Saturday really was a peach of a day, so I took the eldest for a cruise in the Z3 with the top down. With Vitamin D and ACDC’s Highway to Hell on full (great hangover cure, BTW), we approached the suburb I made famous from the south side; winding past the 12 Apostles, Holy Moly estate, and Bali beach.

Our mission was to get some ice cream and cruise the strip by foot.

Camps Bay was abuzz, as we snuck into a particularly cosy parking spot just outside Dizzy’s. I remembered hearing that a Woolworths had opened in Camps Bay and thought I’d poke my nose in, en route to the ice cream.

The new Camps Bay Woolworths in the building where they have the pharmacy. You know, where Vilamoura used to be. Remember that cockroach haven? Back in the heydays, it was the high-end pretender over the road, snapping at the heels of Blues restaurant – the coolest place in town. I should know, I worked at Blues at the time. What a rush – true halcyon days. Alex, Adele, Zelda, Sam, Chase, Darren, VC. Such a crazy brilliant crew. Then you had Dom and his big lunch-into-dinner tables (my first exposure to the mighty Amex black titanium card), celebrities on tap and big, fat tips. Did you think I said tits there for a second?

The regulars were great to watch – the way they used to play and just do their own thing. Inspirational, really. During season, they would book the same table every night for a month, arriving with their own fish they caught that day and telling the chef to cook it a certain way. Incredible shit.

I remember one German regular who looked like Flavio Briatore. Big, fat red-faced guy with gorgeous long, wavy white hair. I was returning from a break and this guy was standing and screaming at the chef, but he wasn’t anywhere near the kitchen. Blues pioneered the open kitchen concept in Cape Town and this guy was shouting from the other side of the restaurant, across all the other diners. People weren’t quite sure what was going on.

“NEXT TIME I WANT IT FUCKING AL DENTE!” I caught at the end of his rant. He had thrown his pasta all over his table.

The chef shouted back, “You wouldn’t know al dente if it crept up your arse.”

Unbelievable shit.

Sorry, I digress. Back to Woolies. I must say, it is interesting to note that there has never been a Woolworths in Camps Bay up until now. The one theory is that Woolworths owner Simon Susman swore never to allow Woolworths into that building, following an 11th-hour contract discrepancy with the landlords many many years ago. I don’t know the details, nor if it’s true. I’m sure Stuart Chait will know. I’ll ask him next time I see him. Interesting to note that this new Camps Bay Woolworths’ opening coincides with Susman handing over the chairmanship.

So it’s a small Woolworths, that’s for sure, but they’re getting quite clever with their selection these days.

Anyway, I took some pics so you can check it out. It’s all there – and with those fancy new clear plastic doors in the cold section. I do like those doors. They’ve got them at the Constantia Village Pick n Pay as well. I wonder if that new Constantia Checkers they’re building will have them. Surely?

Ja, so it’s all there.

You would have noticed they’ve got the usual chicken and bakery section with organic, free-range, virgin cooked chickens and those naughty ‘six for R25’ cheese puffs and mini chicken pies.

So that’s you pretty much sorted.