Tribe Coffee Roasting launch concept café

The showroom sports a spectacular, precedent-setting space for BMW Motorrad that is enhanced by Tribe's new designer outlet. For Tribe, the venture presents an excellent opportunity to expand upon its existing café and roastery in the Woodstock Foundry, move into the City Bowl and go beyond.

"We had been looking to open an iconic space in town for a while," explained Kate Nero, "when we met Leon Potgieter of Donford BMW. For us, this is a perfect relationship between one the world's leading motorcycle brands and our rising lifestyle brand."

Leon Potgieter is enthusiastic about Tribe as the preferred partner for this venture because "we always look for people with a can-do attitude. Plus, the people at Tribe are creative, and a creative partnership will always take things that one step further. It was also very important to us that whoever shares our space, shares our philosophy of excellent customer service. And on top of that, they make great coffee."

Fifties' and Sixties' styling

In the new space, Nero and Easton collaborated creatively with interior designer Michelle Trimborn of Design Quarters to conceptualise the café. Together they have created an organic industrial aesthetic that retrofits elements of 1950s' and 1960s' styling. The end result elegantly recalls the biker subculture of that era. This is not a mid-century modern paeon, however, but rather a sophisticated contemporary take on the past.

Tribe's coffee will be on offer to supercharge visitors, with the addition of a café-style menu crafted by industry darling chef Maureen Muller - a fresh voice on Cape Town's haute cuisine scene.

The café interior is finished in deep leathers, smokey colours and dark and raw wood to give it a sexy, masculine effect. The use of natural materials, particularly, glass, metal and wood, and the incorporation of hanging plants by Opus Studio, softens the mechanical emphasis that would otherwise predominate on the showroom floor.

Within the café, motorcycle culture is honoured in the form of delicate pendant light fittings that have been ingeniously fashioned from motorcycle engine parts and a glass-topped coffee table supported by two iconic 1200cc Boxer engines. The visual appeal of the café will change constantly through a small but edited display of collectible, vintage motorcycles.

The motorcycles are a nod to the nature of the showroom and reflect the spirit of adventure, which is further given pride of place through a dedicated back section featuring a collection of world maps, route charts and National Geographic magazines that visitors can use to both imagine and plot their trips.

All in all, the new destination promises to ignite the engines of all lovers of adventure - whether they be coffee professionals, ardent bikers, or merely admirers. According to Easton: "We have created a space to transport you into adventure - an adventure you can taste, see and ride ... "

For more information, go to www.tribecoffee.co.za or email: az.oc.eeffocebirt@ofni