With the help of our partners Rosebank Management District, on Wednesday 20 November we were joined by 17 concierges from top Joburg hotels including The Courtyard Hotel, The Peech Hotel, The Capital Melrose, The Hyatt Regency and Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, for the second In Your Pocket Concierge Neighbourhood Walk of the year.
For our debut walk in October we took a tour of Rosebank’s Keyes Art Mile area, and for our second walk we continued our exploration of Rosebank’s art spaces, with a visit to the popular galleries, bars and restaurants clustered around Park Corner and Jan Smuts Avenue in Parkwood, a 10 minute walk from our Rosebank starting point, the Workshop 17 co-working space.
The Concierge Neighbourhood Walk series is part of our ongoing dedication to helping the local hospitality industry to share and promote the many great experiences that Joburg has to offer visitors.
Johannesburg In Your Pocket’s founding principles have always been based on personal experiences. We never review anything that we haven’t personally experienced – and enjoyed – and we believe that to be able to truly recommend a place to a visitor, you need to go there and check it out yourself first.
We are also big believers in walking Joburg’s streets wherever possible and with Rosebank being one of Joburg’s most easily walkable neighbourhoods, we were excited to show off how easy it is to explore on two feet.
Our walk started on the 10th floor of the Rosebank Firestation building, home to the homegrown co-working brand Workshop 17. After a brief introduction to the co-working space and the convenient facilities it offers to both business travellers and locals, we took in some of the finest views in Rosebank before heading back down to the street for a short stroll to Park Corner.
The first port of call was the popular strip of bars and restaurants that have sprung up around the corner of Bolton Road and Jan Smuts Avenue in the last two years. After admiring the mural by street artist Sonny featured on the cover of the second issue of Rosebank In Your Pocket mini-guide) and revealing the location of Sin+Tax, the backstreet ‘secret bar’ frequented by local and visiting celebs (which was also included in the 2019 World’s 50 Best Bars list), we made a brief pit stop at the cool barbershop-bar Bar Ber Black Sheep for a quick drink, one of the neighbourhood’s most popular late-night hangouts.
Sufficiently watered it was then time to move on to explore some of the area’s leading art galleries including David Krut Projects and their sister property, ‘The Blue House’ which has recently had a very impressive revamp. Particularly famous for their print work, David Krut Projects works with some of South Africa’s most celebrated artists, including William Kentridge whose works can be viewed at both galleries.
We were then treated to an introduction to the beautiful Kim Sacks Gallery, next to the Blue House, by owner and ceramist Kim Sacks herself, who impressed our walkers with a talk through some of the outstanding artists and artisans that the gallery promotes and the vast selection of gorgeous African contemporary and traditional artworks on sale, from ceramics to beaded work, sculpture and tapestry.
For our final stop of the walk we headed back across the street to the wonderfully atmospheric Che Argentine Grill, who recently moved from Maboneng to their new restaurant at 128 Jan Smuts Avenue.
Charming co-owner Bernado talked the concierges through the outstanding traditional Argentine cuisine on offer, which is authentically cooked over a wood-fired parilla, before sharing platters of some of their most popular traditional appetisers including Che’s delicious empanadas and their famous homemade chorizo.
With the generous support of Rosebank Management District and the newly opened Rosebank branch of Soul Souvlaki (located at the corner of Bath Avenue and Baker Street) we also continued to share the Rosebank love, with two lucky concierges winning lunch at Soul Souvlaki’s new Rosebank branch and an evening at the movies at the newly revamped Cinema Nouveau at Rosebank Mall.
What the concierges said – some feedback from the day
“I would definitely recommend this place (Kim Sacks Gallery)! It has an African vibe and African historical memories and it’s very cultural which is what our guests want when they come to South Africa.”
“Ten out of ten! There’s a lot to offer in Rosebank, especially to our international guests that want a different experience and are interested in food and art.”
“I always thought Jan Smuts Avenue was just another busy road but it’s amazing how many lovely lunch and dinner spots there are there as well as the art galleries. It’s really cool!”
Our next Concierge Neighbourhood Walk is being planned for February 2020. If your hotel would like to participate please contact melusi.hlatshwayo@inyourpocket.com.