Want to know where the locals love to go? In this exclusive series on Time Out Cape Town, ‘Local Intel’ taps into some of the city’s best-connected characters to unearth the corners you simply can’t miss in the Mother City.
Perhaps few Capetonians have done as much to change how locals experience central Cape Town as Gareth Pearson. Best known as the co-founder of First Thursdays, launched in 2012, Pearson helped transform a handful of late-opening galleries into one of Cape Town’s defining monthly cultural rituals, drawing thousands of people into the CBD to explore its galleries, bars, restaurants and streets on foot.
That interest in the street-level life of cities has since evolved into a broader focus on urbanism and placemaking, and these days his focus is increasingly on the city itself. Pearson is Placemaking Lead at the Mission for Inner City Cape Town, an independent non-profit launched in 2025 to help drive the regeneration of the city centre.
Working across the public and private sectors, the Mission supports projects ranging from public art and lighting to events and longer-term public-space upgrades. Recent initiatives include Jazz in the City, Inner-city Saturdays, and the colourful Daisy Crossing on Strand Street, created with artist Helen Moore.
He also leads Stadium Place Lab, an urbanism studio dedicated to creating lively, people-centred public spaces – recent projects include the Longkloof precinct – and he remains a director of Cape Town Furniture Week, the annual festival celebrating contemporary local furniture, lighting and homeware. A Chevening Scholar and graduate of the City Design and Social Science programme at the London School of Economics, Pearson has spent much of his career exploring why some urban spaces thrive while others don’t. This makes him exactly the sort of local we want to show us around Cape Town. Here are some of his favourite places…
MORE LOCALS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE SPOTS
I know the guys who own Leo’s Wine Bar, and I’ve been going there since it started, pre-Covid. What I like about it is the fact that it’s so tiny. You can go there and be the only person there and it’s a vibe. It’s the kind of place I default to if I want to grab a quick drink after work, and I’ll more than likely bump into someone I know, or see someone walking past.
De Oude Schuur, 120 Bree Street
Time Out Guide: The best wine bars in Cape Town
I love a bookshop, especially second-hand bookshops. Upstairs at Clarke’s is a room of first editions and rare books, and I’m always into architecture books and urban histories. It’s a real inner-city institution.
199 Long Street, Cape Town City Centre
Time Out Guide: The best bookshops in Cape Town
I love bread and bakeries in general. We’ve even taken the drive out there on a Saturday morning literally just to go to Rosemead. There’s something about the authenticity of the space, and they’ve set such a high bar. There are some amazing bakeries around Cape Town, but Rosemead is just another level.
Corner of Park and Volstruis Streets, Yzerfontein
My wife’s family are from out that way, and Noop is the perfect brasserie: casual fine dining. It’s a treat, but it’s accessible. It’s so consistent in how it’s run, and it stands out as one of those genuinely great restaurants in the Cape. It’s a bit of a secret spot.
127 Main Road, Paarl
Dalebrook is such a nice little outing. On a nice morning, the atmosphere is always so calm, with people out taking a dip. There’s something about floating in the water, looking back at the mountain above Kalk Bay and staring up at the stone pines on the hillside.
Off Main Road, Dalebrook, Kalk Bay
Olympia in Kalk Bay has always been a favourite of mine. I usually go for a late lunch on the weekend, and I almost always order the linguine di mare.
134 Main Road, Kalk Bay
There are just so many good things about Giovanni’s, but I’ll often go in for a sandwich with mortadella, mozzarella, lettuce and mayonnaise. Then I’ll usually walk out with a copy of The World of Interiors or Monocle.
103 Main Road, Green Point, Cape Town
New York Bagels is one of those places that’s consistently good and reasonable. My default there is the chicken sando, but if you can get it on sourdough, it’s amazing. Their sourdough is also one of the best. You can buy a loaf to go if they have stock.
44 Harrington Street, District Six
My wife and I try to go to Babylonstoren once every three months or so, as the garden changes with the seasons, which is always interesting. And from a retail point of view, there’s always something new to discover. There’s always a corner of the estate that we haven’t seen. It’s such a beautiful, well-put-together space and offering that it’s on another level as a visitor experience.
Klapmuts-Simondium Road, Simondium, Paarl
I’m a little bit biased about Custodian Pastry Bar because I was involved in it being located at Longkloof Precinct. It’s the same people from Hoghouse Brewing Company, but everything they do is just incredible. It blows my mind how they can make every product so amazing: the pastéis, their beer, their bread, their baked goods. It’s hard to imagine. It’s a utopia where everything they do is perfect.
Longkloof Precinct, 7 Park Road, Gardens
There’s a new Moro Gelato in Sea Point, which is open until 11, but when we’re in town we’ll go past the Long Street one. There are a few locations, but the gelato is just so good. The flavours change, but the one I love, which is super seasonal, is cherry croccante.
165 Long Street, Cape Town City Centre
I could eat pizza every day of my life if I could. When we lived in Sea Point, we’d get takeaways from Lievita, which is just so good. But then they stopped you from phoning for takeaways; you had to order through an app, and I couldn’t do it. We’d often just get takeaway, but Pizza Connection in Woodstock is great. Aegir Project Taproom is also just so good.
113 Roodebloem Road, Woodstock, Cape Town
Pizza Connection ranked #11 in the world!
At the Milnerton Flea Market, you never know what you’re going to find, and it’s just Cape Town coming together in such a beautiful crossover space of people looking for something. Often you’ll come away with nothing, but sometimes you’ll find a gem or two.
126 Marine Drive, Paarden Eiland
Our office is just around the corner from Vasco’s, and it’s just one of those spots. A pint of Guinness at Vasco’s, inside, where there’s so much character – it’s just a real bar.
3 Alfred Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town
Discover Time Out original video
Â
