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Honest Chocolate is a Cape Town company specializing in handmade dairy free and sugar free chocolate. At last a chocolate for those who are lactose intolerant, or simply on a diet. They use raw, unroasted that is, organic Ecuadorian cacao, which is apparently better for you than ordinary chocolate as it is higher in antioxidants. Can this be true, can chocolate actually be good for you?

Honest Chocolate doesn’t add any artificial flavoring or emulsifiers in an attempt to keep the chocolate as pure as possible.

Honest Chocolate is located in Wale Street in Cape Towns city center and is definitely worth the quick five minute drive from one of our Camps Bay villas. For one thing it is the place to be during the current heat wave that we’re experiencing in Cape Town as the chocolate has to be kept very cool so as not to melt. The shop is small but very quaint, its wooden floors, and antique till give it a wonderful old world charm. Guests of our Camps Bay luxury villas who are fans of illustration will delight in the sweet artwork that adorns the walls. These include the original prints of the chocolate bar wrappers, as each flavour is wrapped in a print commissioned by a separate local artist.

It is well worth the short trip from Camps Bay to sample all of the flavors: nibs, moca, coffee, Kalahari dessert salt all of which contain 72% chocolate, they also sell a richer 88%.

The two chocolate makers who run Honest Chocolate hand make all their chocolate in wooden batches and incorporate traditional techniques and methods. While at their shop, guests of our Cape villas Camps Bay should certainly sample their specialty bon bons which consist of praline covered in chocolate, they are available in original and mint and are designed to melt in your mouth. But don’t return to your Camps Bay house without a jar of their raw, organic chocolate spread, for the ultimate indulgence.

Knead Bakery is a café with its own bakery, it offers a casual, comfortable, rustic charm, the ideal place to read the paper while indulging in a very tasty sandwich. There is an outlet in the heart of Cape Town, in Wembley Square, about 8 minutes or so from your Camps Bay house, and a newly opened Knead Bakery in surfers corner in Muizenberg, a 20 minute drive from our Camps Bay luxury villas.

Knead is open between 7:00am-16:00pm on weekdays and 15:00pm on weekends, so it is strictly a breakfast and lunch spot. They have a fairly extensive menu which consists of only locally grown ingredients, making your carbon footprint a touch lighter. Many of their dishes, including all of their sandwiches, are served on a slab of wood rather than a plate, giving your eating experience a nice rustic touch.

What really sets Knead apart from any restaurant/bakery you’re likely to find in the Camps Bay area is what they term their ‘artisan bread’. All of the bread in their bakery is made by hand by a baker trained specifically in the art of bread making, hence an artisan, using traditional bread making techniques. The large variety of breads baked at Knead are hand made and tend to be less perfect or even symmetrical than shop brought bread, the difference is in the texture and the taste. But be warned, due to the high quality of the ingredients used, as well as the skill of the baker, the breads sold at their bakery are a bit more pricey than your local supermarket, around R25 a loaf. But once back at one of our Cape villas Camps Bay, munching on a hearty sandwich made with Knead bread, you’ll surely feel that you made the right decision.

The Knead bakery also offers traditionally made pies, pastry and confectionaries that will certainly tempt you away from your diet. If you decide to stay for lunch be sure to try the mushroom pie, the ultimate comfort food and their olive sticks are delectable.

For those planning on staying at a spectacular Camps Bay house while vacationing in the area, here are some tips to help you maximize the experience of your stay in one of the trendiest beach suburbs of Cape Town:

1. Even if you plan to visit Camps Bay in the summer, pack warmer clothes for the evenings which tend to be cool.

2. Always take a windbreaker with you when you leave your Camps Bay house as Cape Town is notorious for its sudden change in weather and you wouldn’t want an icy wind off the Atlantic spoiling your outing.

3. Always apply a good sun cream and invest in a good after sun, The African sun is very harsh and you are likely to tan even while wearing sun cream. Those that have gone without sun cream in an effort to get a tan have paid a very painful and embarrassing price, resembling a lobster is never a good fashion statement.

4. Cape Town’s public transport is limited, much of it does not reach Camps Bay, hiring a car is recommended as it will cost you far less than hiring private taxis. Public taxi’s are not always safe and busses are often unreliable and do not travel to many of the attractions that are well worth experiencing, such as the Winelands.  Many of the companies that rent Camps Bay villas will also help to organize you a hired car as an extra service.

5. If you are planning to hike up Table Mountain, be sure to listen to the weather report in the morning as many hikers have been trapped in the thick cloud, disorientated and unable to find their way down.

Now that you have some tips, enjoy your stay in one of the many stylish Cape villas Camps Bay has to offer, as the Camps Bay luxury villas are some of the most desirable in Cape Town.