Oranjezicht City Farm launches a vibey mid-week night market

The Oranjezicht City Farm market at Granger Bay has long been the weekend go-to for fabulous local fresh produce and artisan food products. Now it has added a mid-week night market to Cape Town’s foodie diary.

When we visited soon after opening at 4pm it was relatively quiet, meaning that early birds could shop for fresh produce and artisan goodies without much in the way of a queue.

Once the after-work crowd arrives around 6pm the vibe gets buzzier, queues form for the new bar and favourite food stalls, and music plays as shadows lengthen and the bay reflects the pinks of sunset. Lights go on, friends and family hang out, and the crowd only reluctantly drifts away after closing time at 8pm.

Market organiser Sheryl Ozinsky says, “Our customers told us that they shop for beautiful farm-to-table veggies here on Saturday and Sunday and by Wednesday they’re out. So it made logical sense to open on a Wednesday.

"And Cape Town needs a beautiful night market. In summer in a venue like this, what’s better than coming with your family, doing your shopping and enjoying your dinner with a bottle of wine and these beautiful views, so you don’t have to cook yourself.”

Suppliers of the fresh produce at the heart of the market are mostly small urban farms, who have grown with the support of selling to the OZCF every week, and now have capacity to supply the market for its three days weekly trading. “It’s creating jobs, it’s about sourcing the best of the best,” Sheryl adds. “It’s exhilarating, exhausting and exciting!”

Perched at a repurposed pallet wood table, we sampled a fantastic soft taco with seared tuna from Franck Dangereux’ Food Barn pop-up, and Flammkuchen from Piroshka’s.

Another foray among the food stalls won us succulent samosas, and excellent Vietnamese stir-fried rice noodles from Yen’s Kitchen.

By now the sun was almost down. While I hung onto our new-found bean-bag real estate on a platform overlooking the bay, the girls took on the arduous task of deciding on dessert, returning with Hoghouse pastéis de nata and a generous slice of carrot cake.

Go for supper and take your shopping bags along too. It’s impossible to walk past the artisan food stalls and cornucopia still-life of fresh produce without discovering an urgent need for a sourdough loaf from Woodstock Bakery, some perfectly ripe mangos, the last porcini mushrooms of the season, or other food treasures.

• The Oranjezicht City Farm market is open every Saturday from 8.15am - 2pm, Sunday 9am-3pm and Wednesday 4pm- 8pm. Visit ozcf.co.za

This article was originally published in the Sunday Times Neighbourhood: Property and Lifestyle guide. Visit Yourneighbourhood.co.za