One of my dear friends put me in touch with his boss, Cal Kingwill of
Priest Post Production when they began thinking of starting up a coffee spot in Joburg at their satellite office. The reality of the Priest EspressoBar is far beyond any imaginings, an awesome little spot has sprung from this creative editing space.
Priest Espressobar is one part coffee shop, one part edit and production space. Situated on Joburg’s gallery strip, Jan Smuts Avenue in Rosebank, The Espressobar is a satellite office for Priest, a content creation company based in Cape Town.
“Almost half of our clients are based in Joburg, so we wanted to set up a home where they and our editors could work from,” said Cal Kingwill, owner of Priest.
The Espressobar is the first café and eatery on Jan Smuts Avenue, which is known as Joburg’s gallery strip. The shop is neighbour to galleries, art studios, tattoo parlours and other artisanal shops. It operates six days of the week, and the edit and production area behind it is available for dry hire.
The espressobar has an understated Latin feel that is largely attributed to the Chilean ex-punk rocker barista, Vini Reyes. Vini grew up in Chile before his family relocated to the south of Johannesburg. The window signage reads “Se habla español” (We speak Spanish) and visitors are served Chilean eats that include empanadas (meat or cheese filled mini-pies), chilenitos (layered pastries with caramel and meringue) and churrasco (mini-pitas filled with guacamole, sirloin and Chilean mayonnaise). Vini also serves a variety of coffees including cortados, flat whites and on hot summer days, iced coffees.
DoubleShot in Braamfontein supply Priest Espressobar with beans, namely the Cow Bell Blend, which is ground and extracted in a
Wega espresso machine.
The Espressobar hosts small exhibitions and events that are curated and organised by the staff and friends of Priest. Recent exhibitions include “Artists Have No F**king Respect” which critiqued the art industry in South Africa.
Priest Espressobar is open Tuesdays to Fridays, from 07h30 until 17h00 and on Saturdays from 08h00 until 13h00.
Website:
www.priest.co.za
Facebook: www.facebook.co.za/priestespressobar
Twitter: @priestpost
Priest Espressobar: 142 Jan Smuts Ave, Rosebank, Johannesburg
Priest Post Productions: Top Floor Kings Cross Corner Queenspark Ave, Woodstock, Cape Town
If you would like to dry hire the edit suite and/or production room, please contact jess@priest.co.za
Photo credit to Phillip Santos.
