the COFFEE Society

There are tons of coffee shops in PE but only a handful have been around for ten years or more.  One that has withstood the test of time was the site of Thursday's Crawl.  The Coffee Society, located at 301 Cape Road in Newron Park, has been owned and operated by Christelle Swanepoel since 2000.  The shop's "sister store," situated in The Gardens Centre, Circular Drive in Lorraine, opened for business five years later.

The Crawlers set out on Thursday to the Cape Road shop to check out this PE mainstay.  With Cape Road being a main thoroughfare in PE my concern as I made my way toward The Coffee Society was that parking would be an issue.  I was pleasantly surprised as I was able to get a spot on the street almost directly in front of the shop.  Along with this easy in/easy out street parking there is also a small off-street lot between the coffee shop and the Caltex Station.  Needless to say, the Crawlers had no problems with parking.
Once inside we were greeted and seated by Hostess/Waitress/Barista Robin.

 

Meet the Hostesses/Waitresses/Baristas
Robin and Lisa



The Coffee Society is a comfortable coffee shop with a relaxed atmosphere and interesting decor.  I loved the newspaper covered "faux windows" with red-framed food pic insets.  What a cool idea....it totally works!  I'm also a big fan of their having games available for customers use.... definitely sending the "sit back, relax, there's no rush" message.

What a cool idea!

Meet the Manager
Suzaan Taylor

While we were sitting back and relaxing we all took time to peruse the menu which touts The Coffee Society as the place "Where customers become friends!"  The extensive menu includes various specials and a wide range of breakfasts, lunches, and light dinners.  Aside from the R10 served till noon Breakfast Special, all selections from the entire menu are served all day.  The Coffee Society's own Sumatran coffee blend I found to be exceptional, especially with some cake on the side!  (If I keep up this weekly lemon meringue I'll have to make more trips to the gym.... lucky for me the gym is right next to The Coffee Society's Lorraine location!)

The Cape Road Coffee Society seats about forty customers and is available for special events and functions.  The shop's regular business hours are: Mon-Thurs, 6:30 a.m. - 11 p.m., Fri, 6:30 a.m. - midnight, Sat, 8 a.m. - midnight, Sun, 9 a.m. - 11 p.m.; the Lorraine shop is open Mon - Fri, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sat - Sun, 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.  Both venues are wheelchair accessible.

Thursday's Crawl (Jan 24) happened to fall on my father-in-law's birthday so the Crawlers, Margaret Zoetmulder, Beth Vieira, Fran de Beer, Gail Darne, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Nomusa and Mthulisi Nkomo, June Nash, Colleen Le Roux, started off with a toast and a Hip-Hip-Hooray to Sabie in Binghamton, NY.  The Crawlers all want you to come visit so they can share some coffee with the Pres of the Coffee Crawl Fan Club!!!

Once the birthday celebration was over we got to talking about the AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) soccer tournament.  This year the event is being hosted by South Africa with some games being held at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in PE.  Despite the initial ticket sales debacle I hear the event has been quite a success.  Go Bafana Bafana!  After the soccer talk I related to the Crawlers a story about a mouse situation at my house in NY.  A friend who was recently checking on the house found evidence of mice having a heyday with some Baileys chocolates that Liz left in the house prior to her trip to PE.  I guess with a sugar high and having a bit of a drunk on,  these mice wreaked havoc in the house.... no room, wine glass, or pair of shoes was spared!  All I can say is thank you, David, for cleaning up the mess and trapping the mice....Oh, and that I'm glad I wasn't there.  Too funny.... yeah, I can say that 10,000 miles away!

This Week's Crawlers
Gail, Stella, Beryl, Beth, Mthulisi, Nomusa,
June, Fran, Margaret
not pictured - Colleen

So, after all the Crawlers left I had an opportunity to chat with Owner, Christelle Swanepoel, Manager (and daughter of the owner), Suzaan Taylor, as well as other family members.  We actually talked for over an hour about a number of things, not the least of which was coffee.  What a wonderful family.... by the time I left I felt as though I had known them forever!  So, what their menu says is true... the COFFEE Society is definitely a place "Where customers become friends!"

~Thank you to Christelle, Suzaan and family - the COFFEE Society was a tremendous venue for the Crawl
~A big welcome to first time Crawler and Nomusa's younger brother, Mthulisi Nkomo
~Happy Birthday to Angela Vieira - January 29
~Happy Groundhog Day - Feb 2 in the USA.  I'll keep my fingers crossed for an early Spring... you guys
  really need it!

Until next week,

Ellen
   

Mauro's at Elephant Walk Country Village

After journeying to over eighty coffee shops there are still a number of places in PE we have yet to visit.  Last Thursday, though, we decided to head a little way out of PE just for a change of scenery.  January 17's Crawl took us to Mauro's at Elephant Walk Country Village at Cows Corner in Colleen Glen.  The "Village" is home to an Indigenous Nursery, a Cottage Shoppe which is chock full of antiques and collectibles, and a Farm Shoppe where customers can purchase fruits, vegetables, dairy products, preserves, and much more. 

The elephant footprint path 

Ellies, ellies, everywhere....

After filling your boot with treasures and veggies, Mauro's, just a short walk from the shoppes down the elephant footprint path, provides a beautiful spot to stop for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Sixty patrons can enjoy the country coziness inside while about fifty can be seated in the beautiful gardens outside.  There's plenty of off-street parking available.  Mauro's hours are Tues, 8-3; Wed-Sat, 8-late; and Sun, 8-3.  The eatery at The Elephant Walk has been in existence for years but has come under new ownership as of October, 2012.  Owner, Lisa Nettl, and Manager/Barista/"Jill of all Trades," Adel van Rensburg, were both on-site Thursday and took some time for a pic and a chat with the Crawlers.  Thank you, ladies, for the warm welcome.

Meet the Manager and Owner
Adel and Lisa

Cozy inside seating



Garden seating



The first order of business as this week's Crawlers, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Gail Darne, Nomusa Nkomo, Fran de Beer, June Nash, Leanne Waller, Beth Vieira, entered Elephant Walk Country Village was to check out the shops.  The need for a caffeine fix soon got the better of us, though, and we quickly headed toward Mauro's.  Once seated with teas and LavAzza coffees ordered we sat back while Fran caught us up on Mandy's move to Guernsey.  Sounds like all is going well.

This Week's Crawlers
Gail, June, Fran, Ellen, Leanne, Beth, Stella, Nomusa, Beryl

Now, in light of both Fran's and my daughters' recent departures from extended visits in South Africa, we started discussing "the empty nest."  Then,..... enter Leanne, whose two children (including the youngest in grade R) just started back to school for the year the day before the Crawl.  Leanne is feeling the "empty nest" big time albeit only during school hours.  All that free time to fill and nothing to do..... I'm sure you'll figure it out, Leanne,..... and love it!!!!

For some reason, no one was up for round two so we called it a short Crawl and headed home.

~Thank you to Lisa and Adel for the wonderful hospitality and great coffee.
~Happy Birthday to my sister, Elaine, in Erie, PA - January 23
~Happy Birthday to my father-in-law and still President of the PE Coffee Crawl Fan Club, Sabie, in
  Binghamton, NY - January 24

Until next week,

Ellen

Posh

With the holidays behind us the Coffee Crawlers are more than ready to start another year of exploring PE's coffee shops.  So much so that while I was still away on vacation I heard that about fifteen Crawlers met on January 3 at Cobblestone (see April, 2011 post) to celebrate the New Year and to bid farewell to Kathy Roppel who is moving back to Canada in a few weeks.  So sorry I missed your last Crawl, Kathy.  Be sure to stay in touch and maybe send some coffee shop pics from Canada!

Meet the Owner
Angie Creaven

Okay, so the first official Crawl of 2013, and also the last one for Mandy de Beer, took place on Thursday, January 10 at Posh, 32 Stanley St. in Richmond Hill.  In my conversation with Posh's owner, Angie Creaven, I learned that her business was established in  2009 as "Posh Pancakes," a mobile eatery that could be seen at various festivals in the Eastern/Western Capes.  The business was so successful that Angie decided to open the Stanley St. shop in October, 2011.  Though she dropped "Pancakes" from the name, Angie has kept her famous gourmet pancakes on the menu and has added other amazing breakfast, lunch, and light dinner selections.  She and the local Sumatran Coffee staff also came up with Posh's own unique coffee blend that is used in all their coffee beverages.  This blend along with Barista Ian's magic touch made for a great cappuccino and Americano on Thursday.

Meet the Barista
Ian

Located in the very popular area of Stanley Street, Posh has really taken off in the past year so Angie has recently expanded her business hours.  You can enjoy all that Posh has to offer every day of the week from 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.  There is room for about fifty patrons with both inside and outside seating.  The venue is also available for private functions.  While you're in the shop ask Angie about her off-site private catering business and numerous cooking classes.  I'm definitely looking into both!

Meet our Waitress
Lilian

So, with Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York" in the background, Crawlers Beth Vieira, Fran and Mandy de Beer, Margaret Zoetmulder, Colleen Le Roux, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Gail Darne, Nomusa Nkomo all settled into their seats and ordered coffees/teas.  As our waitress, Lilian, brought our beverages to the table, I delivered Greetings of the Season to all from Fr. Dominic in Rome.  He and I exchanged quick emails last week...it was good to hear from a former PE Coffee Crawler.

This Week's Crawlers
Colleen, Margaret, Mandy, Fran, Nomusa, Stella,
Gail, Beryl, Beth

We then went on to discuss Mandy's upcoming new job and move to Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands located in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.  We wish her all the best as she starts this new and exciting chapter in her life.  Just as I said to Kathy, stay in touch, Mandy, and send pics!!!  (As I write this Mandy is en route to London and I'm waiting to hear from Fran that she arrived safely.)

Anyway, we continued our talk over round 2 about the New Year and how time has just flown since we started the PE Coffee Crawl in February, 2011.  Almost two years of Coffee Crawling..... unbelievable!!!
We all then toasted to health, wealth, and a prosperous New Year.

~Happy New Year to All
~Thank you to Angie and the Posh staff... great venue for the first Crawl of 2013!
~Good-bye and Best Wishes to Crawlers Kathy and Mandy.... we'll miss you both.
~Thank you Firefly for coming to the rescue again!!!!!


Until next week,

Ellen



Saying good-bye to Mandy........