It’s not just what you eat, but whom you eat it with at this Mediterranean meze and wine bar
Café Paradiso
Madame Zingara magic on Kloof Street
Under a canopy of trees, rough wooden tables are laden with wine and bread. In winter, the picture changes to roaring fires and the smell of baking in a cosy, sprawling house. The imagery I’m conjuring is not of a dream home, but of a restaurant on Cape Town’s Kloof Street – a touch of country in the middle of the city.
Café Paradiso is part of the Madame Zingara empire, a dynasty made famous by its collection of somewhat odd, always eccentric, but definitely entertaining restaurants and cafés.
Head honcho, Richard Griffin, seems to have something of a magic touch. All of his restaurants are infused with a playful wonderment, and Café Paradiso is no different.
Generous plates in a cosy atmosphere
Our canvas today is the one with the roaring fire. We’re seated in a nook lined with















