Love at first bite

It is said we eat with our eyes. So true. My love affair with De Baba Eatery started with the pictures. For months, I salivated over the gleaming images that appeared daily in their Instagram feed — rows of pastries straight from the oven. Think puffed-up buttery croissants, including pain au chocolat oozing sweet deliciousness from the sides; sourdough breads; towering custard slices; those dainty French pastries canelés, which one rarely sees in this town; buttery brioche; a mix of muffins; and so much more.

Those pictures became my morning fix, enjoyed while I sipped coffee at my desk. I ogled the images until the day came I could stand the temptation no more. I drove up to Melville for the real experience, and I wasn’t disappointed.

De Baba is a beacon of hope in 7th Street, once bustling with hipsters eager to hang out in the plethora of restaurants, cafes, bars and bookshops it offered, and where finding a parking spot was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. This famous Melville high street was hit hard by Covid-19 and became a depressing scene of boarded-up shops and empty pavements.

The lights may have dimmed on the once-happening locale, but it’s slowly coming back to life, with more bars and restaurants opening up, and new businesses such as De Baba, located in a glorious Victorian building on the corner of 4th Avenue, drawing people back to the area.

Once inside the bakery, you are surprised by all the colour — the joyful pink and lime-green walls with splashes of yellow. There are tables and chairs for sit-down dining, and then there’s the countertop glass cabinets loaded with delicacies made daily by owner-bakers Ansi van der Mescht and her husband and business partner Jean René Onyangunga. Another glass cabinet to the side is packed with sourdoughs, muffins and croissants.

Customers pop in and out taking their pick of the day, while others take a seat for lunch. One diner was enjoying a hearty layered smoked-beef brisket sarmie with cheese, caramelised onions and mayo (R185), while another was tucking into one of De Baba’s famous all-day breakfast choices — a pile of mixed exotic mushrooms on toast (R120).

Students from nearby universities, among the bakery’s regular customers, spilled in for their fix — huge plates of delicious freshly prepared hand-cut potato chips with the skin still on them. The students’ delight in their nosh was evident, the youngsters eagerly dipping the long finger-like bites into tomato sauce and then devouring them with relish.

Then it was the students’ bakery choice of the day. “Order the carrot cake,” said one, when I asked which item I should opt for. Another, in between taking another mouthful of double chocolate cake, said that was also her “absolute fave”, but she counselled me not to forget the Russian honey cake she would treat herself to the next day.

It’s not posh but comfortable, and the prices are suitably modest. The menu is a bit overwhelming for newbies, as there are so many options to choose from, but I eventually settled for a croissant burger (R150) — a giant juicy cheeseburger sitting snugly in a toasted buttery croissant, which came with a heap of yummy onions and their house mayo, not to mention a pile of those delicious chips. And, just to finish off the experience, I chose a piece of their famous carrot cake — which was moist, dark and layered with caramel-flavoured cream-cheese icing — to take home for tea.

De Baba Eatery, corner of 4th Avenue and 7th Street, Melville

Meet baker Ansi van der Mescht

Where did my love of baking come from? My grandmother was an avid feeder of people. Any time we were at their house, she was in the kitchen preparing food. Meals were cooked with produce from their small garden. They bought milk from the dairy farmer in the little dorpie they lived in. She had a tiny kitchen, and they had modest means, but there was always food. She would let us help her measure out ingredients or shape cookies. When I grew up, I started baking things on Sundays, and I would sell them from my room at boarding school during the week. As an adult, I have always found baking and cooking and eating homemade food with someone rewarding, because baking is both a physical and a mental process. 

I have been selling my baked goods at markets since 2018, and last year my partner, Jean René, not so gently coerced me into opening the bakery. I was dead set against it, just because it is such a demanding business, but I eventually relented. It’s wonderful to have a headquarters of sorts at De Baby Eatery from which we can trade every day. 

I have been hanging out in Melville and living near to the suburb since I moved to Johannesburg in 2011. I have always enjoyed coming to 7th Street, and of course I used to party on this strip. We now live in Melville, so it made sense to open the bakery close to home. It makes the early-morning hours so much easier, and it has been a worthwhile endeavour to invest in our neighbourhood. 

Being a baker and running a restaurant are all-consuming. If you’re looking for a sobering experience, open an eatery. We rely on a million tiny parts working properly, and these are mostly beyond our control. When we go in every morning at 3am to do the day’s baking, we hope all our machinery is working, that the ingredients are fresh and available, that our team are rested and motivated, and that we have electricity and water (or sufficient backup if we don’t have either).

Jean René and I start mixing bread and rolling out pastry sheets at 3am every morning. We have coffee and do admin while the pastries and breads are proofing. Then the sun comes up, and that is something special to be a witness to each day. At 7am, the pastry cases are filled and our team arrive. We try to get out of the bakery at a reasonable hour, so we can wind down and rest. We’ve not had much off time since opening the bakery, but things are now starting to settle.