Bitter-sweet times as Knysna summer begins

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It’s that time of the year when the Garden Route swallows come back and international tourists will soon follow as we head into summer and the festive season.

It’s always good to have our swallow pals back, but if we are honest, most of us don’t love the upcoming season.

While we understand the importance of tourism in a town which depends on it, in December the roads get chock-a-block, the shops heave and we locals lose our special offers, as South Africans and international tourists pour into town.

The truth is we are spoilt and don’t really like sharing little Knysna.

We lose our braai spots at Buffalo Bay because holiday makers claim the turf early in the morning.

We lose parking at the already tight Knysna Heads parking, which is a nuisance if we want to swim at the secret NSRI beach.

The other thing that happens is all of a sudden the Buffalo Bay beach car park, which normally has oodles of space, starts charging and it gets full.

We also soon kiss our dining-out specials goodbye until next year.

The Quartet, which is Knysna’s biggest group of restaurants, comprising 34 South, Drydock, Tapas, and Sirocco — provides meaningful specials out of season which we all enjoy.

We get used to our half-price sushi, seafood Saturdays, and other daily specials.

On a WhatsApp group called Daily Delights, which has more than 1,500 members, every morning we are notified of the day’s specials.

Today there is a breakfast experience and half-price sushi at 34 South, there’s hake and calamari at Drydock, sizzling steaks at Sirocco and a burger and chips at Tapas.

Then at the 34 gourmet retail, it’s Monday enchiladas ready to take home and eat.

In tough economic times, it makes sense that we take advantage of the specials which are just that!

There is no way that I could buy and cook 15 prawns with chips and a get complimentary drink for less than R150, which is the Drydock Saturday special.

And as for half-price sushi at one of these establishments (on different days of the week) where else can you go big on sushi without breaking the bank?

Frequenting one of the four is, for many of us, a weekly habit — something we build into our grocery budgets, a place where we go to meet friends, a way of life here.

Tonnes of Norwegian salmon is flown in every week for the sushi and the yellowfin tuna comes freshly caught from the Cape coast.

I can’t begin to even source salmon at an affordable price and, besides, making sushi is a speciality — something best left to one of the 16 sushi chefs here who send out about 1,700 plates of sushi a week.

This group of restaurants is the biggest employer after the Knysna municipality with some 380 permanent staff.

Louise Davids has been with the group for 28 years — starting as a deli assistant, she is now the head administration person.

Shannon Lee has been in the fish and meat prep section for 28 years and Xolani Mtshafuto, the head baker, has been with the group for 23 years.

Nontobeko Matshekete has been with the team for 20 years as a server working at Drydock and 34 South.

Kudos to the Quartet group owned by Charles Von Tonder and Leslie Pieters.

The story started in 1997 when Von Tonder and Pieters started 34 South from the ground up.

Charles comes from a corporate background and Leslie once headed up the catering division for Pick n Pay.

Both are successful businessmen but didn’t have specific restaurant experience.

A year after starting 34 South they bought Drydock, then Sirocco and Tapas both on Thesen Island — each property taking advantage of being on Knysna’s famous estuary.

While the four restaurants belong to the same group, each one has a unique ambience.

Locals know that if you feel like an “opskop” then Tapas is the place for tequila, music and even dancing on the tables — especially on a Friday night.

You could even join the league of reprobates who compete in drinking beer out of a funnel.

Check out the walls of Tapas which are lined with Tequila bottles and you will get the gist that this is the place to party.

Sirocco, just across the way from Tapas, is however very different.

It’s home to fine food and you might get a little more dressed up to go here because it’s more elegant, and often chosen for special occasions.

For the ultimate hangover cure, look no further than the 34 South breakfast pizza stuffed with egg and bacon, and fried onions in all their glory.

The kitchens here are open seven days a week, come high days and holidays serving breakfast, lunch and supper — everything from burgers to Mediterranean, Mexican, sushi and even Thai cuisine.

Then there is an all-time favourite, the 34 South retail space which is a bespoke place for prepared food and gifts, spices and wine, you name it.

There are old-fashioned tins of sweets, and liquorice specialities ... delicious and pretty things that will keep you browsing for ages.

“I can’t think of another shop quite like it anywhere on the Garden Route, which is why people drive from Mossel Bay and George to shop here for things you won’t find anywhere else, such as specific Asian sauces, and spices and of course they had Hellman’s mayonnaise when we went through that drought last year.

Locals tend to take a shopping basket and visit the fridge to pick up a snoek pate, a prepared lasagne, a macaroni or even a curry in winter or some potato salad for an impromptu braai.

This is also the place to hover at the bakery for their famous baguette with salt and rosemary which all self-respecting locals know about, not to mention sourdough or ciabatta bread or their little cakes.

I have given up buying steak anywhere else because their 250g Karan beef sirloin is better than anywhere else and a reasonable price.

There is something else in this fridge that I buy weekly, but I am almost too mean to share what it is in case the next time I get a craving there is none in that fridge.

The pickled fish at 34 South is not only a reasonable price, it’s better than you could ever make at home or find anywhere else.

Long and short of it, this group of restaurants plays a significant role in the lives of locals.

While Saturday seafood specials will end, thank goodness the pickled fish never goes anywhere.

The Herald