It is always wonderful to accidentally discover a place that is an absolute gem! There was a little coffee shop / restaurant about 5 minutes away from where we stay, just off the main road in Diep River which we used to pop into for breakfast on a regular basis. The other day upon arrival, we discovered that they were no longer there as there was new branding at the entrance. Initially our response was one of great disappointment but we decided to go inside nonetheless to see who the newbies were - and we were in for such a lovely surprise!
Lalalicious is not only a little coffee shop, but also a cooking school - and no ordinary coffee shop or school either as we soon discovered. As we were shown to a table, we were handed our menus and a little leaflet which enlightened us. There is a very passionate young woman by the name of Lara who was present at the time of our visit. Lara is on the Autistic Spectrum but has such a love for cooking and baking that she started a range of home baked goods from home some time prior. With the assistance of chef Caley and others - Lalalicious was born. A culinary space tailored to nurture, uplift and empower others like Lara.
Upstairs is where the cooking classes take place, and the meals which the students prepare are sold as pre-ordered convenience meals for the public, which are not only incredibly reasonable in price, with most averaging on about R100 for 2 people - which is substantially cheaper than eating out and would probably be very competitive to even preparing your own dinner... but their selections are deliciously homely as well, with choices such as butter chicken curry, beef lasagne, pepper steak pie, beef strogannoff and more. They also have vegetarian meals available.
Downstairs in the coffee shop, all the meals prepared for the patrons as well as those serving you are young men and women which face similar challenges. I think this is just the most magnificent concept!!! Scattered around the coffee shop are all Lara's baked goods which are for sale and there is no shortage of variety there either - they even have little doggie treats!
The menu is simple but everything on it sounds absolutely delicious! I decided to order the basil pesto chicken wrap which yes, was made with the one and only Pesto Princess brand, which is a highly revered range of products here in Cape Town. I am so fussy with pesto that I won't eat anything other than Pesto Princess, so made sure in advance about that fact. The wrap was enormous and really tasty!!! Dave opted for a slightly more traditional bacon and egg breakfast which I do admit, looked really good! I was actually so impressed by both plates of food. They were fresh, tasty and so elegantly plated. There was only one little oopsie and that was the omission of egg on Dave's plate which was rectified in under five minutes, so was quickly forgotten.
I really love how somebody took the time and invested the energy into creating an establishment like this - it really is honourable and I hope they are enormously successful - which they no doubt will be! I decided to write this post because not only is it a place worth visiting if you are in Cape Town, but I also wanted to offer some more exposure and acknowledgement for what they are doing at lalalicious.
If you are in Cape Town, do consider popping in to visit them!
You can also get in touch with them here:
FACEBOOK
EMAIL
Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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