‘The developers have approached this complex task – recreating a piece of Joburg history – with great care, while providing a very trendy shopping and dining destination,’ says Alex Zohany of Curry Up, one of the restaurants at the new Rand Steam complex in Richmond.
‘It’s not flash, it has some soul,’ agrees George Meintjies of Cowfish, another restaurant tenant.
Rand Steam opened at the end of April, rising from the debris of heritage buildings that were almost totally demolished in 2008. It had once been the site of two large-scale steam laundries in the early days of the city, and before that an informal laundry for miners operated by Zulu amawashas along the Gas Works/Braamfontein Spruit.
Nods to this history are found throughout the new shopping complex – a wall etching depicting the amawashas, water furrows, distinctive chimneys, original brickwork, wooden-peg benches, a water tower and the old pepper tree under which mules waited for their laundry loads.
Most enticing is the piazza, with eateries opening onto a sunny courtyard; by night it’s lit up with fairy lights. As a culinary destination, it’s an attractive space to gather and has great options that cover every base.
There’s the cool funkiness of Curry Up’s Indian menu – think Seriously Wicked Bunny Chow, Da Bomb Biryani, Gunpowder Vindaloo, naan ‘pizzas’ and fish and masala chips. A mix-and-match three-course feast for two starts from just R140.
Cowfish gives meat and seafood an Asian twist, and serves wicked cocktails. The menu includes the Tomahawk (a 600g rib-eye on the bone), a variety of dim sum and poke bowls, burgers called ‘Mantears’, ‘Kaiser Cheese’ and ‘Ravenous Pig’, and not-your-usual sushi that includes a taco version.
Two Cape Town institutions – Bootlegger Coffee Company (open from 6.30am) and Col’Cacchio (for gourmet pizza) – complete the choices available.
Where: Corner of Barry Hertzog Drive and Napier Street, Richmond. randsteamcentre.co.za
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