SPIRIT GUIDES

THE CHAIRMAN

DURBAN

A bad cocktail is like a saccharine-sweet slap on the palate and a hard kick in the wallet. Not good by anyone’s standard. Very bad in fact. But a fine cocktail can take you to heaven with a sip; a sensory avalanche of deliciousness, wonder and pleasure, that gets you on faster than two shakes of cayenne pepper in your undies.

Basically, cocktails are about stimulation!

So, you’re in Durban, you’re wearing the atmosphere like a wet mink and you’re in need of fresh, sublime refreshment with a strong alcohol kicker. Head down to the Point, the skinny built-up peninsula that protects the harbour from the ravages of the Indian Ocean. This was once a less salubrious neighbourhood full of vice; a playground for sailors on shore leave, drug dealers, miscreants, pimps and prostitutes. Alas, there was also a downside.

In the past few decades, the Point has seesawed between crumminess and respectability. Today the Point Waterfront Precinct (as it’s called in gaudy city brochures) still doesn’t look like much, but it’s well secured by a grid of CCTV cameras and security guards in service of a growing tide of international investments and developments, which means it’s actually a lot safer than the average Durban suburb. While other businesses may struggle to get a foothold, there is one establishment that has thrived. The Chairman. And you, mopping your brow