In Cape Town, when you live in an area, it seems you rarely leave it, and talk about ‘the other side (of the mountain)’ much like you would do Mars or perhaps something in the Twilight Zone that you have heard of, but are not personally familiar with. To get your average Capetonian to even contemplate a part of town in which they do not reside is an effort, let alone getting them to go there.
Seeing as we’re relatively new, it only took a couple of hours of summoning up enough mental strength to drive up and over Ou Kaapse Weg to Noordhoek. It took around 25 minutes from door to beach … phew.
For those who haven’t been, Noordhoek is totally amazing. It feels completely rural, wild and cut off but is only around 35-40 minutes from Cape Town CBD. It is green, lush and quiet with a wide beach stretching off almost as far as you can see. If there are 10 other people on it, you’ve hit rush hour.
Anyway, all that sun, sea and sand can make a person hungry so we set off in search of a place to feed three generations of one family.
We found ourselves at the Red Herring Trading Post on Beach Road in Noordhoek, a stone’s throw from the beach. I absolutely love the Red Herring Trading Post. To reach the shops and restaurants in the Red Herring you have to navigate the thick milkwood forest – all the traders are nestled among the branches that form natural jungle gyms for the children. As you emerge from where the Beach Cafe used to be, you get stunning views of the beach and the mountains.
The Beach Cafe is no longer there. It has been replaced by Franieba’s Restaurant. It calls itself Cape Malay but the menu is broader than that- there is Cape curry, bobotie and also calamari, fish and chips, burgers and a selection of salads. The chalkboard menu definitely has something for everyone, but without being in the league of a small novel.
The setting was beautiful and the service should rather be described as hospitality. The girls had room to roam and were fussed over by the staff. The food arrived and it was exceptional – every dish. The bobotie was the best we’d ever had, the calamari and the fish were fresh and delicious, the chips were crispy and the burger was mouthwatering … and all beautifully presented. As we stared mournfully as our empty plates (children included, which is nothing short of a miracle), the waitress came over to tell us that there was home-baked lemon meringue pie on offer and that the baked cheesecake had just come out of the oven. The cakes arrived and – really, I am running out of adjectives here – they were amazing. Perfect. Washed down with espresso.
Why am I telling you this? Have I broadened my repertoire to wannabe restaurant critic? What’s the big deal, great meals are a dime a dozen in Cape Town, right?
To answer, I’d love to be a restaurant critic but I don’t think it would be good for my waistline. Yes, bad meals are hard to find in Cape Town but, even so, this home cooked, professionally served, reasonably priced menu was exceptional.
But the real reason I am telling you this is because Franieba’s has an amazing story behind it. As I chatted to the waitress, she told me she was the chef’s daughter. Then she scurried off and returned, proudly presenting me with a laminated newspaper article from the Daily Voice. The restaurant’s name, Franieba’s, is a mixture of the two owners’ names: Francis Phalane and Monieba Moses.
Frances and Monieba are two friends from Ocean View (a township on the Southern Peninsula) who have know each other for 18 years, ever since they both worked in the same restaurant in Simon’s Town.
Monieba is the enviably talented chef and Francis is the charming, efficient and ever-vigilant front-of-house manager.
Monieba was a waitress at The Beach Cafe but things weren’t going well for the owner. Worried about how she would support her family, she got the idea of opening a restaurant on that site as she’d always dreamed of having. She called her friend Francis who was rather taken aback at the suggestion, as she couldn’t imagine getting together R20,000 for the lease.
Anyway, they gathered together every cent they had and got the keys on February 2011. With no money for stock, they took their RCS cards (like credit cards) and bought non-perishable goods and mineral water.
Having no transportation of their own, they got a bus from Ocean View to Long Beach Mall and then walked all the way to Noordhoek – a walk that can easily take an hour – carrying the stock in their arms and on their backs. As public transport can be tricky at 6pm, sometimes they walked all the way home. Today they both have bicycles – although Monieba had an accident and hurt her shoulder, so she’s back to walking (but still cooking!).
Today they are debt free (except for what they owe themselves in salary). They employ four people. The first meal they served was pilchard bobotie and since then the menu has grown. They also do takeaway family meals and with enough notice they can make anything you like.
South Africa has not had a good year in the news. The Secrecy Bill, the ANC infighting, Julius Malema’s disciplinary hearing, the appointment by the president of a Chief Justice on a whim rather than according to procedure and the toilet issues in Khayelitsha, to name a few.
Reading the news, it would be easy to believe that we live in a country of little hope, little ambition and little opportunity. So I wanted to share with you a story of positivity and success, right under our noses: two inspiring, inconceivably hard-working, determined and talented women and their families running a business that deserves to succeed.
Whether you live in Cape Town or are just visiting, stop in at Franieba’s Restaurant. If you have kids, there’s a huge jungle gym in the restaurant itself, in the middle of a Milkwood Tree. And, if you see two women walking on Noordhoek Beach or cycling down Noordhoek Rd, carrying impossible amounts of food, give them a hand or just congratulate them for having the guts to make a go of things, of daring to think they can succeed rather than just sitting and moaning that life is not as they wish.
Franieba’s Restaurant
Red Herring Trading Post, Beach Rd, Noordhoek
Tel 021-789-0122
Find awesome accommodation in Noordhoek with Getaway Accommodation.
