The founder of Truth Coffee and Origin has turned his attention to bread, building a working bakery where fermentation, flour and serious craft take centre stage.
David has a habit of turning everyday commodities into obsessions. First, it was coffee. He founded Origin, followed by Truth Coffee Roasting, the steampunk cathedral on Buitenkant Street that has become one of Cape Town’s most recognisable coffee destinations. Now, his attention has shifted to bread.
Enter Flour Market.
And if you’re expecting another slice of Truth’s theatrical world, think again. Where Truth is exposed steel, spectacle and serious visual drama, Flour Market feels like what it is: a working bakery. Bare walls, hard surfaces and the blue-collar rhythm of a place where the real show happens behind the scenes.
“We wanted the real ingredients inside slow bread and pastry to speak for themselves,” says David.
The obsession with quality, however, remains. Flour Market already supplies bread to a growing list of Cape Town restaurants and cafés, with David particular about everything from the flour and butter to the producers behind the biowheat. Ingredients are weighed batch by batch, while consistency is treated as non-negotiable.
That responsibility is shared by Senior Chef Laurence Smith and Executive Chef and Head Baker Marcus Fundi. Laurence joined the team in 2024 after being part of the opening team at Rapt, bringing extensive experience from pastry kitchens including Delaire Graff Estate and the Leeu Collection, as well as the two-Michelin-starred Whatley Manor in the UK. His focus spans sweet and savoury development, fine chocolate and viennoiserie.
Marcus, meanwhile, has become deeply interested in the science and ritual of fermentation. His route into bread began with patisserie and a search for a loaf that agreed with him, eventually developing into a fascination with sourdough and the discipline behind it. At Flour Market, that curiosity translates into loaves built around time rather than shortcuts.
“A sourdough is four ingredients: flour, water, salt and time,” David says. “It’s alive, like wine. These are ancient rules. We chose to respect them.”
There’s something quietly satisfying about that philosophy. While Cape Town’s linen-clad dining rooms and ambitious wine lists might get the attention, much of what arrives on those tables begins with hands in dough before sunrise. Flour Market doesn’t try to dress up that work. It just does it, day after day, loaf after loaf.
For everyone else, the entry point is breakfast. Flour Market is open daily from 7am, with a menu that makes the most of what comes out of the ovens, while loaves are available to take home.
David’s advice? Don’t rush the bread.
“Break it open, smell it,” he says. “A good sourdough gets more interesting the longer you have it. Save a piece for day six and you’ll taste what I mean.”
Flour Market has also arrived at an interesting moment for Hope Street, in a part of Cape Town that is steadily being reshaped by independent businesses. With a minimalist inner-city winery, Neighbourgood and Chips Coworking by Neil Bekker among its neighbours, it is another small piece of the city’s ongoing revival.
For David, though, the motivation seems remarkably uncomplicated.
“You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution. I’ve been lucky enough to build things that put the right thing in people’s mouths. That’s what drives me.”
We’ll take that with butter.
Flour Market
105 Hope Street, Gardens, Cape Town
Open daily, 7am–4pm
Wholesale orders available
baked@flourmarketct.com
+27 (0)21 201 7000
WhatsApp: +27 61 544 2643