Centre a vibey hub for foodies

Beacon Bay Crossing is city’s new culinary haven

BEACON Bay Crossing is fast becoming a culinary hub in the city with two restaurants having opened in the last month and two more in the pipeline for next year.

Sanook Eatery co-owner James Hogg, who opened his stylish pasta, pizza and steak restaurant at the Crossing in May last year after the success of Sanook Cafe in Berea, said he chose the venue because he believed that “a lot of exciting things” were happening in the hub.

“A hotel and more restaurants and shops are being planned. It’s nice that a couple more restaurants have already opened, because if we are full we can always direct customers to the other eateries. It’s good to see the parking lot full.”

He said Sanook had been fully booked “since day one” and that he would be opening a new Mexican and craft beer restaurant called Cantina & Craft a few doors from his current business in February.

Prawn & Grill Co co-owner Alun Bendle said he had chosen Beacon Bay Crossing to open a restaurant on October 22 because he was confident it was going to become the lifestyle centre of East London.

“Also the modern, industrial architecture of the building fitted in with our concept.”

Bendle said that despite relying on word-of-mouth and social media to market the restaurant, which is part of the Jimmy’s Group of pizza and fish and chips eateries, it was fully booked from Thursday through to Saturday nights.

“We’ve had phenomenal growth and are opening a very high-end membership lounge called the Capa Lounge in mid-2016 where members can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner business meetings in professional surroundings.” Also new to the centre is RocoMamas which opened on November 5 and is part-owned by the Spur group.

Owner Andy Brewis said he chose the venue for the ribs, wings and “smashburger” eatery because it was situated in the well-established and easily accessible residential area of Beacon Bay.

“Beacon Bay Crossing also has good security and it’s good to be part of this ongoing development.”

Brewis, who is a part-owner of the Spur at Beacon Bay Retail Park, said it had been “a natural choice” to invest in the suburb and that RocoMamas had been well received.

Restaurant general manager Nicolene Theron said business was “booming” with the restaurant’s smashburgers proving a big hit.

She said smashburgers were smashed meatballs with added butter and sealed with spices. —