One of the fantastic things about living in such a small town after London is the accessibility of everything and everyone.
On a chilly Sunday morning my beautiful daughter and I felt like a change of scenery so popped round the corner to Marcopaulo for a glass of wine and a nibble while lounging on their squashy leather sofas. Snuggled under blankets we chatted with Paul and Billy, the restaurant’s owners. I had a couple of Bloody Marys to chase the chill away, while my Northern Hemisphere girl drank Chardonnay. We nibbled on Camembert spring rolls, too delicious, with tomato jam.
As can only happen in Durban, the founder of the restaurant, Marco then appeared with an Italian-Australian chocolatier friend called Rocco. He had been fishing all morning and had come to borrow some ingredients from Paul Sheppard’s kitchen. They invited us to a braai of the octopus they’d just pulled out of the sea, and we all chatted about Marco’s new venture on the old Christina Martin cookery school site.
Nothing better than the food trade, everyone celebrating everyone else’s passions, wine flowing, great chefs swapping war stories, a blue sky above us…our perfect Sunday morning turned into a perfect Sunday afternoon. Too blessed to be stressed.
Marcopaulo’s phone number is 031 502 2221.
By Elizabeth Moore