Everybody
should believe in something. I believe I’ll have another coffee. Although the poster with the
flashy pink words transferring this message is a bit hidden, it shows very well
what Clouds in My Coffee intends to be: a trendy, dreamy coffee bar that makes
you wanna stay. Veva van Sloun and Jan Wauters spent two years on renovating
the place and after two and a half months of making latte macchiato,
espresso doppio and cappuccino, we are quite curious to see and hear how things
are going.
Although I’m going for breakfast on
a Sunday morning, it’s crowded at Clouds in My Coffee, but it’s not the kind of
fuzz you want to run away from. I must say the interior seems to have a
compensating role in that: the walls are painted white and give a very fresh
impression. Nostalgic photographs, humble yellowish flowers and silvery decoration
keep them from being dull. The caption on the black & white menu lying in front
of me says Drinks & Dreams. This is the place where I need to be.
THE RABBITS: Is there a certain philosophy
behind Clouds in My Coffee?
VEVA VAN SLOUN (owner): Our basic philosophy
is 'We like to make coffee for the neighbourhood'.
Together with 9 couples we bought
the school building behind the bar and created individual homes. The former
schoolyard has become a shared garden. The janitor’s house in front, at
Dendermondsesteenweg, was included in the project, but not very popular due to
its location. So we decided to establish a coffee bar in it, also because we thought
the neighbourhood needed to revive a bit. A lot of young families live in
Sint-Amandsberg but it currently isn’t offering a lot of cosy bars or
restaurants. And even if there is a coffee bar hype at the moment – people don’t
just want to drink coffee anymore; they want a double shot latte or a
cappuccino with micro-foam – we knew there was a place for Clouds in My Coffee.
THE RABBITS: How did people react to
your ideas of opening a coffee bar in the Dampoort area?
VEVA VAN SLOUN: When telling people we were about to
open a coffee bar at Dendermondsesteenweg, they all said we were crazy. Nevertheless
after two months we can start to look back and say everything is going
smoothly. We have a lot of regular customers living nearby, as well as people coming
from the city center, Antwerp, etc. Ghent is expanding its territory and the
outskirts are becoming more and more popular to those who want more space to
live. Moreover coffee bars are the perfect place to bring people together.
THE RABBITS: Anyone
walking in can feel that you spent a lot of time on what the bar would look
like. You’re also running the interior webshop I/OBJECT. How does Clouds in My
coffee fit into the I/OBJECT concept?
VEVA VAN SLOUN: Interior design and decorating are
the things I like most. My cousin Maurice (MM Design) has a lot of experience
with designing restaurants, bars and retail shops so it was obvious to involve
him in the project. He designed the interior of the bar in a way it perfectly complies
with our wishes and in which I could integrate the I/OBJECT concept. That’s
what all the cupboards are for!
There are a lot of I/OBJECTS in the
bar: the magazine rack, lamps, bar stools, books, napkins, placemats for
children, vases, plates, cups, glasses, etc.
Since I/OBJECT is a collection of
nice interior objects and wannahaves it was fun to combine both.
Besides, more and more customers living in Ghent wanted to pick up their orders directly at I/OBJECT. Now you
can spot our latest things and pick up your orders at Clouds in My Coffee.
THE RABBITS: Besides drinks,
are there still dreams?
VEVA VAN SLOUN: In March we will have a B&B room
and we will expand the I/OBJECT shop corner.
Furthermore we’re looking into our
customers’ wishes and we will try to respond to those as much as possible. Next
summer for example we might change opening hours to 8pm instead of 6pm. We’ll
see!
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten