You may have the dream of being in Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris, but you can live that dream while down in Cape Town, in Coco Safar café, where things are elegant, sophisticated and all so posh.
The name Coco was inspired by the iconic designer, Coco Chanel, and Safar means safari, from the Swahili word safari.
The café has been developed to provide the consumer with luxury multi-sensory experience, from the packaging, to the coffee development, aromas and tastes, all provoking the five senses of the guests walking into the place.
The interior design is all about escapism into another world. You will feel as if you are about to become a star on a vintage train stage, feeling retro chic, as the feeling is timeless.
Coco Safar serves a belle époque moment while indulging your senses in the Chocolate patisseries adorned with an orange blossom ganache, or you can pop the Chocolate Bonbons in white, milk and dark flavoured, hand-painted in a variety of colours. These are savoured while drinking on a Stellenbosch green Rooibos capsule, Napoli coffee, or a Lisbon flavoured drink.
The place houses the world’s first Botanical Coffee and Rooibos Brewery, one of the best coffee roasteries in Africa, and is a top-notch patisserie and chocolate supplier. The visitor will be enthralled by the Capsule Emporium, an Espresso Bar, a Couture Patisserie, and a Luxury Café.
The Capsule Emporium boasts an industrial-style mezzanine library displaying the eye-catching capsule collections, retrievable by ladders and secured by floor-to-ceiling oxidised-steel columns. Saddle-stitched linen panels bring an element of timeless elegance and hand-made finesse to the place. Nearly everything was exclusively designed and made in Cape Town, inclusive of hand-stitched leather seating, solid oak counters and hand-blown light fittings.
“We have botanical mixology, which is where we brew with plant-based materials. The Rooibos tea is brewed for 76 hours or 6 days, like beer but no alcohol. Our tonics are infused with Rooibos and we serve it on tap like beer. You can sit by the bar and watch the brewery doing the brews. It is a rare experience,” said Wilhelm Liebenberg, Co-founder of Coco Safar, adding that, “Luxury is an experience. Everything here is handmade, from the furniture to the coffee, to the pastries. Like Coco Chanel, we are elegant and provide that elegance through our café.”
To add to the feel of travel, the place named its capsules after global cities such Manhattan, Napoli, Kaapstad, Havana, Stellenbosch, and Saint Tropez, and upcoming products will include Marrakesh, Jakarta, and Lisbon, as their clients come from these cities among many others.
To spread their luxury café brand around the world, Coco Safar will open in New York, and soon to be followed by Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai or Hong Kong, Buenos, Aires and London.
Coco Safar has also created the first air-tight, compostable (Nespresso® compatible) coffee and Rooibos bio-capsules in Africa. These capsules decompose after 160 days and must be dissolved in the ground. This is a crucial aspect for luxury consumers who are conscious about sustainability and protection of the environment.
There’s no need to travel to Paris to enjoy the finer things in life, you are fine at Coco Safar. It has all the Coco Chanel and the Eiffel Tower that you will ever need. Just sip on the coffee and feel the luxury.
