Live Music, Long Tables and an Open Fire in Cape Town
It starts with the fire.
By late afternoon the coals have settled, the braai is working, and the smell has drifted out across the courtyard. This is a two-hundred-year-old manor house full of low-lit rooms and old furniture, and on the right night there is a band in one of them. The evening tends to take longer than you planned.
Live music
We run live music nights through the season, and every one of them goes up on Instagram first. Follow @kronendal1713 to see what is on this week.
When there is a band on, it happens in the bar, and the bar is worth a word. The joinery was designed and built in Dublin and shipped out here in pieces, then set inside a house that predates it by two centuries. Around it are antiques gathered from auctions across South Africa, room by room, over years. Dark timber, snugs, low light, and the sense that none of it was bought in a hurry.
Local musicians, mostly. Bands and solo players, the sort of Cape Town act that can hold a room without needing a stage to do it. The sound carries out of the bar, through the courtyard and onto the terrace, and somewhere around the second set the place goes from comfortable to full. Order a Sullivan's, find a seat near the fire, and the evening takes care of itself.
Music nights fill. If you are coming for one, we suggest booking a table.
Private events and functions
Fifteen people and up we run as a function rather than a booking, and the estate gives you room to do it properly. The house has several rooms and each one has its own character, hung with antiques and lit low, so a private party here does not feel like a corner of a restaurant. Outside there is the courtyard and the garden terrace for anything that wants open air. Birthdays, work year-ends, long lunches that turn into long evenings.
The kitchen stays on open fire throughout, so a function here is a braai rather than a plated set menu, which is usually why people pick it. Year-end dates start going from September.
Questions
When is live music at Kronendal 1713?
Live music nights run through the season and every one is announced on Instagram at @kronendal1713 first, so that is where to check what is on this week. Local bands and solo players, in the old bar room. We suggest booking a table on a music night, because the room fills.
Can you host a private event or party?
Yes. Groups of fifteen and up are run as a function rather than a standard booking, which opens up the courtyard, the snugs and the garden terrace. Birthdays, work year-ends, wakes and long lunches all happen here. Year-end dates fill from September, so early is better.
Do I need to book a table?
For a quiet Tuesday, no. For a weekend, a music night or a group, yes, and it takes under a minute online. For fifteen or more, contact the venue directly and we will set it up properly.
Do you do Oktoberfest?
Yes. We pour Hofbrau Munchen, the beer served at Munich's own Oktoberfest, and this season's details will be announced here and on Instagram. The full beer list is on the beer menu.
Where is Kronendal 1713 and when are you open?
140 Hout Bay Main Rd, Hout Bay, Cape Town. Open Tuesday to Sunday from midday, closed Mondays. The drive out from the city over Chapman's Peak is one of the best roads in the country, and there is parking on the estate.
Finding us
Kronendal 1713, 140 Hout Bay Main Rd, Hout Bay, Cape Town. Open Tuesday to Sunday from midday, closed Mondays. Tables take under a minute to book, and the fire is lit either way.