Wallpaper* – The world’s best coffee shops for design lovers
Wallpaper* (UK) features Swan Café in The world’s best coffee shops for design lovers.
Evoking a truly Parisian atmosphere and aesthetic is a new addition to Cape Town’s blooming creative district, Swan Café. Serving up traditional crêpes, savoury galettes and exclusive tea blends ‘steeped in the perfume of Paris’, the new crêperie draws on the elegance and grace of the swan as its design focus, fashioned by South African interior and furniture designer Haldane Martin.
The crêperie conjures up traditional notions of French design and feminine symbolism through bistro furniture pieces, romantic imagery (courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci and Jean-Léon Gérôme’s allegories of the ancient Greek tale of Leda and the Swan) and a colour palette directly inspired by the French flag. Elsewhere, copper and brass interior pieces flirt with pink hues and tones, creating a subtly playful environment reinforcing the café’s avian concept. Guests are welcomed by a linear seating layout, from which they can watch their tantalising treats come into being from the open-plan kitchen at the front of the café.
Photography: Micky Hoyle
Writer: Luke Halls
Originally published on wallpaper.com, 20 August 2018.