Jazz in Cape Town CBD
SOME years ago I stopped hanging out after dark in the Cape Town CBD unless I had to attend an event.
So it was a lovely surprise to be introduced to Castello’s Jazz Bistro on Keerom Street one rainy Thursday night. Here’s a place in the heart of the Mother City that caters to a more mature crowd, with its chilled ambience, fresh and delicious food, generous drinks and a whole lot of jazz.
We chose the yellowtail with two different sauces and the chicken curry with ground almonds and freshly made flat bread – recommended by executive chef and co-owner, Siven Pillay. Both meals were generous, beautifully presented and full of the flavour of fresh spices and sauces. My favourite was the flat bread with garlic and parsley.
Castello’s offers all the usual drinks and reasonably-priced local wines. If you don’t want a meal, pop in for a drink and to listen to the jazz.
Castello’s is a popular breakfast and lunch spot for the legal fraternity from the Western Cape High Court opposite. Vaughn Fransch, advocate by day and a trumpet player by night, decided to open the bistro on Monday and Thursday nights as a place “in the heart of Cape Town” to play alongside and listen to top local and international jazz artists. The night we were there, Fransch made a cameo appearance, walking from the back of the restaurant to the stage playing a trumpet solo while stopping to greet guests along the way before joining the band, Lorendo Brown, and Friends, on stage for a few songs.
Cape jazz legend Alvin Dyers and his band host a weekly Monday Night Jazz Jam and you can expect to hear others like Darryl Andrews, Mike Rossi, Andrew Ford, Hilton Schilder, Marc de Kock, and Ian Smith.