Daniel Long, the founder-owner of a soon-to-be-opened restaurant/chill zone at 37 New Street, enigmatically called The Monastery, is playing his cards close to his chest. So you'll have to wait until opening night to discover its secrets.
Daniel Long, the founder-owner of a soon-to-be-opened restaurant/chill zone at 37 New Street, enigmatically called The Monastery, is playing his cards close to his chest. So you'll have to wait until opening night to discover its secrets.
But Grocottt's Mail can reveal that Long's slogan for the venue, “come together”, captures his vision of uniting different ages and social groups in Grahamstown.
“Entertainment [in Grahamstown]is mostly aimed at Rhodes students, and liquor sales are the primary focus,” Long says. "The Monastery provides an alternative to the mainstream commercial scene. “I'm not promoting drunken behaviour. I'm concerned about the community and I want to be as compliant with the law as possible,” says Long.
With The Monastery, Long aimed to create an environment where people could relax and just be themselves.
"It is, above all, a place of peace, he says.
Its doors open mid-morning, and Long hopes to attract bored schoolchildren and anyone else seeking the refuge of something more alternative and edgy.
Long did let on that there would be two X-Boxes and a 40-inch TV, as well as 12 professional DJs playing a range of music from Minimal to House to Dub-step – “music people haven't ever heard", Long says.
Long also aims to keep the hangout as eco-friendly as possible. The garden, which has been turned into a whimsical dreamland, is draped in solar-powered fairy lights. In another green touch, the glasses are made out of recycled Savannah bottles.
