Page 119 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

Boulder Beach Penguin Colony Before our tour stop where jackass penguins
roam, we stopped for refreshments at Noordhoek
Boulders Beach is the home of a thriving African
Farm Village, the restaurant row of the South
penguin colony. Instead of being isolated like their
South American cousins, these lucky little black Peninsula. This farm, it seems, raises restaurants
instead of cabbages, with dining spots that cater
and white guys and gals share the shoreline with
to almost every palate. We opted for casual dining
some of the most expensive real estate in Africa
and everyone seems to get along just fine. They’re outside at Foodbarn Deli, where we expected
called Jackass penguins because of their obnox- standard deli fare, but were blown away by the de-
licious feast brough to our table.
ious donkey-like call. Visitors
On our way out, when Ron
pay a small fee to wander a
wide elevated wood walkway told the cashier how much we
along the beach where the enjoyed our lunch, she pointed
out a very large aproned man
birds live, raising their young
and fishing. as the chef. Ron walked over to
shake his hand, thank him and
In 1982 these penguins were
snap a quick photo. It wasn’t
almost extinct - only two
breeding pairs remaining in the until we were writing this
area. Heroic conservation ef- story that we discovered that
the deli chef was Franck Dan-
forts have revived the Boulders
gereux the original owner-chef
colony to more than 3,000
birds in recent years. During of Cape Town’s La Colombe,
ranked during the ten years he
our visit, a highlight was at the
was there was number 28 in
end of the line where hundreds
of penguins played in the surf, the world’s top 50 restaurants.
(For more on La Colombe, see
probably staying clean and pre-
page 52.) We’ll never think of
sentable in their exclusive
beachfront digs. delis in quite the same way.

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