Cafes

Third Place, coffee house, Raleigh

I don't know whether it is the coffee or the ambiance, but there is something about cafes which makes them seem very warm and welcoming to me. I remember my first impression of a coffee house. It was the India Coffee House in Bangalore, MG Road. We were walking around MG Road and it seemed like the perfect coffee place to take break.

India Coffee House, MGRoad, Bangalore 

It was a simple and clean place where the coffee and tiffin was just perfect. It had a colonial look to it with its solid wooden furniture and high ceiling and liveried waiters. Unfortunately, the Indian Coffee house has now shifted away from its prime location on MG Road. It is now relocated on Church street. More swanky stylish cafes and bistros have come up to take its place on MG Road.

Back in Chennai, I never really went to a coffee house because I did get the best coffee at home. The only time I had coffee was when we ate a snack (tiffin) at restaurants like Woodlands Drive In or Ratna Cafe or some such place. These places certainly did not inspire anything intellectual or profound in me. They seemed like machines which served food and coffee in a steady stream. You just went there for the coffee and did not want to spend any more time there. Having said this, I will admit that Saravana Bhavan in Chennai serves one of the best filter coffees that I have tasted. Again, can't say that I would like sitting there for ever with a miniscule tumbler of filter coffee.

Woodlands Drive In
Many people think 'the late' Woodlands Drive In was the best coffee place ever on earth. I have been to it during my college days a few times. I seriously do not recollect anything more than a run down place, resembling a mess, which was too hot and humid and needed some amount of lighting. It seemed like an open smoking house which always had men sitting around doing nothing but drinking coffee and smoking. Sorry to say this but the Woodlands  Drive In was not my type of coffee house.

It was only after I got married and went to the US that I became more nostalgic about coffee and tea and the coffee houses. Thankfully, I got a husband who was interested in cafes, whether he cared about the coffee or not. It was there that I got introduced to the concept of 'cafes'. Cafes are more than just coffee houses. But the food was usually limited to sandwiches and soups, pastries and cakes. My husband and I used to spend a lot of time in cafes around Raleigh which served a variety of teas and coffees. They also had unique tea cakes or biscottis or pastries.  It was there that I learnt the difference between Assam Tea and Darjeeling Tea. I learnt to differentiate between tea leaves and dust. i realised that I liked a single shot of expresso in my short cup of coffee. I realised that I liked Latte or Mocha to Cappuccino.

The other thing about cafes in the US is their connection with books. Many major bookstores which were still running successfully then, like 'Borders' had their own coffee shops within their stores. We could just grab a book and almost finish reading it with a cup of coffee from the Coffee Shop. The connection between cafes and books were also seen in the location of cafes. They were very likely to be located near Universities or near old book stores. We have been to several old book stores and hopped into the cafes near them and spent an entire Sunday evening in this manner.

Third Place
Third Place in downtown Raleigh was one such place that I managed to get a picture of here. On a wet or cold evening The Third Place would be packed with people, making the place warm and cozy. On beautiful spring days, you could see people spilling out on the pavement right outside the cafe. They would read and sip a cuppa for hours as though it was their own living room.Inside the cafe, you could see the sandwiches being made and grilled to your taste. The walls of the cafe had paintings of budding artists, notices of various items on sale or exhibition. You could get to read a host of different magazines and newspapers.


It is said that JK Rowling used to spend her days writing in a small cafe in Scotland. She would write every day from morning till evening, keeping her baby in a stroller next to her. The cafe that she used to haunt, The Elephant House, has now become a tourist attraction .
 
So what is it that I like in a cafe? Well, firstly, it should serve reasonably good coffee or tea. The decor should be simple but comfortable. It should not be too tiny and should not be too grand or luxurious either. The setting must be open and inviting and the lighting is very important. I like cafes which let a lot of natural light into them. Many good cafes are great locations for people watching. If a cafe is facing the road and has wide open windows, its simply lovely to sit and watch the people walking by.


If there is one thing I hate about some of the new coffee places that are coming up these days in Chennai, it is the loud music played inside. They make the whole atmosphere resemble that of a disco or a bar. The highlight of the cafe should be that you have the freedom to be left alone and enjoy the coffee or the company. The Cafe Coffee Days would be certainly much better if they could tone down the music. 

The best cafe in Chennai, according to me, is 'Amethyst'. It was originally called the Mocha Cafe and was located in the ground floor of the Jaipur House in Gopalpuram. It has now shifted to a place on Whites Road, near Mount Road, near Sathyam Theatre. The first time we found out about this, we were so proud that someone had found the right way of presenting coffee and tea to Chennai. The owner, Kiran Rao has done an excellent job in creating the perfect atmosphere for coffee and conversation. I have spotted many a celebrity sitting quite unnoticed amidst the quiet and relaxing atmosphere of the Amethyst cafe. In that last 10 years in Chennai, many new cafes have been opened, but very few have been able to sustain themselves. It is heartening to see that Amethyst and Anokhee both owned by Kiran Rao are doing extremely well.

The merging of the classes seen in places like The Indian Coffee House cannot be seen in the modern day cafes. The Ratna Cafe and Rams Cafe are still the places where you can see people sit and get a good cup of coffee. There is no confusing the two types of Cafes. One creates an intimate setting, an atmosphere for creative pursuit, the other just serves good coffee. It is up to you to choose from the two. Is it the coffee or the cafe that is more important to you?