Two country clubs previously off-limits to many are now home to cool new eateries. Goo’s transports us to Thailand. Grimaldi’s to the Amalfi Coast. While rooted in Durban’s past, the present invites us in.
Some have survived. A few are thriving. Many have gone for good. Others are limping along. There are the optimists, the risk-takers, the resourceful, the resilient, the innovative and chefs with Covid-19. New ideas. New directions. New restaurants springing up. All this when the closest anyone can get to a new normal is the hunger for it. The only certainty: uncertainty.
So, who would have imagined this scenario?
On Thursday 20 February 2020 I meet US friends from near Chicago at 9th Avenue Waterside. It is their first visit to Durban. I make the reservation when they say: “We want to take you for dinner somewhere really special. You choose.”