Brioche

The newest coffee shop in PE barely eked out three full business days before the Coffee Crawlers descended upon it for Thursday's Crawl.  Brioche, located at 181 Main Rd. in Walmer, opened its doors to the public late Monday morning, April 23.  By Tuesday the Crawlers ditched the original plan for Thursday's Crawl and decided, instead, to venture into Walmer to check out Brioche.
With the shop being brand new there were still supplies being delivered and stacked against the walls.  Once everything is in its place owner Ilse Cole wants Brioche to have a "fresh and  airy" atmosphere.  She is also planning to go all natural in her menu and baked goods.  Artisan breads will be the shop's specialty.

Meet the Owner
Ilse Cole

In my conversation with Ilse she said coffee is in her blood.  She was destined to own a coffee shop as she used to drink coffee from her bottle as a child, and has been mildly addicted ever since!  Ilse also provided me with some history on the house in which Brioche is situated.  It was built in 1884..... the original deed is framed and hanging on the wall in the shop.  I especially liked the original hardwood floor.... a beautiful contrast with the white furnishings. 

Brioche is much larger than it appears from the outside.  There is plenty of room for seating 70 people.  Most patrons will get a nice view of the house's lawn and garden in the back while they enjoy breakfast or lunch.  The shop's hours are Mon-Fri, 7:15-4:00 and Sat, 8-3.

This Week's Crawlers
Beryl, Margaret, Anne Marie, Nomusa, Leanne, Keith, Fran,
Beth, Pat, June, Stella, Amanda, Gail
not pictured: Colleen, Vicki

Nomusa and Leanne enjoying the chocolate croissants

 When the Coffee Crawl started over a year ago it was just a few of us taking a table for four or sometimes even six.  In the past six months we've been averaging twelve to fifteen Crawlers every week ... enough so that the coffee shop staff has to push numerous table together to accommodate us.  Thursday was no exception as fifteen Crawlers, Gail Darne, Amanda Visser, Stella and Beryl Dawson, June Nash, Beth Vieira, Pat Callaghan, Fran and Keith de Beer, Nomusa Nkomo, Anne Marie Rankin, Margaret Zoetmulder, Leanne Waller, Colleen Le Roux, and Vicki Minnaar, joined me for some Illy brand coffee. (A special welcome to first time Crawlers Pat and Anne)  A group of Crawlers at one end opf the table watched pastry chef Max as he whipped up a batch of chocolate croissants.  As soon as Max took them out of the oven the croissants were devoured by everyone at the table.  Baristas David and Innocent along with waitstaff members Celestine and Gerald kept the coffee coming as Max put in another batch of croissants.  For a brand new coffee shop the whole staff worked like a well oiled machine.  Kudos to all!

Meet the Baristas
David and Innocent

Meet the Pastry Chef
Max

Brioche staff members
Gerald and Celestine

So, as I sat enjoying my cappuccinos and croissants I picked up on a few conversations at the table.  PE is the site of Ironman South Africa which, this year, was held on April 22.  We talked about how horrific the winds were the day of the triathlon and how beautiful the weather was for Ironkids which was held the day before.  Leanne's son, Daniel, participated in the Ironkids event ... well done, Daniel!
Another topic of conversation was spurred on by some interesting artwork on the wall near our table.  After some discussion about drawing and painting the general belief among the Crawlers was that anyone can draw... they would quickly change their minds if they saw any of my artistic attempts.

A note to PE Coffee Crawl readers/followers... I will be traveling to the U.S. soon and will return to SA in a few weeks with Jeff, Liz, and their friend, Chris.  We will then be touring around SA, Namibia and Botswana for a few weeks.  Hence, I will be out of official Coffee Crawl mode for a while but plan to post some coffee pics occasionally when the spirit moves me.

~Thank You and Good Luck to Ilse
~Thank you to the Broiche staff
~Congrats to Jeff (GA Tech) and Liz (American Univ) who will be graduating soon!

Lots of Crawler birthdays coming up....
Happy Birthday to:
Gail Darne - May 15
Les Baldwin - May 22
Nomusa Nkomo - May 23
Keith de Beer - May 27
June Nash - June 20

Until next time,

Ellen