Keeping the 'bean' alive!

So it is that time of the year, when I get some time to come back fresh and rejuvenated to this blog and share a few tales. Most of you who were there with me last year around this time, are probably wondering about what happened to the cafe dreams. Well the honest fact is, the dream is still there, but I realised I was not ready for the reality of it. Not ready to settle down. Not ready to take the big step. Not ready to leave engineering.The thing is I cannot run away from my life to begin something like this. I need to be at peace with myself first.

In the past I have always treated running away as a valid solution to living life. But just the other day, while speaking to a friend, I realised that there comes a time when you forget what it is that you are running away from, and what you are running away to. And not knowing the answer to these questions really is the problem. I guess running away in itself is not that bad, provided you have faced the 'whats', 'wheres' and 'whys' of it all.

Anyway, moving on to more coffee updates (which is what this space was originally designed for, and not for my life rants!) , I guess the best coffee I have had in the past year was in Salzburg, Austria. It will always be a special moment in this cafe, right in the middle of the city, with my family, sipping coffee and soaking in the ambience. My parents were visiting Europe for the first time, and I was lucky enough to join them in this leg of their journey. 

Looking back, it was surely one of the moments when I felt very nearly at peace and so happy. (Not something that me or any member of my family will ever openly admit - because as a rule we don't voice our feelings.)

Besides, for a long time now, I have been in search of this mysterious 'cafe crema - or so I think is its name' which I had in Sicily, and have not been able to properly locate since then. I have a feeling the name 'cafe crema' is possibly wrong, and I have not remembered it correctly. But while taking the flight back from Salzburg airport, I had this ice coffee, which was not the same, but came quite close to the original one I had in Sicily. And this again made me very happy.

The moral of the story definitely is to not give up hope. Hope of finding the perfect Sicilian crema, or finding yourself, or for that matter hope on me. 

One day I will serve you more than just a story. And we will then sit together and talk about our dreams, the ones that came true.

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Moving on

So I am back to UK after my fantastic break and study period. I have learnt a lot to do with the cafe business in this period and have documented it. The study will surely be the basis of any future endeavour I engage myself in even if it has nothing to do with cafes!

Back here, normal life, or what is close to normal in my life is catching up with me. In things happening I will be moving to yet another city soon. Not completely moving out of Cambridge though. So will be time division multiplexing between the two places for a while. So hopefully from cafes and coffee point of view, I should be able to go to newer places and live to tell tales of them as usual :)


Sell Coffee, not your soul

Cafe Delhi Heights

In the middle of urban madness of Gurgaon, Delhi, while searching for cafe Mocha, we came across Cafe Delhi Heights. The fact that we had walked for quite a bit looking for this elusive Mocha made us cut short our search and walk right into DH.
The insides looked cosy, rustic and posh all at the same time and we didn't really know what to expect here. Looking at the menu, we realised that this was a fusion joint not exactly a cafe. It served all sorts of forgotten Indian dishes (like banta soda) to continental snacks (like cheese chilly toast and tortilla with dips). However they all had one thing in common, they were all very expensive :)

I went for one of the cheapest option on the menu, vada pav and waited not knowing what sort of vadapav (which is a Maharashtrian delicacy) will arrive from the heart of a Northern urban restaurant. ( Random titbit: I was later told by my friend that he can eat approximately 20 vadapavs at that cost in front of Kalyan station :-)
But I was pleasantly surprised because although what arrived was a far more gourmet version of the typical roadside delicacy from Western India, yet it was really tasty and finger licking. So much so that I promised to bring back wtp to this place later in the trip.

Ambience wise, this is a great place for hanging out with friends or even impressing your date. The place has a cool attitude about it.
Value for money: Well most people living in Gurgaon, Delhi region are really quite well off and I don't think the pricing is a problem for this area. The service and the taste of food served is good, thus not disappointing you from that aspect.
Also the chef there is from the Himachal, and I have met him in both occasions. He does like to come out and talk to customer which is a really good thing, because we were able to give him our personal feedback on both occasions.




Sell Coffee, not your soul