The Brasserie at Fez Club

Bohemian magic meets delectable brassiere-style dining

The Brasserie at Vaudeville & Fez have closed and are now called the Side Show. Read more in our free weekly newsletter. 

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Imagine if you will, a baroque dreamscape melting into reality; where vintage vixens float through the air, while you dine on moules et frites.

The Brasserie at The Fez is no ordinary dinner and a show. Instead it’s a place where two worlds meet: enigmatic performances coupled with French brassiere-style dining. The inner sanctums of the performers are exposed for all to see; I spy a couple dining, and right next to them is the stage’s makeup table. Girls in corsets preen and pout at their light bulb framed mirror while they apply red lipstick, rosebud lips complete they strut to the stage with feathers in their hair.

An innovative, unique dining concept, never before seen in Cape Town, The Brasserie is a glamorous swirl of non-fixed performances. Never resting on their satin-heeled laurels, the show’s theme changes every three weeks – past ones include adaptations as diverse as ‘Gypsy Circus’ to ‘Animal Print’.

Expect artists such as: French aerial act, Emilie LeLouch and Capetonian opera singer, Robin Botha, amongst many others. Sitting on the balcony I siphon up a light, white wine sauce off buttery mussels and watch Robin command the stage. My partner tucks into medium-rare fillet served with thin-cut chips.

The night swims by in a blur of racy outfits and enchanting acts: including, fire, trapeze, acrobatics and dancing, both on stage and among the tables. The resident DJ at The Brasserie, Jinx’s Antonio, supports with music that could be described as ‘a blend of Paris’s Buddha Bar and New York’s The Box’.

The experience as a whole has been dubbed as ‘Parisian chic meets downtown New York Cool’. Guests have taken the theme to heart; girls sport crimson lips while men look dapper in dinner suits – patrons are encouraged to dress as wild as they please.

Let the games begin

Having finished dinner we move downstairs. The tables that stretch along the wall remind me of a carousel – sans the rides. Gilt mirrors, plush mauve seating and hand-carved wood drive the carnival feeling home.

Feeling kind of naughty, this opulent atmosphere demands it, we explore the rest of the venue, which is slowly transforming into a club. Dinner tables are packed away, and the lights grow even dimmer.  Every Saturday night international premium house brand Hedkandi is the resident at The Fez Club, and we’re itching for prolific DJ Andy Norman to start, but first we head out onto the back balcony, where, appropriately hedonistic, we smoke a cigar.

When we head back the dreamy wonderland has been replaced with a whomping club. In the beginning of the evening it felt as if we were in the chasm of meeting worlds, now it’s as if we’re on another planet completely.

Start at the cocktail bar for a pre-dinner drink then move onto your table, guests can order off the â la carte menu and extensive wine list. There’s an entertainment surcharge of R75, which includes complimentary VIP access to the Fez Club that opens at 10:30pm.

We partied the night away to Hed Kandi at The Fez Club. Read all about it.

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