Best Kept Secrets: Installment 1

I am not a native Natalian. I arrived in Durban on a January morning of my seventeenth year. The moist air carried the scent of frangipani and promise. I still feel the thrill of expectation on those still ,clear Durban mornings that dawn with such shimmering intensity.

I am compiling a list of favourite places in and around Durban that capture that feeling of won der that I  experienced when I first moved to , and started to explore , my adoptive town.

The Prawn Shack

Once upon Amatikulu Beach one of my favourite restauranteurs, the personable and delightfully mad Bill Bud (he of Gringo's and Legends fame), had a prawn braai with a prawn farm owner, the local  leader of a community fishing camp and a farmer. After numerous bottles of wine and rather alot of prawns someone suggested that what Nkwazi fishing camp needed was a restaurant. One hundred percent  local material and effort have resulted in a unique all-day-lazy-lunch venue where a mid-lunch stroll to the lagoon is compulsory and where a  sign telling you just how much to bribe the barman (in order to let you linger longer) hangs right next to the bar.

The set menu concists of six to eight courses of simple fresh food with a fusion twist : think personal prawn bunnies in a brioche roll,  baguette dipped in balsamic vinegar topped with caprese salad and beetroot pesto and Zulu sushi(rare fillet with wasabi butter).

The dress code is casual and the atmosphere warm and relaxed.

Please don't keep this to yourself, this is an ideal place to bring visitors, both local and foreign, for a truly South African experience as the venue is community built from local materials .

Booking is essential so call ahead:
0847376493  

You can visit The Prawn Shack for more information or browse the comments

and photo's of happy dinners at The Prawn Shack's Fan Page

 (Many thanks to Nadia of Cupcake Couture  for sharing some helpful blogging resources, notably Pugly Pixel and Fuzzimo )

Morning Kickstart for Reluctant Risers

Eunice from Exhibit saves the day

I am not a morning person. Some days require coffee. Great coffee works best. This morning I got my morning fix from Exhibit. Things look alot better now. Less people will die.

Happy Birthday

This wonderful collection of products is being given away to celebrate the second birthday of Ask Ashe Blog.

To enter , pay a visit to  Ask Ashe and leave a comment before the 29th of March.

Hidden Treasures

The small adrenalin junkie and I are now avid stencil art fans, and while I know many frown upon the mere thought of graffiti, Durban does have some wonderful street art. Here are two of our every-so-girly favourites:

Scenes from the Skate Park

I love sunday mornings.

 This past Sunday the small adrenaline junkie and I headed off to Durban's revamped skatepark for a little late summer sunshine.

Stretch, a newcomer to the stencil art scene was there with his stencils and within a few minutes a crowd of skaters and bikers had surrounded him .



Here are a few our local skaters with their newly customised boards.

 



As he was leaving, Stretch mentioned to one young flatland biker that he is working on stencils for bikes.
 I hope that he has some stencils for my new vintage look roller skates from the Skate Shop.



Candy store for adrenalin junkies of all ages





Sam from Hey Cherry models our new Jackie dress

Jackie Dress  in vintage cotton sateen R180

 The lovely Sam of Hey Cherry kindly agreed to model this new Jackie dress made in bold vintage cotton sateen. As ever, we are loath to mass manufacture, you all deserve better, and since Sam is the proud new owner of this very dress, we have just one left. Come claim it (at Essenwood market this weekend) if you love it.

Beautiful oriental frog "button" at neckline

Cherry Blossom

Watching the news from Japan unfold, I am struck by the fact that the cherry blossoms (which flower for the two weeks from late March to April) will be appearing this year amongst scenes of devastation. I have read that the samurai adopted the cherry blossom as a personal insignia to signify acceptance of nature and the quiet celebration of mans' ephemeral nature.

When one wears cherry blossom designs, one implies that one is in harmony with the nature of things, sad as that nature may be, and that ones flesh is as fragile as the cherry blossom itself.

I hope you like my image. Use it as you will.