The coffee shop that doubles as an office for its patrons is so common these days there's even a neologism for it - the coffice.
If you want good WiFi, great coffee and venues perfect for meetings and networking, look no further than some of these spots:
Open
4th Floor, The Main Change, 20 Kruger Street, Maboneng
This place works in a different way but, my gosh, it works. It gets our vote as the very best coffice for a wide choice of different spaces, styles and levels of lighting. You can have things printed out, read the real books along the library wall, and even play a round of mini golf on a contoured carpet green, where two wire-and-bead sheep watch your progress placidly. This, friends, is a networker’s paradise. Things just happen without you even trying. The catch is that you pay a sort of membership, by the month or by the day even – a bit like at the gym – but it’s worth it for the contacts alone. Right in the centre is the coffee island, but it’s not the stuff caffeine dreams are made of. Cast your eyes up for inspiration and be entranced by Kentridge-style figures made of lamp flex. This feels like the future.
The Whippet
Corner 4th Ave and 7th Street, Linden
This restaurant’s chef produces lovely food and the breakfasts are famously brilliant. Everybody, but everybody, is working inside on weekdays; TV production folk and authors will surround you. There’s a serious air to the place and you may feel guilty just having a good lunch. The coffee is sublime, specially blended by the masters at Doubleshot in Braamfontein. (You can buy it by the packet.) Homebakes are delicious: try the blue velvet cupcakes, the melktert, and any of the excellent mince things. The area outdoors features a little more levity.
Cafe Picobella Trattoria
66 4th Ave, Melville
Expect to encounter poets and scriptwriters galore in this unpretentious, calming atmosphere among the owners’ collection of plaster Madonna statuettes and pictures. Take up a restaurant table as a workspace in- or outdoors. Harmless Italian jazzy sounds are good working tunes. The Illy espresso coffees from the bar are excellent and the kitchen makes great filter coffees. Breakfasts are available all day and there are snack platters, as well as perfect work fuel in the form of a thin, crispy-based pizza called Al Cantina, with no messy sauce and loa ds of rocket and parma ham. The place gives off a strange calming feeling, no matter what the deadline. Everyone smiles.
This article originally appeared on EatOut. Read the full article here.