The Hidden Gem
Bicycling South Africa|May 2017

Over a bridge and just off the Cape’s cycle lanes is a café – where the cyclist is king.

Andre Valentine
The Hidden Gem

Tucked away in the Woodstock Exchange, a quirky shopping centre on Albert Road in Cape Town, is a classically-styled, cycling-oriented dive called the Starling & Hero Bicycle Café. It’s easy to reach by bike, as Albert Road has one of Cape Town’s most used cycle lanes… and once you find it, you’ll keep coming back.

The café is the brainchild of Arno van der Westhuizen and Emile Kotze. The former always wanted to own a restaurant, and the latter built and repaired bikes; “so we decided to join forces, and open a bicycle café,” Van der Westhuizen explains.

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