The Secret Barista Visits Dovetail Cafe
Seeking further enlightenment on my coffee quest, where better to go than Bohemia? Sauntering up London Road, I was rewarded by bucolic views of the pockets of nature along the route.
On the corner of Bohemia Road and North Road, I came upon Dovetail Café. Named after a dovetail joint – an intricate way of connecting two pieces of wood. A sign outside declares, “Sweets, Sandwiches, Drinks, Design, Garden and Building Talk.” Intrigued, I stepped inside.
Owners Leo and Pamela arrived in St Leonards intending to get involved with creating homes and spaces in the local community but, according to Leo, a trained barista, “Everyone asked for good coffee.” So, they tackled that first. As experts on building restoration as well as coffee, Leo and Pamela run training courses on both subjects.
Leo works in a ‘commanding’ position with a panoramic view of Bohemia Road. He has an exacting, scientific approach to coffee-making and is happy to give tutorials to customers, including me.
He has a creative, unconventional streak and wears a ‘Bohemian’ badge that evokes the young jazz & blues Beatniks who hung out in coffee bars in Soho in 50s and 60s Britain. Too young to drink in pubs, the coffee bars gave younger, arty types somewhere different to go – with juke boxes or even live bands.
Post-war Italian migrants set up these cafés and brought with them the espresso method of making coffee. The Brits particularly appreciated the way the new espresso machines were able to foam milk – so the “Cappuccino Bars” took off.
Dovetail serves all kinds of coffees – including a ‘cortado’ (half espresso, half milk) which, according to one customer, is better than any you find in Spain.
Speaking to Leo, I learn that he and Pam carefully research and test every ingredient that goes into their drinks. They favour a ‘classic’ four-blend Italian espresso. In other words, one that you can “chuck a load of milk at” and still taste the coffee.
He explains, “If you drink a double espresso of single-origin coffee, you’re hit by one thing after another. That’s lovely, but do you need that? So, for our house coffee we chose something more ‘everyday’, not lacking subtlety, but not taking you on a weird flavour trip through the forest.”
I drank an aromatically fruitful cup and chatted with Leo and his ‘regulars’. I realised that just like the four-blend Italian espresso, intricate connections are always happening at Dovetail Café.
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