the dishes were South African, but the rest went as wide as Mexico, Lebanon, Philippines, Korea, France, Germany. Usually I wouldn't trust a place to try to give you such disparate cuisine. But I should've realized that there's no reason to ever doubt Mr. Roberts.
The meal was incredible - I think the best I've ever had in Cape Town (though Pier is close). The dishes were all so well crafted - delicate, super flavorful, inventive, and true to each cuisine. My favorite was probably an immaculate take on duck l'orange as the first main, or what was called a "tuna ceasar" from Mexico which ended up as an undescribably concoction of differet types of Mexican cooking featuring tuna tartare. They also had an affordable drink pairing that was primarily wine but also featured a tequila cocktail for the Mexican dish, and a sake for teh main of kalbi short rib and maitaki mushroom rice. My other meals will be I guess more South African, but hard to expect any to be better.
For my post-dinner time, I essentially just replayed the same routine from the day before at The House of Machines and then Modular. I was initially hoping to go back to Cause Effect, but didn't have realistically enough time after the meal at Salon took 2.5 hrs - will save Cause Effect for tomorrow post-dinner. Both House of Machines and Modular were busier than the day before - including at least ten people I ran into at Modular that were at House of Machines before it. Maybe on my next trip I'll get more inventive with bar options aside of House of Machines - or as early as Sunday as Cape Town is notoriously (to me at least) quiet on Sundays. But House of Machines has the advantage of being walking distance from Modular. I'm sure there are a bevy of other places, like the series of them higher up on Kloof Street, that are as good as House of Machines, but why tkae risks away from something that works.
Modular was the usual level of crowded for a Friday, which is great. I'm always a bit of fearful of what Saturday may bring - generally at least a line to enter, though its more to process the cover as there's rarely been any sort of crowd control. It was a fun night had by all - another set of good DJs, quick pace bartenders and the rest. Walking by Halo - the Reset replacement - as it is on the way from the House of Machines to Modular and I'[m thankful Modular has kept its true belief of being a top notch spot for techno and EDM. Cape Town needs it.
