Kunzum Cafe; too good to be true!!

Good coffee, yum cookies, free wifi, relaxed atmosphere and lots of travelogues to read on!!

Yeah indeed this sounds like a coffee café, but hold on untill your thoughts wander into the normal lines of what a café is all about.

As students of journalism we need to make a documentary on a topic of choice. So to find a place where we can have our long hours of script writing sessions, we spotted this café, KUNZUM CAFÉ  in the posh locality of Hauz Khas Village. I have been to this place once before and it was my second visit and this time with two of my friends. I was looking for my favorite place near the French window, to steal glimpses of what is happening outside as well (this is the reason why I always pray for a window seat in a bus). But anyways somebody was already enjoying that corner of the café so we found another cozy place to sit. We ordered for 3 cups of coffee and then I started looking around at the place. One thing you would notice at the very first sight would be magnificent and beautiful paintings hanging on the walls. At once it would look like an art museum and indeed a striking one. The paintings are by Mr. Ajay Jain. Mr. Ajay Jain is the brain behind ‘Kunzum Café.’ He started this place over 2 years back.

Painting by Mr Ajay Jain

Painting by Mr Ajay Jain

Painting by Mr Ajay Jain

 The brilliant concept running behind this café is that, anybody can come and sit for as long as they want without the compulsion of buying anything. You do get coffee and tea along with yum cookies and though it is not free but you can give the price whatever you feel like! And you don’t have to give it to anybody; there is a small collection box near the entrance where you can drop any amount as you please to. And free Wi-Fi is like a bonus offer.

The soothing coffee

 

The box to put money

 While I was having a look around at the café, I spotted a place where there were stacks of books kept over a wide spread wooden shelf. Travel books dominate the collection. No wonder they have a whole book called, ‘Kunzum Travel Guide’ where they have mentioned about the most interesting and unusual places around the country. And as I was roaming around and clicking the pictures, the General manager, Mr Apurbo, spotted me and called me. I got a little apprehensive (though I had taken a prior permission to click there) and was hell bent on assuring him that sir you can check my notes, there is nothing I am writing that you would not want me to. All my worries were put to complete rest when he politely started conversing with me and telling me more about Kunzum café. He told me that they will be starting a proper 6-months course on travel writing. They would set up criteria of selecting students for their course, like an entrance exam or something.

Arun Paule Verma, a well known lens man conducted a photography workshop here which was covered by ‘Travel Secrets; magazine. This is just one of the many achievements which I am mentioning. Hindustan Times, Forbes etc have all covered stories on Kunzum Café.

Talking about its relaxed atmosphere, the café has a very friendly set up, with Bob Marley singing in the background (through a music system) and wide variety of tea to offer which includes, chai masala, Darjeeling tea, green tea, lemon flavored tea, green tea and mint, elaichi tea, jasmine green tea and classic Assam tea. All the tea lovers, you get the hint, right?

 

It’s not just a peaceful environment which develops your love for the place but also a unique way of maintaining contacts with the customers. They have a pile of beautiful diaries and scrapbooks, each for a different purpose. On one you can leave your name and e-mail id. One is for exclusively writing messages and feedbacks to Kunzum Café. There is also a diary where you can write your personal anecdotes, like somebody wrote about a trip to Mumbai. You will also find a kind of a photo essay book, where you can paste pictures or self made sketches and describe something about it. There is also something for the book lovers, it’s a diary named ‘Book wag,’ a kind of a Book club where people can recommend various books like they have recommended ‘Tipping Point,’ ;Monk Who Sold His Ferrari,’ ‘River Dog’ by Mark Shand etc. There is also a proud bulletin board placed upon the wall where people have pinned there sweet messages on small papers, small kites and spoons made of light wood.

 

People come here for various purposes, but one thing for sure about it is; it’s a soul feeding and filling place!

When are you going to Kunzum Café? 

Your way to a peaceful time

The bulletin board on the wall, blessed with sweet messages

Beautiful paintings by Mr Ajay Jain

Mr Ajay Jain, owner of Kunzum Cafe

P.S. : A big thank you to my friend Jayashree's camera because of which I was able to click the pictures!!

Four Countries On Your Breakfast Plate!

When we talk about cuisines, breakfasts are generally the most neglected part of the meals.Around the world not only there are different dishes which befriends the taste buds but also there is a different mood and style with which they eat.
Here are four countries (Turkey, Italy, China, Korea) and their breakfast choice. Four countries on your breakfast plate!!
P.S. : I didn't include India because that would require a whole blog post which I would be doing very soon.

TURKEY

image courtesy:  http://oddstuffmagazine.com/top-50-of-the-best-breakfasts-of-the-world.html 

A proper Turkish breakfast is like any other full course meal. It can take a lot of your time to prepare a proper Turkish Breakfast. That's the reason why usually most Turks prefer to have it on weekends, like a brunch. A Turkish breakfast plate 'Kahvalti' (breakfast in Turkey is called Kahvalti, which means 'before coffee') usually includes cheese, butter, tomatoes, cucumber and olives. Its eaten with plenty of bread and jam. Turks consume lots of tea with breakfast and coffee after that. In weekdays, working people eat pastries called pogaca, similar to croissant. 

Breakfast in Turkey is not only about food but about family time and gathering. Its all about sitting together with your family and stealing all the good breakfast moments. 

ITALY

image courtesy:  http://oddstuffmagazine.com/top-50-of-the-best-breakfasts-of-the-world.html  

Italians consume a very simple breakfast as breakfast is the least important meal of the day to them. It includes coffee (espresso, cappuccino or caffelatte) , hot chocolate or tea with bread, butter and jam. They also like to eat Cornetti (similar to croissants but slightly sweet), pastries and cookies. 

Nowadays cereals like oatmeals are becoming popular in Italy for breakfast. People often eat their breakfast at bars to socialize with others. 

CHINA

image courtesy:  http://oddstuffmagazine.com/top-50-of-the-best-breakfasts-of-the-world.html  

Since China has a huge population like India, its food is like Indian food, its divided by regions. But as we are talking about breakfast here, they like to have plain porridge with salted eggs, preserved raddish, soy bean milk, fried noodles. They consume ;Baozi' which is a bread with meat and/or vegetables in middle, ;Jianbing' which is an egg pancake wrapped up and eaten by itself or with a crunchy middle.

What we get in India as Chinese food is actually Sino-Ludhianvi. As pointed out by Vir Sanghvi in 'Rude Food' column in Brunch under the article 'What Happened To My Chinese?,' "Sino- Ludhianvi is cooked by Nepali or Pahadi chefs who slave away in restaurants that are usually owned by punjabis who have told them what to cook and how." " Till the early 1980s,  Sino- Ludhianvi cuisine did not really exist. It was invented after the Taj famously opened the house of Ming in Delhi and told North Indians that Chinese food could be 'teekha' . Once that message had sunk in, every 'thelawallah' , worked out that if you mixed ketchup and chilli sauce, you could create your own kind of chinese menu."

KOREA

image courtesy:  http://oddstuffmagazine.com/top-50-of-the-best-breakfasts-of-the-world.html  

Their breakfast contains rice, soup, several kinds of Namul or seasoned vegetables. The most important thing which Koreans can't do without in their breakfast is 'Kimchi' (fermented, pickled vegetables). They eat it with grilled meat or fish. Koreans give a lot of preference to side dishes in their morning meals. Their meals are kind of similar throughout the day, be it lunch, dinner or breakfast.

Most people are now eating western style type breakfast. Gaeran tost-u is basically a toasted egg sandwich which has onions, eggs, carrots, brown sugar and cabbage inside it.

Koreans are health conscious and therefore their meals are nutritious and healthy. So if you are on a diet or aiming for a healthy meal, Korean breakfast should be on your diet list!

So which one is your choice for breakfast?