Eat: Photoessay
By Christine Pemberton
The approach to Café Zoe is as cool as the end result. You wander through the century-old Mathuradas Mill compound in Mumbai’s Lower Parel until you find a few outside tables. And a huge industrial-size door. And voilà. You have arrived at one of Mumbai’s happening eateries.
Date Published: 4th May 2016
Styled like a relaxed European brasserie, Café Zoe has preserved and highlighted the industrial heritage of the mill compound. Exposed brick walls, high ceilings, metal fittings. Add to that 4000 sq m of space and sunlight pouring in through huge glass windows, and it’s not difficult to see why this is such a popular hangout.
The pared down, simple, clean lines are in character with the unstuffy nature of Café Zoe, which opens early in the morning for a handful of regulars who want a good coffee, and then powers on through the day, becoming a popular bar in the evening, when the same early morning office crowd head there for a drink.
Books, coffee, wifi, space to lounge and work on your laptop¬, this is a café that plans to make you relax and/or work, depending on how your day is going.
The young team who founded and run Café Zoe, Tarini Mohindar, Viraf Patel and Belgian Jeremie Horowitz, are usually to be found on the premises, chatting with their regular patrons, checking their email and just hanging out. Like so many of their customers.
The menu is European influenced, but not stuffy old-school European. Rather the light, casual café and brasserie kind of food.
Café Zoe also hosts live jazz concerts and photography exhibitions, all in keeping with its young, relaxed vibe. The former derelict mill has been reborn in a new avatar.
In just 3 years this brasserie has already won a host of awards and accolades, but despite all this, the mood is relaxed and unpretentious.
An all-day diner. Great food. An ever-changing wine list. Free wifi. Space. Light.
What’s not to love?
Visit the Cafe Zoe, Mumbai website
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