If you’ve been living in Knysna for any length of time you will undoubtedly be familiar with the phrase “let’s move to Knysna and open a coffee shop”, the enthusiastic cry of many a visiting upcountry-man. There are in fact many coffee shops in Knysna and recently we even sport some of the big brand coffee people. While being a huge fan of some of these bigger franchises when visiting Cape Town in my home town I prefer to offer support to some of the smaller independents.

One of my favourite haunts to enjoy a caffe latte at the moment is L’Opera in the Knysna Mall. For the uninitiated (my mom etc) a caffe latte is a tame way to enjoy espresso. As the word latte implies the drink is one third espresso and two thirds foamed milk, more or less. This delicate balance of milk to espresso is often denoted by the terms “shot”. One can have a single shot, double shot, or, for the incredibly brave, triple shot latte. My own preference is somewhere in between one and two and is also dependent on the strength of the espresso used. Why the technical info you may ask…simple. L’Opera serve a latte the way it should be served, in my opinion. A tall glass of foamed milk is presented with a delicate sprinkle of cinnamon on top and your espresso in a neat little jug next to it. This enables the drinker to decide exactly how brave they are feeling on any given day. I have not yet resorted to sucking the remainder of the espresso from the jug, but at least I have the option. The other advantage of this will be obvious to frequent latte drinkers. One can easily sweeten ones drink before topping it up with espresso. I’m sure many people have had the “now where do I put the sugar?” experience when faced with a beautiful head of foam protruding from the top of their latte glass. Of course this method of serving does rob one of the aesthetic pleasure of seeing the delicately swirling layers of milk, espresso and foam in the perfectly prepared latte, but as with most things in life, you can’t have everything.

The atmosphere is fantastic at L’Opera, they manage to balance the careful level of attention without making you feel like you should hurry up as they need your table. My friend and I have spent many an unhurried afternoon sipping lattes and eating nothing and have not felt pressurised to leave. Although admittedly our conversations border most often on the bizarre and it could be they are keeping us for the entertainment factor.

L’Opera have also risen to the challenge of load shedding and you can be guaranteed a perfectly good cup of filter coffee, cappuccino or even a latte as well as a limited menu during power outages. It seems these fantastically French people have not forgotten to fine art of using a French press and are not crippled by the lack of an espresso machine. Of course this is not necessarily the technically correct way to prepare a latte, but when needs must.