Cedar Cafe

The glass shopfront at Side Street Studios in Woodstock with large green script Cedar lettering across the windows and doors, potted plants and a wooden crate on a cobbled lane

Cedar Coffee Roasters was founded in 2021 by Leigh Wentzel and Winston Thomas, two baristas who came up at rival Cape Town roasteries, Leigh at Rosetta and Winston at Origin. Winston is a three time South African Barista Champion and the 2019 African Barista Champion, and the pair set out to make specialty coffee feel like an everyday necessity rather than a niche, meeting drinkers where they already are and walking them as far down the rabbit hole as they like.

The cafe opened in early 2026 at Side Street Studios on Albert Road, the Woodstock strip that was once the city's coffee heartland, and it puts a champion barista on shift behind the bar. Rotating single origin lots from African and Latin American producers cycle through filter and espresso, with the roastery working from the same address and bold green Cedar lettering across the front windows.