Skinny Legs & All

Luxury café offers fresh meals, drinks and art

Twin sisters and 21-year-olds, Jesse and Jamie Friedberg, own and run any girl‘s dream shop, which they opened in April 2011. Welcome to Skinny Legs & All, a luxury café in Cape Town’s Loop Street. Originally from Johannesburg, both girls studied at UCT; Jesse maths and biochemistry, Jamie environmental science and history. "We found ourselves suffocating in our lecture halls and the universe responded." says Jesse. Now they’re serving coffee, healthy breakfasts and lunches in the former João Ferreira gallery, but also in collaboration with him. How come? "We’re firm friends. He loves food, we love art." says Jesse.

The vision: a place where the design is timeless and the quality of the food shines

"Simplicity is key! Good solid food is a source of ageless pleasure and we believe our 'back to basics' approach will earn us a steady following, independent of the forever-changing trends. We don’t like the idea of food being fiddled with too much in preparation, we like to keep food as natural as possible." says Jesse. Skinny Legs & All is minimal and something you have to discover. It only has a small vinyl sign on the window, but you’ll be able to recognise it; it’s the spot with the two bicycles and the white vespa in front. You‘ll find art from João Ferreira’s private collection on the walls. It’s a light space with a lot of white and little bit of wood and the kitchen is open to the dining area.

Says Jesse: "We’ve always wanted to have our own café, to spend our days involved in intimate conversations revolving around food. When this spot at 70 Loop, with its pressed ceiling and wonderful sense of space became available, we snatched up the opportunity. We’ve created a space that we want to come to everyday; and this thought process has weaved its way into all aspects of the café."

Light menu

All produce is locally sourced, most things made by the Friedberg girls. Enjoy healthy breakfasts and lunches; expect raw muesli, soft scrambled eggs, French toast, scones, soup, salads (warmed goat’s cheese salad sounds pretty yummy) to open sandwiches with the choice of rye or sourdough bread. Have an orange juice, lime, grapefruit and ginger juice, homemade lemonade (with the cute note 'As it should be'), a banana smoothie, a raw chocolate shake, lassi or coffee and tea.

People come back. Gallery-visitors and people from the surrounding offices have found a new friend in Skinny Legs & All. The feedback? "Only good things – the proof is in the pudding or in our case, our date scones – someone once ate three in a row." concludes Jess.

by Antonia Heil

Skinny Legs & All - Luxury Cafe´
70 Loop Street | City Centre | Cape Town | +27 (0)21 423 5403

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 7am – 4pm, Saturday 8.30am – 2pm

P.S. The name 'Skinny Legs and All' comes from the book by Tom Robbins.

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