We went to South Africa’s first luxury designer café – which offers a lobster sandwich for R350

·3 Apr 2026

The new Marc Jacobs Café in Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg, officially opened its doors to South Africans on Friday, 27 March 2026—a first of its kind in the world, with the next one set to open in New York.

The luxury café offers a curated halaal menu featuring a range of specialised dishes cooked by dedicated chefs.

BusinessTech sampled various items at an exclusive tasting experience hosted by the designer café.

While hot drinks such as various lattes, cappuccinos, and mochas are under R70, the “Marc Melt” hot chocolate is priced at R120 and features dark chocolate, French whipped cream (imported), and toasted marshmallows.

Other drinks range from a specialised selection of alcohol-free mocktails, various ceremonial-grade matcha, and soft drinks.

The food menu features bagels, waffles, salads, sandwiches, desserts, and pasta—with nothing exceeding R350.

The café features a one-of-a-kind La Marzocco coffee machine, specially painted yellow by the coffee brand for the café.

La Marzocco is an Italian brand of handcrafted coffee machines, made from materials such as copper and stainless steel.

The Marc Jacobs Café sits at the centre of the Maison Deux store, fully integrated into the retail environment through a ‘continuous architectural language’ that connects the store to the café.

Maison Deux, which opened in December 2025, is a family-run department store founded by the luxury menswear retailer Al Capone Group, aiming to blend fashion, design, and hospitality.

The name Maison Deux, which means “the house of two,” in French, signifies the integration of Al Capone’s retail history with an experience-focused retail model.

Inspired by European department stores, the concept features a retail format still uncommon in South Africa that combines fashion, interiors, and café culture within a single space.

Designed as a social hub within the retail environment, the Marc Jacobs Café combines a design-focused interior with a curated menu to encourage visitors to spend more time in the space rather than just walking through the store.

“The concept was created to bring the spirit and energy of New York City to South Africa, with a subtle Parisian influence inspired by the café culture of Paris, while ensuring the menu and experience are suited to the South African palate,” said the group.

Fragrance-inspired food

The chefs behind the halaal Marc’s Café have been specially trained in French cooking to match the Marc Jacobs theme.

The café boasts a selection of Marc Jacobs Fragrance-inspired entremets, which are cakes or desserts composed of multiple layers or components.

These artistic dishes range from R45 for a macaron to R345 for a slice of “Downtown Decadence” cake made from dark chocolate, salted caramel, and hazelnuts.

In medieval French cuisine, entremets were traditionally artistic dishes served between courses. At the Marc Jacobs Café, the entremets are similarly designed, with different components and artistic quirks—all inspired by Marc Jacobs Fragrances.

The prices at the café range from R60 for a plate of hand-cut golden fries to R350 for an “East Coast Summer” sandwich made with lobster, celery, chives, dill, and brioche.

The menu also boasts a set of bagels, with the lowest price at R130 for “The Brooklyn,” which has peppadews, goat’s cheese, seasonal greens and avocado.

The most expensive bagel on the menu is “The Downtown,” at R265, which offers smoked brisket, seasonal greens, caramelised onions, honey mustard aioli or homemade barbecue sauce.

The menu also boasts all-day breakfast waffles, including the “Strawberry Dream,” at R180 and the “NYC Brunch Edit,” at R195, which consists of smashed avocado, poached eggs, macon (non-pork bacon), mushrooms, chilli, sesame, nori, and soufflé potatoes.