Late in June, I received the most wonderful gift from good friends Pieter and Gretha. Kopi Luwak coffee. Asian palm civets, mainly on islands in the Indonesian archipelago, select the best coffee berries on a tree, add some of their own digestive juices and then, voilà, resulting from the poop is the most expensive coffee in the world. After some thorough cleaning of course. The coffee is lovely and has a multi-layered flavour with a definite beginning, middle and end. I had to smile, when shortly after receiving my gift, it was mentioned in an episode of a series I don’t normally watch, but happened to see. Just love the synchronicity.
The choice for the next coffee trail destination fell to me and the selection of the Ginger and Fig had a bit of help from technology. Standard Bank recently released their Snapscan application where you can use your cell phone to pay for goods and services. Downloaded the app forthwith, but then found that only two places in Pretoria have signed up so far. And yes, you guessed it, the Ginger and Fig was one of them. When I saw the name, I realised that someone else had also recommended it. So that was that.
I managed to twist Husband’s not-so-keen-on-movies arm to accompany me to see Fading Gigolos (with John Turturro and Woody Allen) after which we would then visit the Ginger and Fig.
We were a bit early for the movie (at Brooklyn Nouveau) and ended up at the Lucky Bread company for a light something and coffee. It is a wonderful little place under the escalators going up to the main movie theatres. The coffee was good (!) and the bread and butter pudding we shared was delicious. This is a gem and really worth a visit! And the coffee, while not quite the grail yet, definitely coming close.
The movie was thoroughly enjoyable and afterwards we set off to the Ginger and Fig for a late lunch. Just in time as well, because they close at 15:00 on a Saturday, although it seems that they open at 6:00 (that is AM) on weekdays. It is situated in a small shopping centre on the corner of Lynnwood and Jan Shoba and looks fairly plain from the outside. The inside is small, but beautifully decorated and has quite a number of interesting light fixtures and other décor pieces.
The coffee had a flavour reminiscent of dried figs. Interesting and certainly nicely paired with the name, but as I am not into flavoured coffees at all, not really my cup of … um, well, coffee. The burgers were very good though and it was well worth a visit. The Snapscan also worked like a charm and I hope to see it in more shops soon.
A lovely, leisurely Saturday indeed.
