Sweet award for the month
I love people with vision and when they are hard-working, generous of spirit, inclusive and grounded, I admire them even more. Daniel Basch, who runs Delta Café, is one such person. The Delta Centre in Craighall Park is one of my favourite places in Johannesburg and really – I’m not biased just because it’s only 5 blocks from Liz at Lancaster. It’s a little jewel of unpretentious charm with a whole range of tenants and the most delightful out-of-the-rat-race feel to it. But I have written lots about Delta Centre, so rather see some of the options listed in the temporary information folder that comes with Delta Cafe’s temporary menu:
Delta Cafe and its expansion
And watch this space for the full unfolding of all that Delta Café and its sister eatery, Don Quixote’s, have to offer. Daniel has worked miracles with the space. He has kept the business operating in the middle of a building site and without a proper kitchen (still under construction), and despite all this, has managed to complete a fabulous pizza bar and deck upstairs: Don Quixote’s; convert the ground level area into a more permanent open-raftered structure: Delta Café; lay out a lovely flat open lawn area; secure a lock up bike area (Delta Cafe is a hugely popular spot for cyclists to end their rides over weekends); and build the most amazing playground (happy kids are happy parents.)
Child-friendly venue
I recently had the real privilege of “special time Nana time” with one of my little grandsons. And he gave a five year old stamp of approval: “Nana! Nana! Nana! Nana! [His father does say he’s like a woodpecker!!!] This playground is super-cool”. You can’t get a much higher accolade than that, can you? The whole play area is securely fenced off, children have to be signed in by child-minders/parents, and they are given identifying wrist bands with their names. And the deck gives a bird’s-eye view! Nana even managed to read some of her book while the little munchkin made new friends in the play area.
Ethical business models
Good businesses with a good ethos deserve to flourish:
Delta Cafe/Don Quixote’s .. in fact the whole of Delta Centre – is one of my happy places.