When you head out with friends for coffee, wine or a winter meal, wouldn’t it be perfect if there was a roaring fire to sit by? Here are some suggestions of where to do just that from Cape Town to the South Peninsula, Winelands to West Coast, but we’d also love to hear your favourite fireside spots:

• Café Verdi in Wynberg has long since been a popular meeting spot with a winter fireplace.
• Codfather, Camps Bay has a raised fireplace as you enter the dining room – ask for a seat beside it. They also have 50% off lunchtime sushi throughout the winter and if you have their loyalty card the 50% extends to dinner as well. See website.
• Library at Cape Grace, Served daily from 12h00 to 18h00 in the stylishly comfortable Library, the choice of several varieties of loose-leaf tea combined with a mouthwatering menu make for an unforgettable afternoon.
• Boulders Beach Lodge Restaurant may seem like a summer spot but they have a fireplace in their dining room, which is decorated with amazing marine-inspired wooden sculptures. Watch for penguins that hop up the steps and waddle around the terrace and don’t forget to check under your car for the little critters before driving away.
• Tokara Restaurant, 400 meters above sea level at the top of Helshoogte Pass is a great place to spend time looking out at the view while you dine by fireplace.
• Makaron Restaurant and The M Bar at Majeka House in Stellenbosch won the Eat Out 2011 style award and more recently an ‘A’ Design Award, ranking it amongst the best designs in the world. Sit beside the magnificent log fire in the bar before going through to the restaurant where there is a more chic fireplace.
• Haute Cabriere Cellar Restaurant, Franschhoek is in a cave that has undergone a makeover and interior design featuring white linen and crystal chandeliers. This cave is looking pretty glamorous these days.
• !Khwa ttu is one of those amazing places that once found, never forgotten. It’s a centre for San culture and happens to have a great restaurant with fireplace that you can just pop into on your way up the R27 West Coast Road. And there’s so much more you’ll just have to go to find out what.
•