The Bay Leaf

Since the beginning of the year the PE Coffee Crawlers have, for the most part, visited coffee shops in the Walmer and Summerstrand areas.  This past week we decided to head to the Kabega area at the opposite end of PE.  The Bay Leaf Bistro and Coffee Bar is the first shop we've been to in this part of town.  The Bay Leaf is located in the Metlife Plaza Shopping Centre next to Makro (for the benefit of my friends in the U.S., Makro is like Walmart or Target).

Well, all I can say is that it was good that the Crawlers arrived early and got a table because the shop got very busy very quickly.  Due to high winds on Thursday (no kidding,,, it's PE!!!) we chose to sit inside where there is available seating for sixty.  On a less windy day the outside patio area, which seats about fifty, would be quite pleasant.

Upon entering The Bay Leaf the thing I immediately noticed was the advertisement for Pavin Brand Italian coffee... another first for Thursday's Crawl.  After a year of Crawling, what a surprise for us to come across a brand of coffee we haven't had yet!  The Bay Leaf uses Pavin for the specialty coffee beverages and Sumatran Pride for their filter coffee.  Needless to say, with a new brand to be tasted, most everyone ordered cappuccinos, lattes or Americanos.  As for me I had to try one of each.  I also needed to order some Mozart cake just to keep the caffeine jitters in check! 

The decision to get the Mozart cake was extremely difficult as The Bay Leaf's baked goods display was "hands down" the most impressive we've seen to date!  All the cakes, pies, muffins and breads are made on site to owner Antonio Perreira's specs.  Besides the amazing pastries/breads, The Bay Leaf offers a full menu (breakfast, lunch, light dinner) menu for eat-in and a condensed version of the menu for take-away.  The staff also does catering for off-site functions as well as on-site special events.  A Sunday Roast Special for R49 with a free dessert is offered on Sundays for lunch.  The shop's hours will fit into everyone's busy schedules.... Mon-Thurs 8am-8pm,  Fri-Sat 8am-9pm,  Sun 8am-5pm.  So, have breakfast at The Bay Leaf before your shopping trip to Makro or get all your shopping done first and you'll still have plenty of time to pop over to The Bay Leaf for quick refreshments or dinner.

Meet the Owner
Antonio Perreira

Meet the Baristas
Maria and Chantel

My suspicion that Antonio had a "story" behind the shop's name was confirmed when I chatted with him and baristas Chantel and Maria after the Crawlers left.  The story goes that 20 years ago Antonio, in order to make some points with his future mother-in-law, asked his soon-to-be wife if a bay leaf plant would be an appropriate gift for her mother.  Well, 20 years later his mother-in-law's bay leaf tree and his marriage are both flourishing!  Hence, the name of this coffee shop that Antonio just opened in November, 2011.  Good luck, Antonio on your new business venture!

As Thursday's Crawlers, Beth Vieira, June Nash, Fran and Keith de Beer, Leanne Waller, Nomusa Nkomo, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Gail Darne, Jenny Fowler, Sylvia Mynhardt, gathered at The Bay Leaf we were all treated once again to the harvest from Nomusa's garden, this time in the form of tomatoes (to-mah-toes, whatever).  Thank you for sharing, Nomusa... you're spoiling us!

This Week's Crawlers
Nomusa, Jenny, Beth, Keith, Gail,
Fran, June, Stella, Beryl, Leanne, Sylvia

So, with the U.S. Presidential election process in full swing, the hot topic at my end of the table was U.S. and SA politics.  As with any political discussion there's never a shortage of opinions.  We then moved on to what is becoming a regular topic at the Crawl... books and authors.  Thursday's featured book was, "Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black" and other short stories, a collection of stories by Nobel Prize winning South African author, Nadine Gordimer.  Definitely an interesting read.  This one is on the must-read list for the Crawlers once The Elephant Whisperer  finishes making its rounds.  And the discussion as we were paying the bill and collecting our change.... SA car guards.  When Lou and I moved here the idea of car guards was "foreign" to us.  Now that we've been here a while we've grown accustomed to the services they provide like helping unload packages, taking your cart away, stopping cars and backing you out (not to mention watching your car).  During our most recent trip to NY I almost got hit by another car while I was pulling out of a parking spot at Walmart.  I thought, "Where's a good old fashioned car guard when you need one?"  Their services are certainly worth keeping change in my car for.

~Thank you to Antonio and staff for introducing us to Pavin brand coffee... oh, and the wonderful cake!
   I'll be stopping by soon to give you some bay leaves from my backyard tree!

~Happy Sadie Hawkins Day!!!

Until next week,

Ellen