My healthy scepticism about most franchised chain restaurants is fairly well-known to regular readers. But possibly because St Elmo’s, at the Avondale Shopping Centre, is a Zimbabwean one-off, it’s never irritated me like some of the other multi-national operations have done occasionally.
I drove to Avondale on a steaming hot, humid Wednesday last week, when much, if not most, of the country was Zesa-less and the Standard offices and most of the CBD was without water. (Because there was no Zesa to pump it!)
I like people-watching at lunch times and St Elmo’s and its near neighbour, the Iranian-themed Café Nush (formerly Italian Bakery), are two of the finest people-spotting “possies†in the country. Across the car-park, the former Avondale Wimpy Bar, now being re-built, was another good place to sit, eat, drink and be nosy. More.