21 Jan Stuff Coffee Shop, Vanwyksdorp
Allow me to briefly introduce Vanwyksdorp before speaking about Stuff Coffee Shop.
Vanwyksdorp lies about 40 kilometers from Ladismith, off Route 62 on the R327, between Ladismith and Hebertsdale. It’s a quaint little Karoo Village and we have not been here before. It is remote, probably because it lies on a gravel road, not well used. But it is also for this reason that the village maintains its charm. For more information on Vanwyksdorp, do a Google search. There is a lot of interesting information to be found.
Travelling this road from Cape Town to George, we took Route 62 through Barrydale, turning off roughly ten kilometers before reaching Ladismith onto the R327. We were planning on taking this road, which was unknown to us. It’s an interesting road, and if you have time and love the road, do yourself a favour and drive it. We shared more information on this road, the R327, in this magazine.
On reaching Vanwyksdorp, we were looking to find the ‘business hub’ and were rewarded with this gem, called Stuff Coffee Shop.
In reality, Stuff is more than just a coffee shop. Entering I was greeted by Edith, speaking fluent English here in this Karoo dorpie. (So much for my prejudice. The town is called, Vanwyksdorp after all).
This coffee shop describes themself as an oasis of art and flavour, which indeed it is. Evidence of this is seen throughout the place. As stated on their website;
“From delectable treats to unique African gifts to marvelous light meals, exotic coffees and luxury fabrics and fashions. We certainly will have something to tickle your fancy”.
This was our experience. It started with a delicious Cappuccino, a richly balanced brew with an aromatic aroma tickled my senses as it was placed before me. At the first sip, I could shake off the tiredness of my being, the caffeine energizing me.
This was soon followed by a scrumptious breakfast, featuring a colourful array of organic produce, perfect toast with crispy bacon, perfectly cooked eggs, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, all served by an engaging Edith.
This food, however, was prepared by Anna van Wyk, one of the original van Wyks, after which the town was named. What an honour? Of course I used the opportunity to engage with her. Anna smiles shyly and is quite modest about her family’s history.
Walking around the shop I was intrigued by two large food baskets containing prepacked meals. On enquiring, I learnt that these meals are the brainchild of a non-governmental organisation in the Garden Route called, The Food Pantry.
Prepacked meals are placed into food socks. These food socks consist of six different meals, each packed in one easy-to-prepare biodegradable plastic sleeve. Each sock can feed four to six people. It is hoped that clients will buy a sock, which is then donated to charity. In this way many needy families can enjoy a nutritional meal. More can be learnt from the organisation itself if you google them, “The Food Pantry”. In their own words they state the following,
Over the past two years, we have dedicated our activities towards food security by rescuing food destined to be destroyed at farms, factories and retailers, as well as produced our own fortified cookies and pasta in our on-site kitchen.
“In January this year we broke through a significant milestone of having served more than two million meals to our beneficiaries across the Garden Route, Klein Karoo and Central Karoo regions. This amounts to a value of goods that exceeds R6 million.
What an initiative?
The building itself has a history. It was the old post office building, now renovated for this purpose. The old receiving post box can still be seen attached to the inner wall.
All paintings on the walls and produce in the store are locally produced.
All in all, our experience was uplifting, and we will definitely visit this place again.
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