Dial 9 for service at Alexander Bar & Café

Playwright Nicholas Spagnoletti and software engineer Edward van Kuik have created an elegant establishment to provide Cape Town with a unique new conversation space.

Filled with old-world charm and with its functioning rotary dial telephone system and revolving sofa Alexander Bar & Café is engineered for playful interaction and conversation. The bar menu is extensive with an impressive range of malt whiskies and cocktails. The wine list is still small yet well priced and hopefully, as demand increases, the list will be beefed up in future. Sterhuis unwooded Chardonnay will set you back a mere R100 per bottle and a glass of Miss Molly bubbly R22.

Bar snacks are offered along with a few “light meal” items like salads and wraps until 12 o’clock at night. Service is good but not intrusive.

Dotted around are attractive old phones which actually work. The telephone system gives permission for people at different tables to engage with each other. The messages left on the typewriter range from hilariously puerile to lyrically poetic. The owners have joined all these elements that combine to create a space that has warmth, humour and comfort.