Pune on my plate: How a cafe is playing with time, space and delicious food | Pune News
In abandoned mansions, time performs a languid dance of decay and overgrowth. As the walls of human endeavour crumble, nature sends in roots, shoots, creepers and bright sunlight. British-Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid has said in a book, “The ruins proclaim the building was beautiful”. Arrange a few tables and chairs in the shambles, put up a bar and a coffee machine and you would have the future and the past greeting each other over a meal. That a cafe in Pune has recreated the atmosphere is homage to the power of nostalgia in a city where old landscapes are custodians of memories. For two years, Cafe Lento, located in a modern block in Koregaon Park, was a work in progress as it acquired its chic dilapidated burnish look, antithetical to the modern cafes with their clean lines and minimalist, almost functional, decor. Like a genteel establishment from an old era, Cafe Lento doesn’t announce itself loudly. It is quite difficult to spot if you are walking or driving around without looking for it. Yet, it …
