Belgian Cafe De Lekkerbek

Update: Comics, Air Conditioner, Ventilation, Waiters, etc...

2007-04-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

A few updates from the cafe:

1. We got a new batch of comics on Friday so don't miss those when you are in the cafe next!

2. We spoke with one of our customers who is an A/C specialist. Thanks to him (Pravin Prakash) we have one of the A/Cs working and the other should be working soon :-)

3. We also had a chat with Pravin about the ventilation problem and he has suggested a few changes. The main change is putting a partition and isolating the kitchen (and hence the heat it generates). This will enable the chimney and the exhaust to work more efficiently. However an open kitchen is one of the charms of the cafe so we will try to preserve it by using as much glass as possible for the partition. We plan to work on this item sometime in April as soon as the budget allows us to do so.

4. We too have felt that our waiters are sometimes clueless! But beleive us, it is very very hard to get a good, English speaking waiter at the salary we can afford. Anyway, we will continue our search but in case any of you come across someone who is interested in the job then do let us know.

Thanks,
Ranjeet and Riad

We are "Cafe Terra" now!

2007-01-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

H folks,

We have been meaning to change the name for quite some time. Finally we got off our butts and did it. The name Cafe Terra had been on cards for quite some time. We wanted the new name to convey that the cafe brought a number of eclectic recipes around the world under one roof. We also wanted the name to sound cool and unusual. Hence "Cafe Terra" - since Terra means Earth.

Before you ask - let's tell you that all good things will continue to be there. You will continue to find our personal involvement, the "neighborhood cafe" feel, and excellent dishes. And yes, Waffles are not going anywhere :-)

Regards,
Ranjeet and Riad

We bought the place!

2006-10-08T02:35:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! Many of you may know that we had 3 months to prove ourselves and turn the place around. Now that we have done that, we have decided to take over the cafe and we are here to stay :-) Looking forward to seeing many of you at the cafe! - Ranjeet and Riad

In the news - part 3

2006-07-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

We are in Times of India (supplement) today! Here is a scanned version of the article.

In the news - part 2

2006-07-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

We're on Bangalore Metblogs . Thanks, Anita for the article publicizing our effort!

In the news - part 1

2006-07-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Did you catch us in Hindu Metroplus on Saturday July 22nd? If not, check out the article here . Thanks Hindu! Your article did wonders over the weekend. :-)

Cafe' poster

2006-07-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

Here are the details about the cafe' De Lekkerbek, and a location map. Cool poster, ain't it? Thanks Indyslim from St. Louis for putting in sleepless nights to get this done in a hurry!

We've decided to close on Mondays, btw, to get a break after the crazy weekends.

The Story So Far...

2006-07-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

There is a small Belgian cafe (called De Lekkerbek) on 80 ft road near our house in Koramangala, Bangalore and I have been frequenting it for the last year or so. I like the place because the food is good, reasonably priced, and the place is nearly always empty so I can lounge around without being shoved out of the cafe. They serve good waffles, pancakes, and sandwiches amongst other things and my personal favorite is minestronesoup and pan-fried fish. Therefore, all in all, it is a perfect place for me to hang out over a leisurely brunch and with my wife Garima and our friends over dinner.

I meet my friend Riad a couple of times every month for breakfast. We always end up eating south Indian stuff and he always complains that there is no place nearby that would make eggs, toasts, pancakes etc for him. So about a week ago, I took Riad to the cafe for breakfast. As soon as we entered the cafe, a "To let" sign greeted us. I had seen it coming considering how sparsely the café was occupied most of the time but still somehow, it came as a shock. We asked the waiter and the cook as to what the deal was. They said that there was not much business and the owner had decided to close down the place. We had a somewhat disturbed breakfast that day even though the food was great. I was upset to lose my favorite hangout place and Riad was upset that he had finally located a good place for breakfast only to see it shutting down.

Some hectic discussion took place between us and we decided to meet the owner. As it happens, the building is owned by a real-estate fellow with his office next door. We managed to catch him and asked about the place. He said that he owned the place physically but he was not the owner of the restaurant. He had leased the place to someone called Jaya. She had given him a 3-month notice and he was looking for a new tenant. Would we be interested? We were - but not in the place as much as in the restaurant! So he gave us Jaya's contact number.

I called Jaya, explained that I was a regular to her cafe, and was sad to see it getting closed. She said that she had put in a lot of effort and heart into it and hence she too was very sad. She was looking to sell the assets but was also open to the idea of shoring up the place. We decided to meet. After an interesting discussion, Jaya had a proposal for Riad and me. She would let us control and run the place for the next 3 months. We would bear the running cost and take the revenues while she would put nothing and get nothing. After 3 months, if we felt that it was our cup of tea (coffee?) then we could go into a partnership with her where we would share the revenues (but not necessarily the costs since she had put in a lot of capital already). We wanted to sleep over the proposal. We did and in 24 hours, we had a deal with Jaya!

We wanted to preserve a lot of things about the café and change a few things too. I always liked the décor of the place with its small tables and chairs and the European feel of the paintings. Its languid pace and a good selection of the menu had always attracted me to the cafe. But I also thought it underutilized the light. It had a wonderful glass wall overlooking the 80 ft road but the bottom portion of it was blocked by a huge sign. So even though the 80 ft road has been dug up for over 2 years and was nothing much to look at, the sign cut down all the view. Riad and I knew right away that that had to go.The menu needed a trim and the service needed a zip. The walls were screaming for a new coat of paint and the desserts were totally missing. De Lekkerbek was looking for some fresh energy and we are all set to provide it!

So what happens next in the story? Well, we could make a hash of it and in 3 months realize that running a restaurant may sound romantic but is a hard job. Or we could makea place out of it and decide to stick around. Currently all those silly case studies from my MBA days are coming in handy for me (I never dreamt they would be useful and I still donot believe that they will actually be). His experience of running the school is being tested for Riad. Garima is planning to use all her baking expertise and Kavita's (Riad's wife) finesse in handling the tough customers as a flight attendant is going to come in handy.

So the story continues at De Lekkerbek on 80 ft road in Koramangala, Bangalore.... Stay tuned.