D’ Café: a quiet hideout in the city

By Cheranka Mendis

Away from the busy routines of Colombo, the whizzing traffic, the constant tooting of the horns and the curls of dust that spring up from every corner; away from the font size 12 Times New Roman letters on the 3x1 meter screen, the bright tube lights and the bland walls at office; away from the hustle bustle is D’ Café, a quaint coffee shop in the heart of the city.

Located just around the corner from the Lionel Wendt on Cambridge Place, Colombo 7 D’ Café is a convenient hideout which somehow manages to mute the constant on-the-move drone of a usual day.

Nestled on the right hand side of the one way street, is the old colonial building which houses both the Café and its sister shop D’ Divas – a clothing store guarded by a leafy Nuga tree.

Save for a little board which indicates the Café, the place goes unnoticed, which is a pity especially if you are on the look out for a little peace and quiet.

The Café offers a wide range of goodies – from salads to sandwiches to burgers and delicious looking desserts. It also offers a black forest frappe which is as good as the name indicates. The grilled chicken sandwich, which they claim is one of their fast moving dishes is huge and comes stuffed with grilled chicken, tomatoes and salad leaves.

There is something for everyone in the menu. Away from the usual crispy salads for the light eaters, burgers, sandwiches and corndogs, the Café offers the Russian dish Pelmeni as well as some Italian favourites listed under D’s Italian. The Italian dishes include spaghetti bolognaise along with chicken, beef and mutton dishes.

The tiramisu which stands in a tall glass looks very tempting and comes highly recommended; so does the cheesecake, the brownie and the extremely mouth watering chocolate cake. With cupcake fever still raging from last year, the brightly coloured cakes in a cup are also a fast moving goodie, we are told.

From the cold beverages, the coffee’s are a must try here. Made from the popular Italian brand ‘illy’ the coffee here is what a coffee should be – strong, smooth, and rich in flavour, colour and aroma. It does not take long for the little eatery to be filled with the powerful whiff of good coffee.

One will easily feel hypnotised by the tastes, flavours and colours at D’s. Though small in size, the café holds a seating capacity of 16 to 20 persons at a time.

“D’Cafe is an experiment for us as an agency so we’re trying out lots of new things!” says the cafe’s publicist Alena Drdlova.

 The café and shop is a venture by MarCom agency The 7th Frontier which has been created to support the agency’s internationally-acclaimed CSR initiative. D’ Café and D’ Divas acts as funding arms for the Agency’s efforts at rural development through ‘KumbukRiver’ which is an eco lodge set up in Okkampitiya, Buttala.

Under the KumbukRiver project, the Agency has transformed a sleepy village in the rural sector of the country to an eco lodge project that provides employment to the youth in the community. The lodge was nominated for the fifth consecutive time for the World Travel Awards last year in the category of world’s leading eco-lodge.

In 2008, KumbukRiver bagged the coveted Oscar becoming the only Sri Lankan tourism brand to win the world’s best. The Café plays its part in the initiative as a funding body for KumbukRiver.

“D’Cafe’s look and feel captures the ambience of popular Italian roadside cafes,” she said. “D’s has that indefinable homely touch to it that customers really like, in terms of atmosphere as well as food.” Walking in to the warmly-lit shop with its friendly yellow walls dotted with a pencil sketch montage of Sri Lankan heritage spots and low jazz music playing in the background, one could easily understand why that is.

Drdlova noted that a special promo is up for grabs this month at the Café. “We’re offering a promotion on one of our best dishes during the month of January. Customers now get D’s home-baked scrumptiously creamy English Cream Chicken Pie, with a side serving of garlic bread and two refreshing juices, for just Rs. 1300. The meal which is usually priced at Rs. 1850 is generally perfect for two people but the friendly gang at D’s insist that if you’re feeling like more, they’d be more than happy to comply.”

Though the operations only just begun earlier this month, the response has been great,” she said. And with more promos, new dishes and flavours all lined up to be introduced at regular intervals, things will only get better, she noted.

D’Cafe is open from 7.30a.m. to 11p.m. and can be contacted on 011-2665332 or found on Facebook.

Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera