A new sundowner-lounge and nightclub was launched last night on the 31st Floor of the ABSA Centre in Adderley Street. Aptly called Hemisphere (www.hemisphere.org.za), it provides a 360-degree birds-eye outlook over the harbour and city - a breathtaking sight.
The event was coordinated by the fabulous Marilyn Thompson of TNT and the guests included some key media - Touchline Media MD Marc Blachowitz, Business Report's Ronnie Morris, gossip-writer Hilary Prendini-Toffoli, Heather Parker (Media 24 magazines) Donald Paul editing The Property Magazine, Toni Younghusband from Shape, the ever-dapper Daniel Ford of Schrieber Ford Publishers with his partner Grant Schrieber, Cape Argus news editor Joseph Aranes and the gorgeous Justine Drake among them.
There was also a smattering of PR-types, Kim Saville (KSP Word), Glenda Nevill (HWB) and Marcus Brewster (MBP) but the real coup that Marilyn achieved, to my mind anyway, was to get the cream of Cape Town's black elite. I regret that I cannot name-drop here as I don't know them, but if the natty suits, high-end watches and big-money demeanor is anything to go by, they were present in abundance.
There were also lots of party people, including a flame of a woman in red hair and low-cut black dress that seemed inappropriate for 6.30pm.
The food was delicious but minimalist - oysters served with a tomato and chili salsa, roasted aubergine strips filled with red pesto and goats-milk cheese, buttered asparagus with mayo and salmon on a buck-wheat blini.
Of course I befriended the Oyster Chap and managed to have at least six more than the others did!
The decor is in golds and browns - equally stylish and comfortable. I'm guessing the VIP enclosure is the spot I gravitated towards (old habits die hard) which is separated from the main area by glass walls with curlicue floral sandblasting.
Owners Douglas Oberwortmann and Denzil Solomons kept speeches mercifully short and simply said that Hemisphere would be open Tuesday to Friday in the afternoons for after-work sundowners and on Wednesday through Saturday for dancing.
Would I go back? Probably not. I found the music too loud for a lounge environment and if I were seeking a spot for sundowners I'd probably want to be outdoors despite the dramatic views. Perhaps in winter I'd choose to look out over the stormy city from on high. Either way, I hung up my dancing shoes almost a decade ago and would sooner enjoy the corduroy-clad walls and under-floor lit dance floor of Club 604 anyway.