Remember LM peri-peri prawns and Laurentia beer?

Many South Africans will relate to this story... just think of LM peri-peri prawns, galinha a cafreal (spicy grilled chicken), Laurentina beer, LM Radio and the 1970s... and you'll soon be heading off to the Costa do Sol restaurant on Avenida de Marginal. Here you'll find Emmanuel (Mano) Petrakakis' restaurant where platters of seafood come close to heaven. To get there in style, the Havana Transport Company, set up by a South African, takes you in a chauffeur-driven 1950s-style car. Mano's family has been in Maputo since his father Gerry arrived from Crete in 1938. Gerry's brother was running a hotel in LM (now Maputo), so he set up a cafe that eventually grew into a restaurant and hotel. Back in those days, the location was considered the bundu, out in the sticks. A bucket of prawns cost 20 cents. Gerry kept it going through World War 2 by opening 24 hours a day. Axis and Allied spies often ate there. The Costa do Sol became famous for its dancing Brazilian and Spanish showgirls. When the Portuguese left in 1974, Mano was in boarding school at St John’s College in Johannesburg. During the civil war, the family continued running the restaurant on a smaller scale. Joe Slovo, Ruth First and Albie Sachs were frequent visitors. After high school, Mano studied financial management and worked in Durban. In 1981 he returned to Mozambique, working for Unesco. His mother, Dona Maria, was widowed after Gerry died of cancer. She kept the restaurant going until Mano took over. Today the restaurant, which hosted Danny Glover, Tom Jones and Leonardo Di Caprio, is firmly back in business. You're sure to hear a South African accent when you take that trip down memory lane.