Glitz, glam on the Atlantic seaboard
● A sprinkling of Miami spice came to the Mother City as resort-style restaurant Casa slid open its doors on Friday evening.
And it attracted the Cape Town glam set, eager to get a peek of the refurbished Ritz Hotel, of which it forms a part.
Who turned up?
One of the country’s top designers, an Atlantic Seaboard starchitect, a former model who has carved out a niche creating gorgeous Afro Barbies, and arguably the world’s most glamorous green-tea queen.
Surprisingly, though, one person who didn’t pitch was the guy responsible for sprucing it all up — Nicky van der Walt, who I spot overseeing a few last-minute tweaks as I arrive to check in a few hours before the party.
Nicky, the polo player-cum-businessman, gives me a quick tour, from the sweat-mixed-with-gold-leaf Pierre Vermeulen piece in the lobby (yes, perspiration can be arty!) to the specially imported Martinique palm-frond wallpaper which adds to the restaurant’s tropical feel.
It all looks so retro glam, and I voice my appreciation, but can’t help but ask why the former GQ best-dressed man and his glam wife, Lee-Ann Liebenberg, won’t be basking in the glory when guests arrive.
“Tonight is all about the staff and management, who have worked so hard to make this happen,” he explains, adding that despite the perception that he’s the sole owner of the property, he is only one of the shareholders. Mmmmkay . . .
Instead, Ritz GM Johann du Plessis and his team are our hosts for the evening, which sees a DJ spinning sultry tunes as we sip cocktails on the deck and tuck into canapés ranging from sushi to caprese skewers, rockshrimp tempura to mini beef burgers (which are moreish but not easy to eat while holding a glass of champers).
Scanning the room for company, I am relieved to spot my mate Gavin Rajah, who creates the country’s most glamorous dresses, with his bestie Gretha Scholtz, who has been described as a matcha maven after bringing out a cookbook of more than 50 recipes using the trendy green tea ground into powder.
Gretha, wearing a floaty canary-yellow summer dress by Rajah of course, and I talk green tea benefits, and she tells me the book is flying off the shelves, from Barnes & Noble in the US to Selfridges in London.
Elsewhere I spot the sort of Cape Town folk who spend most of their days on Clifton’s 4th when they’re not in the gym, such as Brie Zetler and Concetta Rothschild (who describes herself on Twitter as a SWEAT1000 WAG) and am in awe of the lithe figure of Tanya Tiziana, who is there with husband Alessandro, and who, would you believe, is a mother of two.
I chat bricks and mortar with Stefan Antoni, that star architect known for his glam houses (“We’ve just finished our 16th house in LA”), and try not to talk too much to TV presenter Leigh-Anne Williams, pretty in florals but hoarse with strained vocal chords.
Then it’s a quick hello to fellow Joburger Taryn Louch (sporting the year’s hottest handbag, the woven-wood Cult Gaia Ark) before chatting to Mala Bryan, that model I mentioned who has given Barbie dolls the melanin treatment. Mala, whose idea for Malaville dolls was born from frustration at a lack of ethnic options, tells me that since she started business two years ago she’s notched up 10 000-plus sales for the range, which even includes an albino doll called Alexa.