Its stylish interior has enough space for at least 200 patrons. There are leather-upholstered booths, regular chairs and tables, and even a play corner for children at the rear. Half of the Kavárna is reserved for nonsmokers. The coffee and cakes are a little more expensive than most places in town, but if you like to see and be seen while you sip your café latte, it will be worth the extra few crowns (an espresso with milk is 30Kc). In a land of surly, distracted waiters, the service at Kavárna Opera stands out for being exceptionally attentive and professional. I, for one, quite like and respect a little surliness from anyone doing a menial job for 50Kč an hour, but I realize that it may not be everybody’s cup of tea and that the opera’s customer service may be exactly what many of its patrons go there for.

The coffee is also good; I’d go so far as to say some of the best in town. The range of cakes is, however, a little disappointing. They seem to have one recipe that’s just slightly altered to give the illusion of having a comprehensive selection. That is, the raspberry cake is the same as the banana cake, except the raspberries have replaced the bananas and a little pink food dye has been added. There’s certainly nothing as original as the chocolate pie at Café 87 or the coconut flakes in yoghurt sauce at the teahouse.

The building itself has an interesting history. In 1478 and 1479, rivals for influence in the area, Hungarian King Mathias Korvin and Bohemian King Vladislav Jagellon, held negotiations here that resulted in the Olomouc Agreement, under which, Moravia would temporarily disassociate with from Bohemia and connect with the lands of the Hungarian crown. In 1620, the Winter King, Friedrich Falcký, stayed in the building.

In 1834, the well-known Caffe Ruprecht was established at no. 21. It closed in 1943 and reopened after the war under the name of Kavárna Opera (named for the Moravian Theatre and Philharmonic Orchestra next door at Horní Nam. 23), under which it traded until closing in 1994. Kavárna Mahler at Horní Náměstí 11 took up the mantle of being Olomouc’s most celebrated main square café, but since the reopening of Kavárna Opera in 2004, opinions have been divided as to which is the more elegant backdrop for one’s hippest new outfit. Many of opera’s patrons are reasonably well dressed, but the procession of young mothers towards the toddlers play area saves the café from seeming too pretentious.

It’s not a bad choice for anyone spending a couple of days in Olomouc and makes a nice change for anyone who lives there.