1. PAGE 22Why it’s easy to love Bucie
Thursday 2 June 2016
BASALT: HOMEWARE THAT DEMANDS TO BE ADMIRED
Art on the table
New standalone
store from the mas-
termind behind Cape
Town’s Hemelhuijs.
Adriaan Roets
T
he flame of high street
shopping has slowly fiz-
zled out in South Africa.
Most people prefer their
shopping in giant malls
where shop window displays are
generic, sometimes tacky and the
same at every mall.
In our fast lives, we don’t need
to slow down to look at pretty win-
dow displays and dream about
everything for sale in beautifully
decorated stores. We want to buy
what we want and go home.
But there are nodes where vil-
lage high streets have survived
and in Johannesburg, Parkhurst
is the square peg in a round hole.
Here, life slows down. The
butcher and the baker are all still
here.
In between, you get fabulous
shops selling fabulous things.
There’s little by way of chain
stores in this neighbourhood.
It’s easy to see why Jacques
Erasmus, the man behind Cape
Town’s famed Hemelhuijs restau-
rant, picked Parkhurst to open
Basalt, a shop that exclusively
carries the Hemelhuijs homeware
collection and his distinct range
of spices, marmalade and jellies.
The new home collection store
is meant to be an alchemy won-
derland, where everything is
beautiful, warm and inviting – all
of which Erasmus is known for.
His obsession for aesthetic and
quality craftsmanship
means the new stand-
alone homeware store and
home gallery is a wall-to-
wall marvel.
It boasts massive laborato-
ry-style shelves filled with hand-
q
m
a
h
Edited by Farrah Francis 010 492-5227
farrahf@citizen.co.za
This tableware collection is all
about minimalism. Inspired by
matt tones of slaked lime and
bleached bone, and finished
with a clear glaze to highlight its
monotone quality, it’s the bare
necessities that come into play.
All the finished pieces differ
slightly in size, but they have the
finest details. Simple, beautiful
and clean.
Care instructions
The bone collection is
hard-wearing.
The collection is hand wash
and dishwasher-safe.
Dry using a white cloth and
remove any fibres by rubbing
with clean hands.
When heated, never place on
a cold surface to reduce ther-
mal shock.
Never use abrasive material
on the surface.
The collection is not micro-
wave-safe.
made and blended spices (think
risotto salt with names like Kal-
ahari Rain), flavour compounds
and exotic delicacies. All of these
form part of the flavour library
concept of the store and each
product is beautifully packaged
in chocolate brown glass. The
preserves sold at the store are all
handmade in small batches and
mostly from ingredients sourced
from the restaurant’s country gar-
den in Cape Town.
The word basalt refers to the
organic matt black volcanic com-
pound and it serves as an inspi-
ration for Erasmus. The Basalt
collection has been in production
since 2010 and it’s exciting to see
something of this calibre reach
Joburg.
The tableware collection has
drawn the attention of clients the
world over and is also now exclu-
sively available at selected bou-
tique stores abroad.
We do not sell just
another plate or
cup or bowl, we
provide our clients
with the service of
craftsmanship, the
pride of quality over
quantity and most of
all, the passion for a
product completely
made by the human
hand.
Jacques Erasmus
Basalt
Bone collection