Madame Zingara - Down Memory lane
The legacy of Madame Zingara dates back to 2001, when she first opened her doors and won over the hearts of the Mother City as a whimsical restaurant in Loop Street. This enchanting bohemian eatery became an immediate success with its warm and welcoming dining experience, decadently fused with the wild spirit of the gypsy.
In 2004 the restaurant increased to a 320-seater with the addition of Cara Lazuli, thereby firmly establishing Madame Zingara as Cape Town's favourite venue for all occasions. Sadly, late in 2006, tragedy struck and the entire restaurant was lost to a fire, leaving little more than a shell and a devastated crew. Unable to rebuild what was lost, the Zingara family fought back and, joining forces with the Klessens family of Het Spiegelpaleis, brought the very first Spiegel tent to African shores.
And so in 2007 the Theatre of Dreams was born, a traveling dinner cirque extravaganza housed in one of the last remaining antique mirror tents in the world. Touring to full houses in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban for almost two years, this irrepressible crew gave a whole new meaning to the term "dinner theatre".
At the end of 2008 Madame Zingara left South African shores and headed to London to share her magic. Unfortunately the global economic crash of that year affected the Madame as severely as it did so many companies, and the group faced liquidation.
However, once again the Zingara team refused to give up in the face of adversity and, with the support of suppliers, friends and family, forged ahead. And so the Bombay Bicycle Club was born. Before long the Theatre of Dreams was also back in SA, once again enthralling audiences nationwide with The Love Magic Tour.
It was not long before the Madame welcomed the Sidewalk Cafe, Cafe Mozart and Cafe Paradiso into the fold and also ventured out into the retail sector with the opening of two zany stores – This Is Not a Post Office and Uncle Shifty's.
The newest addition to the Zingara family is Don Pedro in Woodstock, a Cape Town institution since 1991.
The History of Het Spiegelpaleis
In the early 1900’s, mirror tents were first built in Belgium to be used as travelling dance halls. The multitude of mirrors made it possible to make discreet eye contact with other visitors and these tents were the domain of night owls, heartbreakers and dream chasers. They were legendary in their day and are still a symbol of the wild fin-de-siecle nightlife. In 1912 Willem Klessens, a young man from Holland crossed the border and headed for Lommel in Belgium, where he later married Amelia Kaers. He worked as a cartwright and cabinetmaker, until one day he came across Oscar Horbeke from Antwerp with his tent of mirrors and his dance organ.
When Oscar put it all up for sale, Willem originally was only interested in the organ, but eventually decided to buy the whole lot - and the rest, as they say, is history. In 1920 the first mirror tent was completely restored and christened ‘Het Kempisch Danspaleis’. This tent travelled from fairground to fairground in the Lommel – Mol – Balen region and became so popular that it was not long before a new tent was built.
In 1930 work started on the ‘Nova Danssalon’, the showpiece that was soon to be admired all over Flanders. Willem’s son August took over the tent company and, together with his Lucienne and their nine children, they travelled from fair to fair for many years.
In 1984 Rik Klessens took over from his father and, deciding to broaden their horizons, no longer only travelled from fairground to fairground but across the border, going further and further afield in search of new opportunities for their beautiful tents of stained glass, velvet drapes, stained glass and warm wood panelling. Coming from a long family tradition, the old mirror tents still have the magnificence and splendour of yesteryear. Now on African soil for the very first time, this beautiful tradition has finally reached all corners of the globe.
