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Southern Africa

The Southern African hot list
June 2025

Southern Africa • Insider guides • The Southern African hot list June 2025

What we’re loving in June 2025 (and you will too)

Stay informed and stay inspired! The Southern African hot list is your monthly dossier of what’s shaping the cultural and creative landscape across Southern Africa. From smart new openings and design-forward projects to events worth pencilling into your diary, we spotlight the ideas and initiatives that matter. Whether you’re a local with a keen eye on your surroundings or a traveller seeking authentic inspiration, this is your curated guide to the things that are getting our attention (and deserve your’s, too).

Top photography courtesy of Poetry

Ongetem: Bertus Basson’s inner-city bistro in Cape Town

Ongetem is chef Bertus Basson’s first City Bowl venture (inside Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof) and it’s defiantly down-to-earth. Basson says he’s not trying to be a hotel restaurant – instead, he built Ongetem as a welcoming neighbourhood spot. The interior feels homey with dark timber, open fires, vintage posters and Edison bulbs under a high ceiling. The menu is equally straightforward – no pea shoots, no foam, no drama – just seasonal cooking and Cape classics given a fresh edge. Some dishes that steal the show are flame-grilled steaks, open-fire breads, local mussels and a traditional lamb stew. We love the little details like the neon logo sign, which proudly reads – Butcher, Baker, Cocktail Maker. Ongetem delivers what Basson promised – a bold, wild and untamed counterpoint to Cape Town’s fancier tables.

Ongetem
24 Park Rd
Gardens
Cape Town
South Africa

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Photography courtesy of Ongetem

Erinvale Estate Hotel & Spa: Somerset West’s redesigned heritage wine estate

Set beneath the Hottentots-Holland Mountains, Erinvale Estate has long been a serene country retreat. Recently, it has undergone a design refresh that blends its 17th-century roots with a fresh colour and pattern palette, guided by leading Cape Town interior designer Clinton Savage. Part of this new phase for Erinvale Estate Hotel & Spa is the addition of the spa and wellness area featuring four treatment rooms, a nail studio, a scrub room, a sauna, a steam room, a stunning 25-metre lap pool, a state-of-the-art gym, a yoga studio and the Jasmine Terrace for healthy refreshments. These new spaces feature Zen-inspired aesthetics with warm timber tones and brass details that create a calm and balanced atmosphere.

Erinvale Estate Hotel & Spa
1 Erinvale Ave
Somerset West
Cape Town
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Erinvale Estate Hotel & Spa

The Oyster Lounge: a taste of the sea in Paternoster

At the Abalone Hotel & Villas on Paternoster’s edge, The Oyster Lounge is the new seaside jewel. The concept is laid-back coastal chic – an ocean-view patio and stylish indoor bar where bottles of chilled Champagne await. As the name suggests, The Oyster Lounge offers fresh-out-of-the-water West Coast oysters alongside Nikkei-style sushi, tapas and a premium selection of Champagne and bubbly. The décor is breezy white wood with blue-grey accents, matching the Atlantic horizon. By afternoon, the deck glows under the African sun – this is the prime time to sip on a glass of bubbles and nibble on some olive tapenade toast or lime-dressed oysters.

The Oyster Lounge
5 Koenibos St
Bek Bay
Paternoster
South Africa

Photography courtesy of The Oyster Lounge

Here: a living gallery and café in Johannesburg

In Rosebank, Here has quickly become the go-to weekend hangout. This cafe/workspace opened in May 2025 with a focus on creating a community-friendly gathering space. Here feels both airy and intimate with big windows on a park corner, raw concrete floors paired with matte tile walls, minimal decor, potted plants and carved-wood communal tables. For owner Poelano Malema it’s not just about coffee but about creating a space that feels alive, intentional and personal. The concept of Here is to be a creative third space for networking, co-working or casual meetups. The menu keeps things simple – toasted sourdoughs and shakshuka for breakfast and a tasty line of flat whites and cold brews.

Here
8 Tyrwhitt Ave
Rosebank
Johannesburg
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Here

Die Stoep: fireside dining at Vriesenhof Vineyards in Stellenbosch

Die Stoep, Afrikaans for the porch, perfectly captures the feel of this latest Stellenbosch farm restaurant. Die Stoep is where the past meets the present – here the farm’s history sets the tone, but the kitchen kicks it up a notch with modern bites. Housed in Vriesenhof Vineyard’s renovated manor house, it showcases the farm’s heritage with design features like oak beams, wide verandas and whitewashed stone walls. The kitchen celebrates Cape produce in elemental ways. Share platters of charcuterie and local cheeses or graze on bright salads dressed with olive oil from Vriesenhof’s own groves. The wood-fired pizzas and flamed meats are a must, especially the lamb and hake.

Die Stoep
Vriesenhof Vineyards
Paradyskloof Rd
Stellenbosch
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Die Stoep

Poetry: a Cape Town concept store for slow living and style

In Sea Point’s historic Laughtons Hardware building, Poetry’s new concept store blurs the line between shop and salon. This two-storey space merges fashion, homeware and lifestyle under one expansive roof. The design respects the old warehouse shell (exposed brick and steel trusses) while adding mid-century modern touches like polished concrete floors, teak wood fixtures and lounge nooks. Drawing from the ideas of sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who originally presented the notion of third places, the shop transforms retail into a friendly space that sits between home and the workplace. Beyond their complete fashion and homeware collections, Poetry is also collaborating with other brands to enhance the shopping experience. Key collaborations include a sustainable fashion rental/purchase collection with Style Rotate, a curated café experience by Our Local and a South African art collection in partnership with Tina Le Cordeur, with art available for purchase.

Poetry
295 Main Rd
Sea Point
Cape Town
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Poetry

Sinn: brining grit and glamour to Johannesburg

Sandton’s swankiest new address, the LXX Centre, is home to Sinn, an experiential luxury restaurant promising full-throttle indulgence. The dining room is atmospheric and dramatic – velvet booths, star-like LED lights and a gleaming onyx bar give it a lounge-like feel. Chef Diala Gnaba heads the kitchen, where the focus is on modern Mediterranean and Italian cuisine – here you’ll find refined pastas, octopus carpaccio and creative risottos – all plated with a showy flourish. At Sinn, the cocktails are theatrical – smoked whisky sours and gold-dusted martinis – which you can sip on the weekend while DJs keep the energy buzzing and upbeat.

Sinn
70 Rivonia Rd
Sandhurst
Sandton
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Sinn

Threeshold at Southern Guild: an immersive installation in Cape Town

Head over to Southern Guild to catch a glimpse of the Thresholds exhibition running from 29 May to 14 August 2025. Threshold features multidisciplinary work by 18 artists. It delves into profound themes of place, the human body’s interaction with land and the various structures – both physical and ideological – that influence our existence. Featured artists include Simphiwe Buthelezi, who crafts immersive, tactile abstractions from traditional materials like reed mats and beads, creating mnemonic landscapes. Nozuko Madokwe uses local earth pigments gathered from pilgrimages to Cape Town’s mountains, blurring the lines between body, land and spirit. Belinda Blignaut creates ceramic vessels from wild clay, incorporating elemental materials like snake skins and shells. Mmangaliso Nzuza’s oil paintings depict figures with soft dignity, asserting a profound sense of space and insisting on rest, stillness, joy and the expansive right to subjectivity.

Southern Guild
V&A Waterfront
Silo 5 S Arm Rd
Cape Town
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Southern Guild

Sundaze at Coy: long-table Sunday meals in Cape Town

Sundaze is a new Sunday dining concept making its debut at Coy. It is designed as a relaxed yet elegant shared-style dining experience, bringing people together for a proper Sunday reset. The set menu, curated by head chefs Teenola Govender and Geoffrey Abrahams, is exclusive to Sundaze, ensuring a unique offering each Sunday. A signature element is that all dishes incorporate some aspect from the fire, reflecting Coy’s renowned modern African cooking with an ocean-inspired, sustainable focus. You can look forward to dishes like marinated olives and roasted tomatoes, amagwinya (fried dough) brioche topped with smoked sirloin, capers, dill and a bramble currant. For mains, the whole roasted fish with ras el hanout, charred limes and sumac onions steals the show.

Coy
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
Cape Town
South Africa

Photography courtesy of Coy

Kolonaki Greek Kouzina: a taste of Athens in the heart of Johannesburg

A second branch of Parkhurst’s acclaimed Greek mezze house, Kolonaki Greek Kouzina, has opened in Bryanston. Kolonaki is the brainchild of chef-owner Vassilios Lemoulas, an award-winning Greek-Australian whose playful menus have transformed Johannesburg’s Greek scene. This modern counterpart to the Parkhurst heritage home setting offers an ambience with graceful Grecian drapes, textile accent ceilings and blush neutral shades, designed to transport you to a high-end, marble-clad restaurant set somewhere above the Aegean Sea. On the menu, you can expect the same flavour and style as the original Kolonaki – from grilled octopus drizzled in local olive oil to halloumi with honey and sesame – all showing Vassilios’s bold, inventive style.