A café (also spelled cafe, pronounced /ˈkæfeɪ/ or /kæˈfeɪ/) or coffee shop is an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. This differs from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. Depending on the jurisdiction, a café may be licensed to serve alcohol. The term can also refer to bistro or a restaurant facility within a hotel. In many countries, however, the term "café" denotes roughly what "coffee house" denotes in English speaking countries.
In small towns, the local café is often the central gathering spot for conversation and meetings. Such cafés are especially popular for breakfasts. In central business districts (CBD) of larger cities cafés and coffee shops are often open only for breakfast and lunch, since their patrons leave the area after business hours.
In Europe
In France, a café also serves alcoholic beverages. French cafés often serve simple snacks such as sandwiches. They may have a restaurant section. A brasserie is a café that serves meals, generally single dishes, in a more relaxed setting than a restaurant. American cafés may or may not serve alcoholic beverages, and the serving of coffee is incidental to the serving of food. British cafés, however, do not sell alcohol.
In Europe, cafés often have an enclosed or outdoor section extending onto the sidewalk. In many of these countries (Denmark, Sweden, etc) the term café also implies primarily serving coffee, typically complemented by a slice of sweet cake (tårtbit), a danish pastry (wienerbröd), or similar. In the Netherlands, a café is an establishment selling liquor, as opposed to coffeeshop, which sells soft drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is typically not allowed to sell liquor.
A "café" can also refer to a small informal public discussion. These are usually live events, and often focus on starting an open conversation on a particular topic. Examples include science cafes in the US , Cafe Scientifique in the UK, and Cafe Society in Chicago .
Spelling and pronunciation
The most common spelling café is the French spelling, and was adopted by English-speaking countries in the late 19th century.Café can also be spelled caffè (the Italian spelling), In southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often shortened to [kæf] and informally spelt caff.
A long history of lack of support for accented characters in (first) typewriters and (later) computer OSs (which can be explained principally by the fact that these technologies were largely pioneered by people whose native language, English, generally did not require diacritical marks) has guaranteed that the spelling cafe has also become common.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9
Deep-freeze dining debuts in Dubai.
Temperature at Dubai’s Times Square mall will crash to sub-arctic levels as the Middle East’s first ice lounge, Chillout, opens this afternoon.
Frost things first
Almost everything at the restaurant is sculpted out of ice. Diners will sit on ice benches or chairs, eat at ice tables, out of ice plates, drink from ice glasses served from a bar made of ice.
"We want Chillout to be part of people’s lifestyle and not just a unique experience that will fade away with time. Spokesman, Sharaf Group" |
It even has an ice gallery showcasing Dubai’s landmarks. Complimenting that is an ice portrait of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Freezing at minus 6 degrees Celsius the dining area is, well, biting cold.
A whopping Dh9 million investment, the restaurant is Dubai-based Sharaf Group’s enterprise while technical inputs came from Canada-based Iceculture Inc, who are credited with building ice lounges around the world, informed a spokesperson for Sharaf Group.
“We want Chillout to be part of people’s lifestyle and not just a unique experience that will fade away with time,” he said.
“It was a special operation which took a year and a half to carry out.”
Chillout specs
The 2,400 sqft restaurant has three areas. The lobby and the lounge areas are separated by what is called the Buffer Zone. Once in the lobby, visitors will be given thermal gear to protect themselves from the chilly conditions. It comprises a hooded parka (a heavy jacket), disposable woollen gloves and a pair of shoes.
Visitors are advised to first spend a few minutes in the Buffer Zone to get acclimatised. The temperature in the buffer zone is set at 5 degrees Celsius which gives the body time to adjust to the sharp drop in temperature in the dining area.
Cold and beautiful
Once inside, the first thing I learnt was that, contrary to my fear, nothing was wet or dripping. I touched the walls, the sculptures, the tables and chairs to see if they were wet. They were all made of ice all right, but wet they were not.
“It is a popular misconception that furniture at an ice restaurant is wet. It is the moisture on the surface of ice that gives it the wet feel. There cannot be any moisture at minus 6 degrees. Every bit of it turns to ice,” explained the spokesperson.
The restaurant, which will serve cold cuts, cheese, juices, ice creams and mocktails, can accommodate 40 guests, including relatively intimate table-for-two arrangements for couples.
Seats are cushioned and acrylic-topped tables are adorned with decorative pieces sculpted from crystal clear ice. Vapour-mouthed visitors can feel secure in the knowledge that there are sheepskin throws for the asking should things get too nippy for their comfort.
A looming chandelier in the middle of the lounge is made out of ice blocks strung together by cables, as are ice-beaded curtains in the couples’ section.
Impressive lights
In addition to the fact that this is a non-alcoholic restaurant, what makes Chillout different is that the lighting here is amazing. “It almost makes the ice a secondary feature,” said Julian Bayley of Iceculture Inc.
And it shows. The diffused lighting is constantly changing colours as it filters through clean blocks of ice, filling them with low-lux hues of varying patterns.
“As far as the ice component is concerned, there are several features that are exclusive to Iceculture Inc. Also, the ability to produce portraits in ice with nothing more than food colouring and snow is something I don’t think has been done before, to my knowledge,” added Julian.
First-timers must be cautioned that the only thing hot in this restaurant is the samples of spices framed with ice blocks and embedded into the wall – of course, made of ice – providing a curious backdrop to the juice bar.
Coming as it does in the hottest part of the year the timing of the coolest place in Dubai couldn’t have been better.
Trivia
- The ideal time to spend inside an ice restaurant is 30-40 minutes. While in other countries people are asked to leave after that period, Chillout will not follow that policy.
- There are no toilets inside the restaurant.
- The workforce comprises people from cold countries such as Romania and Russia to ensure they can withstand sub-zero conditions.
- Workers at the restaurant are instructed to step out to normal temperature at regular intervals.
- Special lights called LEDs have been used. They do not emit heat hence do not cause the ice to melt.
- All the ice work was done by Iceculture Inc in Canada and was shipped to Dubai in temperature-controlled reefer containers.
- The flooring of the restaurant is made of special anti-skid ceramic tiles.
- Chillout is claimed to be the only ice restaurant in the world to serve food round the year.
- Other countries that have ice bars and restaurants include the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Cool facts
- Location: Times Square mall, between the 3rd and 4th interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road
- Opens: Thursday, June 21
- Timings: 2pm to 10pm (Saturday to Wednesday and 2pm to midnight on Thursday and Friday)
Tel: 04-341 8121 - Cover charge: Dh60, includes thermal gear and a free mocktail
- Cold cuts: From seating to glassware to cutlery and crockery, everything is cut in ice
Sumber : http://www.xpress4me.com/life/foodie/restaurants/20001739.html
