Friends Coffee Bar and Bistro

I've always been one to take tons of pictures on vacation.  Moving to SA in 2010 motivated me to purchase a "good camera" so I could take better photos on this extended holiday (aka living in SA) I would be on for a few years.  However, I quickly discovered that just owning a nice camera does not a good photographer make.  So, last May I took a 5-session photography course from a local photography guru to learn how to use my new camera effectively.  I learned a lot and, with practice, improved a bit.  In the past few months though I found that I've been slipping back into my old bad habits of taking way too many "auto" shots.

Meet the Owner
Lorna Spittal

So what does all this camera talk have to do with coffee?  Well, I left Friends Coffee Bar and Bistro, Thursday's Crawl site, with a new-found excitement about practicing and improving my photography skills.  When I entered Friends with Fran on Thursday the first thing that caught my attention was the group of large black/white framed photos along one wall of the shop.  Lorna Spittal, owner of Friends, told us that these photos were taken by her husband (not a professional photographer) on his visits to cities around the world.  I loved hearing the stories about the characters in each of the photos.  These black/white framed pics add the perfect artistic touch to the shop's black/red/white decor.  Unfortunately, the photos are not for sale, otherwise I may have purchased the whole lot!

Meet the Manager
Kerri-Lee Mason

Home-made ice cream... Yum!

Friends Coffee Bar and Bistro has been owned by Lorna Spittal and managed by Kerri-Lee Mason for two and a half years.  The shop is located at 5 Vige St. in the Summerstrand Shopping Centre in Summerstrand.  I haven't spent much time in the Summerstrand area so I didn't even know that this shopping centre existed until Thursday's Crawl.  What a find!!!

So, besides the wall photos there's so much to love about this coffee shop..... extended hours daily- 8 am to 8:30 pm with a full menu plus a separate menu of Summer Afternoon Specials, a new ice cream/sorbet/gelato bar with these frozen treats home made by a local couple, FREE WiFi for all patrons, and my fave... LavAzza brand coffee.  As for the coffee, my cappuccino, prepped by barista, Figo, was excellent, and just as I was about to order another, Gail, our waitress, served a yummy looking latte (and some carrot cake) to a nearby table.  Soon, Figo was whipping up a latte for me as well.  Keeping in mind our No-Food-On-The-Crawl rule, I held off on ordering cake but three Crawlers who will go un-named ordered mango sorbet and Ferrero Rocher ice cream.  It certainly looked refreshing on such a hot, humid day.

Meet the Barista
Figo

 

With the new school year just starting in SA last week and uniformed children with eager faces (maybe some not so eager) were everywhere to be seen, this week's Crawlers, Nomusa Nkomo, June Nash, Fran de Beer, Gail Darne, and Stella and Beryl Dawson, shared fond school memories.  Only my siblings would be able to relate to my hot dog/cupcake day story so I won't expound here.  Anyway, after the school stories, we went onto books and reading.... again.  Books come up quite often at the Crawl.  I think we may have the start of a book club once we've exhausted all the PE coffee shops!  Lastly, a ton of talk time was spent with everyone giving me suggestions for vacation spots for when Jeff and Liz come to visit in May/June.  Lots of great ideas..... so much to see and so little time!

This Week's Crawlers
Fran, Gail, Nomusa, Beryl, Stella
not pictured - June

After all the Crawlers left, Fran and I stayed a while and talked with Lorna and Kerri-Lee.  Awesome chatting with you both..... hope we can do it again soon!

All coffee shop things considered.....  coffee, decor, location, hours and hospitality (not to mention WiFi and ice cream!!), Friends Coffee Bar and Bistro is definitely on my short-list of favorite coffee shops in PE.

~Happy Birthday to the President of the PE Fan Club, my father-in-law, Sabie, in Binghamton, NY

   (Januuary 24)

~Happy Birthday to my sister, Elaine, in Erie, PA (January 23)

~Thank you to Lorna, Kerri-Lee, Figo and Gail

~Thank you to Lorna's husband--- your photographs have inspired my inner photographer

~Thank you all my SA/Zim friends for your vacation suggestions... now I have some homework to do!

Until next week,

Ellen