I recently read a headline which stated that Cape Town has been voted Africa’s leading art hub. It came as no surprise to me as Zietz Mocca the biggest art gallery in Africa is in Cape Town. This month the annual International Public Art Fair which features muralists creating art live will be hosted in Salt River, Cape Town. Then there’s the Investec Art Fair which features various paid and free art events. An art gallery that I haven’t even heard of is having an evening event. And First Thursdays which takes place every first Thursday of the month in the CBD was incredible. I have attended First Thursdays twice before but, I am blogging about it again because I had a wonderful night out.

Where I started

First Thursdays see the city buzzing at night. Art galleries, stores, clubs, bars and restaurants are all open later than usual. Some of the venues offer free wine and beer sometimes food too. And there’s always creative art on display. I started my February 2020 edition of First Thursdays at Yours Truly. A restaurant/ bar on Cape Town’s trendy Kloof Street. It’s my favourite club-like place in Cape Town. The crowd is diverse, filled with friendly people and good vibes. They serve delicious pizza which I had and Kopparberg cider which is Swedish meaning you don’t find it all over Cape Town. Whilst my boyfriend, friends and I were at Yours Truly load-shedding happened which means the electricity cut out to alleviate the pressure on the power grid. South Africa is having major issues with supplying electricity at the moment. Anyways luckily our pizza was done in time. We left soon after the lights went out.

More food

We looked for a place to eat again as my friends didn’t get to eat at Yours Truly because of the power outage. That took us to Love Thy Neighbour, at Bree Street. A lovely restaurant with an indoor and outdoor seating area. The outside section has large picnic-style tables meaning people who don’t know each other end up sitting next to each other. For us, this leads to a couple of cool conversations and this must be why the place is called love thy neighbour. I didn’t eat again though I have eaten at the restaurant before. The food is delicious, they stock fresh ingredients and they braai/barbecue some of their meat on an fire where you can see your food being made. I had mojitos instead of eating and they were very strong but, tasted good. The bartender didn’t skimp on the lime. It was getting later so we all decided we wanted to see something artsy.

Young Blood Art Gallery

I suggested the Young Blood gallery as it has different levels meaning it has lots to see. Plus, I saw snippets of the artwork on display on the First Thursdays website because I love to plan ahead. And the gallery is in Bree street meaning we didn’t have to walk too far. I will say that what was on display was far better than what was featured on the site. I was happy we went and took lots of photos. So I will show what I saw in photos rather than write too much.

Jazzy

I love jazz so we all walked to Wale Street to see a live Jazz band at the Gin bar. I have never been to the Gin Bar although I have been to the front section which is Honest Chocolate a little restaurant that sells artisanal, ethical chocolate and other yummy chocolate treats. The Gin Bar was packed people were standing on top of each other. The music was brilliant and didn’t disappoint. I will say that the place was sweltering hot other than that I didn’t mind standing the whole time which is a testament to how great the band was. After the band finished their set a DJ played some music. I didn’t really like his set though so we all decided to leave.

I love the dough

We ended up back in Bree street at a fairly new pizza restaurant aptly named I love the dough. It is made to take photos in with bright pink neon lights and a few humorous quotes on the walls. The DJ was playing awesome music. It was jam-packed and again like the Gin Bar hot as hell. I loved it still it was too full people were standing outside spilling on to the street of the place. We left because it was just too warm inside.

The iron steak

The music drew us in and this steak restaurant was far less full. Great music and an ice-cream station got me interested. The décor inside is modern and sophisticated. I have never been to this restaurant and intend on eating there soon.  I even took a copy of the menu so that I have an idea of what I’m going to order when I eat there. The First Thursdays part of the night ended at around midnight just like Cinderella I left after having a ball.

 

Thank you for reading and please feel free to comment.

Safe travels!

Nikki xx