We venture down Mexico way to play hunt the celebrity
It’s the name of a town on the US border with Mexico and a little-known indie rock band — and now Calexico can lay claim to be the title of a new Johannesburg restaurant.
The eatery, in that once super-trendy precinct on the cusp of downtown called 44 Stanley, held an opening party on Wednesday night and drew a mixed bag, from pocket-sized comedian John Vlismas to social doyenne Peta Eggierth-Symes.
Peta, there with her ever-faithful hubby, Peter, was sporting one of her signature headwraps (she told me she had snapped up a whole pile from a craft market) and trying to make out who she could recognise in the throng.
Sadly, though, not many of the promised celeb guests pitched, so we had to make do with chatting among ourselves and trying to score a platter of fare such as nachos with smashed avo, and pico de gallo (that’s Mexican for salsa), quesadillas and barbecued chicken wings.
The night, though, did give me a chance to catch up with marketing gal Katrien Grobler, back in town after heading up B2B marketing for Vodafone in the UK, and Annie Malan, who those with very long memories might remember played in the movie of Dalene Matthee’s book Fiela se Kind.
While Annie did recently return to the screen as a “sexy slut” in the SABC2 drama series Swartwater, for which she landed an award, she says it was just a momentary lapse — her thriving promo company takes up so much of her time that there’s “no space for husbands or children”, let alone acting.