Hildebrand Restaurant has its origins in the entrepreneurial vision of a German National, Adolf Schutte, who in 1898 decided to purchase the sole rights to import Theodor Hildebrand & Son chocolates to South Africa.

After opening a shop in Adderley Street , Hildebrand's faced many challenges with the turbulent World Wars that followed, and moved to St Georges Street circa 1931 (today's Argus Building). In order to boost chocolate sales coffee was served to accompany and compliment chocolate sales. After the Argus building was sold Hildebrand relocated to ground floor 42 St Georges Street. The tearoom had grown considerably now and housed 23 tables, a kitchen and toilets.

Just as things were prospering and around 1940 a Cape Town City engineer informed the owners that they would have to leave after the lapsing of the lease as St Georges and Strand Street had been acquired to put up Electricity house, however they offered to relocate the business to an underground restaurant being at 40 St George's Street (underneath what is today the Holiday Inn); the move took place in January 1939. The Hildebrand had grown further, now capable of seating 127 people, and operating from 8am to 7pm, and Mrs. Isolde Borgelt (nee Schutte, daughter of Adolf Schutte) was the main drive of this expansion and success.

Hildebrand was then sold to a Mr. Hinder who ran the business successfully from 1942 until he was made an offer by a group of successful Italian Restaurateurs (Mario Scovenna, Armando Gabbani, Colombo and Tony Bagatta) in 1964 and decided to sell. Over the years and for various reasons only 2 of the original partners remained, being Armando Gabbani and Colombo Bagatta. Mr. Gabbani had decided to retire in 1979 and Mr. Bagatta was looking for a partner to help run the business and it was at this stage that Mr. Aldo Girolo stepped into the picture.

Hildebrand moved yet again in 1980 to the 1st floor of the Old Mutual Building on the corner of Strand and St Georges Mall. The reason for the move was that a Electricity House was being demolished in order to make way for a new Hotel. Hildebrand thrived in Town for another 10 years and was a well known venue for business lunches and dinner dances. Unfortunately towards the end of the eighties a lot of businesses decided to leave the city centre and establish offices in the surrounding suburban areas. It was also at this time that crime escalated in the city center and it lost its evening dining appeal.

It was at this time that the V&A Waterfront was just being implemented and still in its infancy. With a great hesitancy, Mr Girolo and Bagatta decided that if Hildebrand was to survive it would have to relocate, and at the time V&A Waterfront seemed like the only viable option. Upon inspecting the prospective premises we found it to have an equally colourful history as the Hildebrand.

The old Harbour Café Building was infact built in 1901, and was Erf 1 in Cape Town prior to the rezoning that occurred when the V&A Waterfront expansion and development took place. The building was the location of Cape Town's first post office (and won several awards as the most efficient Post Office in South Africa), was an Officers Mess used by the Royal Navy, the Port Health Authority Building as well as the Port Captains Offices. It was also the venue of the immensely popular Harbour Café before it became a part of the V&A Waterfront development.

Thus Hildebrand moved to its current home in 1995, and has filled the new venue with the much of the same staff, décor and warm ambience that has stood us in such good stead over the last 106 years…