In pictures: The changing face of Woodstock's Albert Road

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In pictures: The changing face of Woodstock’s Albert Road

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015 by Jan Ras and Katharine Jacobs

A woman with gray and purple hair steps past, ad agency creatives chow down on artisan sandwiches, and muscled baristas with fully tattooed sleeves lug sacks of coffee beans: Woodstock’s Albert Road is now one of the hippest places in Cape Town to be seen. New restaurants, coffee roasteries and breweries are popping up like mushrooms along the strip, and urban renewal projects are transforming abandoned buildings, industrial spaces and former low-cost housing into restaurants, studio space and apartments.

But this is just the latest shift in a series of sea changes that the suburb has seen. Over the years, its function has shifted from a place for agriculture in the eighteenth century, when it was known as Papendorp, to low-cost housing, and more recently to light industry. Originally fronting the ocean, Woodstock once boasted a tremendously popular beach and during British occupation was known as New Brighton – named presumably for the famously rainy British seaside resort – before the beach was lost in the 1950s as part of the huge land reclamation project.

Photographer Jan Ras took a stroll down Albert Road to capture the latest phase: the birth of a new restaurant enclave.

: “Woodstock changes monthly,” says Three Feathers owner, Christos Yiacoumis.

: Three Feathers has been open around six months, offering Woodstock locals a replacement for The Nob, the previous tenants who did not renew their lease.

: “I just love the funkiness of Woodstock,” says Christos, who commissioned the mural out back from six local graffiti artists.

: Divine Mabulawa serves coffee out the back of the Driven Datsun at the Salt River Circle Arcade.

: The Salt River Circle Arcade.

: Another trader at the Salt River Circle Arcade.

: Niche cafes and restaurants seem to thrive here: staff at Raw & Roxy, a vegan restaurant, recover from the lunchtime rush.

: Victor Kabuteh of Cocoa Fair gets a beady-eyed look from the poster on the wall.

: I found treasure: Graffiti adorns many walls, particularly on the side-streets off Albert Road.

: Stefan Wiswedel of The Brewers Co-op poses with his Belgian wit beer infused with camomile and coriander.

: Clockwise from top left: Sandiswa Stimel, Lolubabalo Cacambile, Salvatore Angelico, amd Monique Davids, pose outside Trattoria Angelico, Salvatore’s latest venture after 35 years of working as a restaurateur all over Cape Town.

: Kayrin Coffee occupies a new little centre just a couple of blocks down from The Exchange.

: The Sushi Box at The Exchange.

: One of the first restaurants to open on Albert Road, Superette, was originally located down the road near Whatifthewold Gallery.

: A haven for freelancers, Superette is often awash with creatives working on Macbooks.

: Inside at Starling and Hero Café. Photo supplied.

: Starling and Hero’s ‘The Hipster’ omelette, with coffee by nearby roastery, Kayrin.

: “It’s an oasis, away from busy Albert Road,” says Warren Ying of the food truck courtyard at Salt Circle Arcade.

: Didi Bensimmon of Didi’s Bitchin’ Burritos. Photo supplied.

: “We’ve increased sales around 30-40% in the past three months,” says Jono Le Feuvre, owner and roaster at Rosetta Roastery in The Exchange.

: Unlike most coffee shops, Rosetta offer punters a choice of three beans when they order their coffee – and coffee enthusiasts will really taste the different notes.

: Not everyone is so happy about the changes – after all, improvement drives up rental prices and can force long-standing residents and small businesses out.

: Oozing cheese, mayo and crunchy onion rings: a burger at Redemption Burgers at The Biscuit Mill.

: Redemption Burgers occupies a hole-in-the-wall spot at The Old Biscuit Mill.

: “I think it’s going to continue growing. Eventually it will become a real destination,” says Julie Carter of Ocean Jewels Fish, referring to Woodstock’s culinary scene.

: Julie started Ocean Jewels as a fish delivery service and sold her wares at the Old Biscuit Mill for two years, before opening this space.

: A sashimi salad at Ocean Jewels Fish at The Exchange.

: The staff at Ma Mere are busy preparing a batch of basil and white chocolate macarons, whose scent fills the small store at The Old Biscuit Mill.

: Steve Maresch chose Woodstock for the first Cape Town outpost of his Joburg steakhouse, The Local Grill.

: Head brewer Dewald Goosen squeezes in a brew between loadshedding at the new Woodstock Brewery, beneath The Local Grill.

: Coffee may be trendy, but tea is hot too. Choose from a range of unique blends from China, India, Sri Lanka and SA at Lady Bonin at The Exchange.

: The Woodstock outpost of Field Office is now one of five, demonstrating the growing trend towards the ‘coffice’ – or coffee office – for creatives and freelancers.

: Newly-opened Malay restaurant, Cinta, hosts a market every Saturday in its garden. “There’s a divide forming between the residents and the new businesses,” says owner Zak. He tries to help by purchasing as much of his produce as possible from neighbouring small businesses.

: At Beer Guevara at The Salt Circle Arcade, home brewers can pick up everything they need to make their own batch of beer.

: Industrial spaces made new inside The Woodstock Exchange.

: It’s not just coffee, beer and artisan tea: Albert Road even has it’s own gin.

Looking for a restaurant in Albert Road? Click here.

3 Comments

Jim Hislop
April 22, 2015

Woodstock was originally called Papendorp, not Papenburg!

Reply

Eat Out
April 22, 2015

Ah dear, thanks Jim! (That’s what you get when you drink too much coffee and too much artisan beer in one day!) We’ve fixed the name.