Now back to the lunch, when it came to the guestlist, Natasha had a bit of a hard time deciding who to share a meal with, but ultimately ‘friendship’, the real authentic kind is what brought it all together.

While taking photographs and capturing all the instagrammable moments of conviviality between friends, our photographer whispers to me between shots “this is the first time I have ever seen Natasha not working”. That is how you become a star athlete and build a successful eatery – targeted intention and working at it day after day. At the table, which was beautifully set up in the lush garden, Natasha and her guests Lebowa, Queen, Tumi and Reitumetse enjoyed endless bubbles in between conversation. The conversation around the table was centered around friendship, a beautiful tribute from Natasha to her loved ones. She spoke of the meaning of friendship to her and gave personal messages of appreciation to each one of her guests, who in turn received it with so much love and sent it right back. 

That Monday afternoon, the team, obsessed with excellence and ensuring that the host Natasha and her guests have a good time was a ball of nerves in anticipation for 3pm. A few minutes past the hour, Natasha, along with friends, arrived at the venue. We knew she was outside without so much of a knock or text alert. We heard her. Natasha is the type of person whose presence is strongly felt, she enters the room and commands attention, not in an obnoxious attention seeking manner, but in an indescribable way that just draws you to her. She stands up straight, her voice is commanding, she walks in and everybody asks ‘who is that girl’ (that’s of course if you didn’t already know who she is). Once she was in, instantly the mood was lighter and everybody was laughing, we all knew from then on that it would be a wonderful afternoon.