Everything in this small Cape Town coffee shop really is local and the Mille crêpe cakes are to die for
Localli’s luscious mille crêpe cakes have been winning hearts and palates since they opened in June. The small coffee shop in St Georges Mall is a favourite morning coffee stop for locals as well as tourists. It may be the delicate cakes that catch the imagination, but Localli is much more than just a one-hit wonder.
An economist by trade, working on boosting growth and job creation in South Africa, co-owner Dale van der Lingen, wanted to do something positive at ground level. “I’ve always been passionate about food and I wanted a business that was sourcing only from local suppliers. Localli is about showing South Africans that we can do local luxury and make products, pastries, coffee, tea and hot chocolate that compete with the best in the world.”
Every single item in the cafe is sourced from South Africa with the single exception of the Italian coffee machine, no compromising there. The tables and bar counter were hand-crafted in Phillippi from indigenous acacia wood, the table-napkins are hand-woven in Barrydale from cotton grown near Swellendam. Not only has Dale tracked down an excellent coffee grown in Kwa-Zulu Natal, but also an aromatic black tea from a tiny and remote grower in KwaZulu-Natal.
The spotlight is on the mille crêpe cakes, beautiful assemblages of crêpes layered with crème pâtissière and cream, amazingly light and very moreish. Localli is constantly innovating with new flavours (I loved the sound of white chocolate with passionfruit and pepper), and best sellers include the vanilla crème brûlée and the rooibos masala chai cakes. The dark chocolate cake is for the serious chocoholic, not too sweet, melting in the mouth, and made with Cocoafair chocolate. The Cape Town bean to bar chocolate artisans also supply the pure chocolate responsible for one of the best hot chocolates I’ve tasted, deep, dark and absolutely delicious, and you can buy their bars here along with several other local artisan goodies.
Having just obtained their liquor licence, Localli are branching out into bubbly and cake pairings, with MCC from Villiera, Silverthorn, Steenberg and Charles Fox representing each main growing areas of the Cape, and demonstrating once again that we really can celebrate home-grown luxury here in South Africa.
Taste for yourself:
- Localli | 021 422 2647 | www.localli.org
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.