Gotham Gal

Baking For Good

I am a big believer that every woman should be an entrepreneur.  There are many businesses out there being funded and certainly some of them might have billion dollar market caps while others only have $50 million market caps but the economy needs them both.  We also need smaller entrepreneurs that bootstrap their companies to become maybe $5 million businesses that I refer to as life style businesses.  Those businesses fund their personal lives and many others without investors.  I am a huge fan of that model although it doesn't benefit me as an angel investor it makes me happy to see women creating businesses that they love doing every day and affect the economy at the same time.  We are returning to our roots where there was a local store, a cobbler and perhaps a jeweler but now you can have those local businesses and create a niche community across the globe.  That is pretty powerful. 

I had the pleasure of meeting with Emily Dubner this past week who is the entrepreneur behind Baking For Good.  Her business encompasses every aspect of the life style business I am talking about and Emily has layered a powerful social good piece to her business that resonates with most women. 

Here is what I love about Baking For Good.  Emily boot strapped this business with her own hard saved money.  She created a website that looks good and works.  15% of the proceeds from every treat you buy goes to the non-profit of your choice and you have about 200 to choose from on the Baking For Goods website.  I love the tagline on her card...a little bit of sugar goes a long way.  The packaging, branding and total product looks and feels beautiful.  The business can easily scale doing more parties and weddings, corporate events or just gifts.  The treats are absolutely delicious.  Best part is that Emily is growing the business with her own money, hard work and brain power. 

My advice to her when we met is don't take anyones money.  Continue to do what you are doing.  If you need a short term loan because your business explodes one day and there are 400 orders online in a day then see if you can borrow some money from your parents.  You will quickly pay them back because the turn around time is quick. 

I highly recommend Baking For Good for some gifts this holiday season.  Who can resist a chocolate chip brownie where 15% of the proceeds to go a non-profit organzation. 

Peck Slip Pickle Festival

All weekend long we were discussing the return to our roots through local businesses, social responsibility and the generosity of each community.  How entrepreneurs are being funded and yet many of them will become singular lifestyle businesses while others could be $50 million dollars businesses and others might have a billion dollar market cap.   Entrepreneurs are alive and well. 

I wandered down for breakfast (sleeping in as long as possible on Sunday morning is so key) Fred pulled out the Sunday Review of the NYTimes and said, this article is exactly what you have been talking about.  William Deresiewicz calls it Generation Sell.  His article is worth the read.  His theory to how we got here is interesting.  Regardless, I love where we are.  I like what this generation is about from the people who are creating the tools that allow us to live in a virtual global world to the community businesses that make us feel grounded and part of something. 

We couldn't have wrapped up this weekend more perfectly than by going to the Peck Slip Pickle Festival at the New Amsterdam Market with Josh.  This market place that now takes place almost every Sunday completely defines what is happening in the world of small businesses around food.  Everyone is hip, everyone is nice and supportive of each other and the feeling of community is everywhere. 

We basically tasted a bunch of things and I tried to support as many local vendors as possible.  Many people just love to taste and never buy a damn thing. I didn't buy one of these Brooklyn Butcher Blocks but I have the card and I am going to buy one online after I post. 

We began with the Mighty Quinns slow smoked brisket sandwich with pickles and red onions.   Can't seem to find the website to link too but they make the rounds from the Brooklyn Smorgasburg and Flea to other events. 

Next stop was La NewYorkina.  Dried orange peels with cayenne pepper, pumpkin seed brittle and a gruyere cheese empanada with strawberry jelly.  The empanada totally worked and the crust was killer. Their tag line is "handmade with love".  No question about that.

Gotta love Porchetta.  There is nothing like the slow roasted pork chopped in a sandwich mixed with the crispy skin. 

Hot Bread Kitchen that is near and dear to my heart was selling bialys today.  Jessamyn, the brilliant founder, got together with Mimi Sheraton before the market at an event to discuss bialys. Wish I caught that.  Mimi Sheraton is one of the mavens of the food industry, wrote a book about bialys and was the food critic for the New York TImes.

When did everyone become a pickler?  Here are all the entries for the pickle challenge.  There were easily a dozen pickle makers there today.  Ricks Picks is still the leader in this space.  Look for some new products as well as bigger and less expensive products coming to you sometime in the spring from Rick.

The musicians.  Sorry the picture is so blurry.  These guys were singing and crooning like they had just come out of the Appalachians.  You have to see and hear that and immediately think about what is going on in our culture.  We have Occupy Wall street happening only blocks away and this group of hipsters making pickles and crooning.  You can't help but take pause. 

This was great.  P & H Soda.  The guy who was doing this was not a young pup.  He had syrup bottles to sell from ginger to sasparilla.  He was making these amazing soda drinks.  We had a ginger lime which was one of the most refreshing clean drinks I have ever had.

Lamb sausage sandwiches at 18NY.  Brilliant idea of using a blow torch to melt the cheese.  Excellent spicy hot sauce.

Blue Bottle Coffee with sweets to sell and a clever drip system. 

First Field was selling their two wares.  New Jersey tomatoes turned into homemade ketchup and a local Jersey cranberries turned into cranberry sauce.  I bought them both.  The cranberry sauce is delicious although they would need some serious capital to stock up on that product to sell all year.

Peanut Butter & Co is a place we have gone to on Sullivan since they opened. They were certainly pioneers in the artisinal food space. Now selling jars of peanut butter from regular to crunchy to honey to chocolate to cinnamon raisin.  Really good. 

I did not get a chance to taste these but they look so beautiful.  The Dumpling Dutch Diva making profittjeres.  I love the pan she is using. Sweet and savory.

I did pick up some greens, apples and such from the farm stands but our last taste was a grilled gouda sandwich with pieces of pancetta from Morris Truck who you can follow on Twitter because they don't have a website.  Just the browning of the bread alone makes your mouth water.

The market was packed, we bumped into more than a handful of friends taking it all in and making their purchases too.  The New Amsterdam Market which was packed more today than others because of the pickle theme defines the times we live in. Smart people creating businesses that they love.  There is a knee jerk reaction to working in structured businesses like banking and people are embracing their lives and what turns them on by becoming entrepreneurs.  They want to enjoy their lives.  I like these times. 

 

Cacao Prietro

Cacao Prietro might be one of the most interesting investments that I have ever made.  Cacao Prietro is the brainchild of Daniel Preston.  This is Daniels third entrepreneurial endeavor the others being lightbulbs and jet packs for the armed forces.  That alone has to pique your interest. 

Daniel has family in the Dominican Republic and through his travels there he became interested in the cacao plant.  Daniel has an incredibly curious as well as analytical mind and he began to drill down on the properties of the cacao plant.  Fast forward, he is producing chocolate ( which is exceptionally delicious ) from the beans that the company owns.  What is interesting about this is most of the new chocolate companies that are on the market have to buy their beans in order to produce their product.  We own the beans and make our own chocolate as well as sell beans.  Nice business but that is only one part of this business.

Making Mash from fredwilson on Vimeo.

 

The other part of the business is rum and eventually whiskey.  Believe me there is much more to this because between the chocolate and the liquor business there is also other new food and medical products lurking in the wings. 

When I first met Daniel and he took me through his business and his vision it took about 2.5 hours and in the back to my head I was thinking you have to get this down to 20 minutes dude.  Fred was seriously skeptical and although he rarely expresses an opinion on what I am investing in I thought he should come out and see Daniel.  After another 2.5 hours he was just as blown away as I was.  Then the process began of getting other people excited too. 

Fast forward, Daniel has in his hands the first permit in 87 years to distill in Brooklyn, his chocolate business is growing and so damn good and the food/medical product business is just beginning to percolate.  All of this off the cacao plant. 

Last night was the party to kick off the company.  Located in Red Hook, Brooklyn the neighbors came and so did many friends.  It was fantastic.  I have said this before and will continue to say that I am so lucky to have the opportunity to meet and work with an incredible group of entrepreneurs.  Help them execute on their dream and watch them grow.  At every turn Daniel has impressed me and just when I think he can't possibly impress me anymore he does. He continues to blow me away at every turn. 

Pay attention to Cacao Prietro...more will be coming your way. 

Some new products and pumpkin seeds brittle

I always love the gift of new food items.  Here are a few winners that have entered our house this past week. 

These are beans from CPOrganics and Cesare Casella aka Republic of Beans.  I love that a new breed of companies are not only making chocolates but also producing beans.  I am planning on making something good with these.  The Meadow is creating salts of all flavors.  A little bit of a flavored salt on top of a dish changes the entire composition.  I am a huge fan of truffle salt...only a tiny dash is needed. 

This mixture of sweets is from Liddabit of Brooklyn.  Incredible caramels with unique flavors; beer and pretzel, dark chocolate sea salt and ricotta orange honey.  The candy bars are dense and unique too.  I have to say I am particularly partial to chocolate covered candy corn.  That and brittle is one of my faves.

Gradys Cold Brew.  My friends are obsessed with the cold brew coffee.  This is just amazing.  So smooth and intense.  Best mixed with a little milk for iced coffee.  It almost needs to be cut or you might be up for a few days straight.

Now for the pumpkin seed brittle.  I forgot to take pics but this recipe is a sure winner.  It is all about using a timer. 

2 cups sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

1/3 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tbsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds

Spray a cookie sheet with a cooking spray.

Combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan.  Stir together until completely mixed.  Cook this over a high heat.  Don't stir it.  Set the timer for 10 minutes and just let it do its thing.  It should turn a dark caramel color.  Take a peek around 9 minutes in to make sure it doesn't turn to an amber color too early and if does remove from the heat and move to the next step.

Remove from the heat.  Whisk in the baking soda first and then the salt.  The mixture will rise up.  Pour in the pumpkin seeds and mix quickly until totally combined. 

Pour into the cookie sheet and push down until about 1/2" thickness.  Let cool.  Once this is cool break it up into pieces.  Really delicious.

You could add about 1/4 tsp. of chili powder to spice it up.

 

last full day in Cape Town

We started out at Greenmarket Square.  Lots of stalls with mostly African wares.  The merchants are pretty aggressive so engaging in conversation unless you plan on buying something is not wise.  Once you decide to buy something, use cash and negotiate.  There are a few vintage type booths walking down to the square.  This guy had sunglasses and a random skate.

I didn't do a great job of capturing this woman but I tried.  

This booth was where we ended up buying a bunch of random bracelets for gifts.  

We went over to the art school of UCT afterward.  There is a small gallery there called Michaelis.  The exhibit was called Threshold, about climate change and environment concern.  Really wonderful pieces from students and I believe alumni.  

This is called Oil Painting by Alexandra Karakashian.  She is using canvas that is dropped into used motor oil.  My guess is over time the canvas will get blacker and blacker as the oil seeps up into the canvas.  

This piece is called Landscape by Carolyn Parton, reconstituted reclaimed paint.  It is really cool how she was able to take thick pieces of used paint and manipulate it to sit inside a frame to create this piece.

Carbon Cloud by Lindi Sales was my favorite.  This entire structure is about climate change and global warning which is happening because of carbon emissions known as greenhouse gases.  The most common carbon emission is carbon dioxide which is increases because of our dependence on fossil fuels.  

This reminds me of old style paintings although it is actually pigment ink.  This is called Hottentots Holland: Flora Capensis 2 by Andrew Putter.  Many of the plants are becoming extinct, endangered or rarely seen because of carbon emissions.  Cape Town is one of the six floral kingdoms in the world.  There are more kinds of plans in the Cape Floral Kingdom than there are in the whole of the northern hempisphere.  Table Mountain alone supports 2200 specifics which is more than the sum total of specific in all of the United Kingdom.  Pretty amazing.  

We returned to the Biscuit Factory where I picked up the cheese platter made of the wine barrel top.  Had to have it.  After we went to the Goodman Gallery and saw a very cool installation.  The artist is Siemon Allen.  He started collecting South African music years ago and this project represents a fragment of that history.  Each label in this collection of 5400 images is a memorial to all the artists.  It is so beautiful how it is hung with the plastic curtain with the light shining through it.

Here is another one of his pieces in the exhibit that is called Reggie.  This was a cover of an album.  I love this piece.  

We went and had lunch at Loading Bay, one of Jessicas lunch spots.  I love the indoor/outdoor feel and part of the restaurant is a store that carries mostly Acne and a few Swedish labels.

They love their juices here.  Jess had apple/ginger and I went for the boring orange juice but so good.

For lunch Jess had the carrot/orange soup.  

I had the salad that they love here.  Butternut squash, beets, feta, pumpkin seeds and rocket.  

We drove over to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens that are just so old and beautiful.  The land was purchased by Cecil John Rhodes in 1895 for 9000 pounds to protect the eastern slopes of Table Mountain from urban development.  He left is to the nation in 1902.  This garden is dedicated to the cultivation and study of indigenous plants of South Africa.  This is the first view we got when we walked into the place. 

Aloe everywhere. 

Views and more views.

A great climbing tree although you are not supposed to do that.  

More aloe.

Flowers

Lilly pads.

A fun filled day.  A few hours left before I get on the 18 hour flight home.  Jessica has truly taken advantage of what Cape Town has to offer.  What an incredible experience.  

 

 

Just gorgeous.  We were really glad we did the walk.  Last time Jessica came it was in the dark.  Back to the hotel to get ready for my last evening in Cape Town.  

a very mellow day

Last night we took about 15 of Jessica's friends and bunk mates out for dinner.  It was really fun to meet everyone.  A real international crew. Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Boston, Texas, California, South Africa, and more.  Hearing about their explorations in South Africa and also where they came from to get here was great.  No doubt an incredible experience for all of them.  

The following day Jessica had to write a paper and she wasn't feeling too good either so we took it easy.  At one point I took a short stroll outside to the craft market which is pure shlock.  We took advantage of the spa later in the afternoon and that was the day in a nutshell.  Kind of nice to just relax.

Before dinner Jessica had to turn in her paper.  You have to turn in your paper by a certain time through email and also drop off a printed copy of the paper on campus.  A bit archaic but that is the system. The campus looks over Cape Town.  Another beautiful view.

I particularly love these steps going all the way up to the main building at UCT.  

This is an just a walkway where a bunch of buildings are.  Jessica takes classes in these buildings and also takes classes in a totally different area of town where the art school is.  

For dinner we went to Beluga.  Beluga is located in an area that we had eaten in last time I was here in 2004.  At that point it was the beginnings of old warehouses being taken over and now it is really built up. The restaurant reminds me of the type of places that were big in NYC during the mid-80's.  Large restaurants with a great vibe and vast menu.  Makes everyone happy and you really can't go wrong.  

Jess had the mussels.  The seafood and fish here is so good.  I have never seen mussels that size before.  They were done with a light curry sauce.

I had thinly sliced raw calamari piled up high with an Asian chili sauce around the edge of the plate.  The greens were pieces of basil and mint.  NIce.

The sushi here is really good, so fresh.  Jessica had a mixture.

I went for the lamb ribs.  We had lamb ribs this summer at South Edison in Montauk and they were so good. These were probably roasted about 12 hours and then they take them off the bone for you so you don't get your fingers sticky.  They are finished off with an Asian bbq paste with large potato fries on the side and crunchy onion rings. I am making sure to find a butcher to get lamb ribs for me when I get back to NYC.  

Went back to the hotel and crashed.  

A day in the wine country of South Africa

We had someone drive us up to the wine area for the day.  What is amazing is that the winelands are 45 minutes outside of Cape Town.  Tasting wine all day and attempting to drive is an ugly combination.  Our first stop was Meerlust.  A very old vineyard.  The grounds are beautiful.  This is the home of the owners, just looking at it brings you back to the colonial days.  Didn't love the wines but a nice first stop.

Jordan was next. Another beautiful property. Jess was playing with the dog. In the states the label goes under Jardin because there was already a Jordan Winery in the US when they began shipping there.  What is interesting is the bottles of wine run about $8-10 each here and in the states they run to from $20-45. Taxes, taxes, taxes.  We tasted about seven wines and I did bring back two bottles of their Nine Yards Chardonnay which comes from the reserve.  Pricey for here. Cost me about $30 for each bottle so in the states this would run around $85.  

Next door to Jordan is another vineyard that we just drove up to and opted to move on but we found this place fascinating.  This particular vineyard has done research and believes that if the vines listen to classical music that the grapes will age better.  You can see in the photo the black speakers.  They plug in an ipod that has enough memory to play for 18 hours straight.  Gotta love that.

In August, I read an article in the New York TImes about a black South African woman who is a winemaker. Not only a woman, which is big but black which is huge in the wine making industry because at this point there are basically no black wine makers.  Her name is Ntsiki Biyela and her vineyard is Stellekaya.  It was the one vineyard we really wanted to go to.  We drove up and rang the bell.  They let us in and directed us into a wine tasting room.  Nobody was there and down the stairs walks Ntsiki.  She had just returned from a month long trip in Tuscany educating herself about wine.  We couldn't believe our luck.  We sat there and talked to her for awhile.  She is full of life, incredibly chatty and just charming.  Of course we bought two wines, the Cape Ross that won a Gold at the Michelangelo awards in 2009 and a bottle of her 2008 Cabernet.  It was interesting hearing her speak about getting approval to ship her wines to the US.  FDA approval of the label and exactly what goes on it.  Currently they sell in NY and CA.

Food was needed.  We drove up to the Delaire Graff Estate to dine.  The place is absolutely stunning from the architecture to the setting and each detail is jaw dropping.  This is a photo from the parking lot.  I should have taken more photos but I just couldn't stop gawking.  The art work from the paintings to the sculptures are like being at a gallery.  There is a spa here and if you are in the area, come and just do something here even if it is just to have a drink to see the views.

More wine.  You can see the views from these two glasses.

Some bread to start to sop up all that alcohol.  Bread is really amazing around here.  Maybe it has to do with the water.  

More oysters for me.

Vegetable soup for Jessica.

Swordfish for a main course which was much richer than my every day salad lunch.  The swordfish had been grilled and then served over white asparagus, large green beans and spaetzle...and of course copious amounts of butter and salt.  

Lentil salad for Jessica.

Of course they brought over a few treats to top off the meal.

We went back down to the town of Stellenbosch and walked around a bit.  I wanted to go to Franschhoek too but Jessica was feeling a bit like crap so it might be just rest, rest, rest until tomorrow.  No worries, back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation.  I told her I feel like I am on primo honeymoon.  Great day.  

La Columbe, Cape Town

La Columbe is located at the Constantia Uitsig wine estate that also houses a small boutique hotel, spa, private cricket area and three world re-known restaurants, La Columbe being one of them.  Once again the service was spectacular and the wait staff talked about the food with such passion it was just a pleasure to hear them describe each dish.  This board is from the menu the night we went and we let our waiter describe everything in detail.  

The first thing out was 3 snacks from the chef.  Roasted beet root on a flaky bread, an intensely rich langoustine soup that had a serious kick with tiny pieces of shrimp in it and a small piece of duck pate. The soup was outstanding and probably just the right amount. I love how they served it in a hard egg shell.

We took it easy tonight as in we didn't go for the six course tasting menu.  Jessica started with the Alaskan King Crab.  The best description of the taste was it tasted like a gazpacho with no soup.  Clean fresh vegetables with a nice bite and chunks of crab.  Each dish definitely had a party feel to it as there was so much happening.  

I had the tartare.  Raw salmon over a chopped tuna tartare.  Thin slices of radish, a dollop of a white fish salad and shredded daikon.  3 portions on the plate.  Fresh and light.

For the main course Jessica had the line fish of the day.  Roasted over an avocado sauce.  Simple and flavorful.

I opted for the suckling pig.  What a party on this plate.  Every piece of the pork down to the crispy rind. The small white dollops are a smoky mashed potato.  Each piece was really good from the loin to the confit leg.

I had the cheese plate for dessert.  A nice flight of cheese mostly creamy and not too intense.

Jessica went for the peanut butter chocolate combo made like a napoleon with poached dried cranberries and apricots on top.  

We so had enough that they gave us a bag of little desserts for our drive home.  They are still sitting in our room unopened.

A beautiful spot that takes their mission of food,wine and pleasure very seriously.  

Sunday in Cape Town

Jessica and I got up and hit the gym before hitting the streets.  We first stopped by the place she has been living in since July.  She has been attending Cape Town University for the semester.  She is staying in a house with 17 other flat mates.  For a college house it is not bad.  She gets her own room and bathroom, they share a nice sized kitchen and living room that even has a pool table.  In the back of the house there is a nice garden to bbq and hang out.  

We drove down to Kalk Bay to have brunch at the Harbour House.  The restaurant sits right over the water. It was a really windy day and the surf was smashing up against the windows while people ate.  Best part was about half way through our brunch a whale was out in the horizon.  People were loving it and so were we.  

We had a light lunch.  I had oysters which I am loving down here.  The oysters are so briny.  

Jessica had the shrimp tian.  A few fried shrimp sitting on top a tian of avocado and beets.  

We both had the salad of butternut squash, feta cheese, beets and rocket ( arugula ).  Simple and light. 

The restaurant sits on a fishing pier.  These seals were hamming it up for the audience.

People sell their wares of dried fish on the dock.

Walking over to the town which is quaint and vintage.  See the cooking supply store.  Old school.

A womens clothing shop.

A bead shop.  Lots of bead shops around Cape Town.

Had to go in here to take a picture of their walls, Tribeca Bakery.

This place is called The Bakery.  Amazing breads and pastries.  Totally old school.

On the other side of Kalk Bay is Muizenberg.  The views are so beautiful we just pulled over.

Up where we were is a shark outpost.  This woman is literally looking for sharks to inform the people in the water below.

These small colorful homes are on the Muizenberg beach.  There is a train stop there too which definitely is something out of the 50's.  I am not sure what they use these homes for maybe cabanas.

Lots of surfing on this beach but today is really windy and crazy.  

Back to the hotel for a little rest before our next outing.  Such a nice day.  

 

A full day in Capetown

I slept like a dog and got up on Capetown time.  Pretty amazing actually.  Jessica took me to Old Biscuit Mill marketplace which is open all week but on Saturday they have a food court from local places as well as one offs.  As Jessica said, the crowd is a little bit like going to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Right up my alley.  A perfect kick off to the week.  This is the area where the food is.

Inside there are communal tables to eat.  I love how they put candles down the table in wine bottles.  A nice touch.

We began our first bite with a super sized potato pancake (latke) topped with smoked salmon and an egg. It also comes with hollandaise sauce but we went without that.  Quite good.  Afterward we were seriously thirsty and picked up a killer strawberry smoothie.  

There are tastes everywhere.  This is like tuna jerky.  Tuna biltong.  I tasted it.  Really salty.  Not my thing but big with the locals.

We tried these Norwegian smoked salmon wraps in rice paper.  One bite and we both tossed it out.  Alas.  

Taking a break we walked around the area that is open during the week.  Lots of small clothing booths for clothes, jewelry and shoes.  This place is a little deli.  

I loved these large round wooden cheese platters made from the top of wine barrels.  I really thought about bringing one back but they are seriously heavy.  I might still go back and buy one.

Then we walked into a store called Green.  Lots of hand made wooden tables and table bases.  Very cool stuff but what we both really loved were the cow rugs.  Literally hides of cows.  I have been looking at them in the states.  The ones here are so inexpensive compared to at home.  I picked up this "cow" rug for $400.  We were seriously psyched.

Strolling back to the food market we tasted some salamis in a variety of flavors.  All really delicious and cured perfectly.

It was time for lunch.  The breads here are amazing.  Maybe it is the water.  We split a sandwich with roasted chicken, avacado, tomato pesto, basil pesto, lettuce greens, sliced tomatoes, pecorino cheese and a variety of dressings as each different layer was put on.  This was all stuffed into a scooped out roll baked with pumpkin seeds on the top.  A perfect sandwich.

Check out these gorgeous mushrooms.

More bread.

If it wasn't for the fact that I am not a huge fan of white chocolate I might have gone for these blueberry whoopie pies.

Local coffee from Rosetta brewery.  In the bottom corner is Brewers & Union which is a local beer.

Outside there were wrapped bales of hay to sit on and low wooden tables in the middle.  They even put flowers or plants in the middle of the table to make it look nice.  Basically an ongoing all day party was happening here.

We sat outside and tried a piece of carrot cake.  One bite, didn't love it.  Too dry but looked good.

It was time for some gallery exploring.  The first gallery we went to is called the Museum Gallery.  They only carry photography.  It is located at the top of a hill where there is a new hotel.  The area is certainly undergoing gentrification because on the way up the hill are random outlets.  An interesting gritty neighborhood around the corner from the Old Biscuit Mill Market. 

Next stop was Michael Stevenson.  They carry some of the most well known South African artists, many who are carried and shown around the world.  They had a few exhibits up.  We were fortunate to speak to a woman there who took us through the back drawers of other artists that she believed to be up and coming.  A pretty awesome experience.  This artist is Guy Tillim.  This shot is taken in Polynesia.  The concept of this show is to show the viewer how these beautiful places don't really look like the postcard you get.  Everything was hyper-intensified from the colors to the trash.  Amazing work.

This piece is done by Sabelo Mlangeni.  They look old but they are recent.  It has to do with how they are processed.  It is called Ghost Town series.  All the photos are taken in towns around South Africa where mainly children and grandchildren reside as the parents have moved into Capetown or Johannesburg where there is work.  Classic urbanization as the country is growing post-apartheid.  When it transforms towards the suburbs could be years.  

Daniel Naube is the artist here.  A series of animals.  After buying the cow rug I kind of felt drawn to this one photo.

Our next stop was a drive through the city until we ended up in Hout Bay which is south of the city down the Atlantic seaboard.  An old fishing villa.  There are tons of fishing boats there.  Absolutely majestic.  The picture does not do the place justice.  We walked to the far end of the pier and back.  Just breathtaking.

Back to the hotel to relax and have a massage.  Living it up.