Our story
We took a corner unit on Ashworth Lane, stripped it back to brick, and pointed every lamp at the bar. Everything since has been an argument about how long things should take.
Chapter i
The unit had been a photocopy shop for nineteen years. It came with a suspended ceiling, four fluorescent tubes, and a carpet that we will not describe.
We took all of it out. Behind the plasterboard was brick, and behind the brick was a window nobody had opened since the eighties. That window is now the best seat in the room.
Chapter ii
Twelve kilos at a time, in a drum, by ear. Green beans land on Tuesday and are roasted on Wednesday, never the same day, because a bean that has just travelled does not behave.
We stop on the second crack. Then it rests four days. Coffee pulled before the sugars settle tastes like a good idea served too early.
Chapter iii
No loyalty cards. No syrups that are not made here. Nothing served in paper unless you are genuinely walking out of the door with it.
Two tables stay empty every evening for people who did not plan ahead, because the best afternoons here have always belonged to somebody who wandered in.
14 Ashworth Lane · Bandra West, Mumbai 400050
It is at its best at half past four, when the light comes through the west window.