Dubai’s coffee scene has an edgy new addition. Classic Rock Coffee opens its doors tomorrow, the first cafe in the Middle East from the relatively new American company.
This isn’t your typical, relaxing coffee shop – and it’s not supposed to be. When Kent Morrison, the American creator of Classic Rock Coffee, came up with the concept, he wanted a lively atmosphere (coffee is, after all, a stimulant). So he married high-quality coffee with classic rock music and the company was born.
One look at the concept and Irfan Izhar, the managing director of Visions Corporation, was sold. He knew at once that it would do well in Dubai and was intent on bringing it here.
Located in Dubai Healthcare City, the cafe has guitars and classic rock memorabilia lining its walls. Instead of tables, guests enjoy their cuppa while seated at large drums (which they can also play). There are LPs (long-playing records), LP players and a rock music library.
Got a guitar? Bring it in for a jam session. If you’re not in the mood for what’s playing, you can choose your own rock music on a jukebox and listen on wireless headphones provided by the cafe.
This, Izhar stresses, is a place for rock-music fans, “something the UAE is lacking”.
“Any place you go for rock music, they serve liquor. Many people in this country don’t want to go there, but they want to enjoy some rock music. People can come with their families, people who don’t want to go to bars and want to enjoy rock music with coffee – this is the right place for them. That’s the culture behind it,” says Izhar.
The coffee is high-quality and sourced from around the world. It’s roasted right in the cafe and the drinks are named after songs only rock fans will recognise – Dirty White Boy, Sweet Emotion and Black Betty, to name a few. Soups, salads and sandwiches are also available, along with smoothies and high-protein energy drinks.
Izhar is confident the rock cafe will do well: “It’s a full classic-rock theme. For music lovers, this place is great.”
He’s already working on another 5,000 square-feet location that will double as a concert venue. The big plan is to open 11 locations across the UAE by December 2015.
• Classic Rock Coffee Company at Dubai Healthcare City is open from 7am to 10pm daily. Visit www.facebook.com/ClassicRockCoffeeUAE
sjohnson@thenational.ae
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Tree of Hell
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Rating: 4/5
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