Café culture a whiff of fresh air for Delhi’s Najafgarh

A café culture is brewing in Najafgarh, with several trendy cafes and restaurants coming up in the past two years of the pandemic.

When Poonam Gahlot decided to open a café in Najafgarh last year, she was told she may not find many patrons for the high-end café she had in mind. But she ignored the warning and opened Café Cassino, a European-style café with trendy interiors, anyway.

Even as the pandemic put paid to several eateries across the city, Najafgarh drifted towards European-style cafés. (HT Photo)

Seven months on, she says she has not regretted the decision. “There were times when a few rough-looking people walked in, but they had their coffee and never misbehaved. We were told that shopkeepers here had to pay protection money, but so far we have not faced any such problem,” says Gahlot, tidying up her cafe, which is surrounded by white walls and decorated with brown hardwood furniture. “The soothing ambience probably has a calming effect on people who come here,” she says.

It is a rainy evening and the café, which offers a range of pizzas, pasta, bread, and different varieties of coffee, rings with the laughter of a group of youngsters from the nearby village. Gahlot says her customers tend to surprise her. “Recently a middle-aged farmer from a nearby village asked for Americano, and stumped us with his knowledge of different varieties of coffee. Among our regulars is an elderly village woman who loves our coffee latte. Our café has become a community space and is bringing change in social attitudes here.”

A café culture is brewing in Najafgarh, with several trendy cafes and restaurants coming up in the area over the past two years during the pandemic--when a lot of cafes elsewhere in the city shut shop. Started by local youngsters, some of these cafes and restaurants are curiously named--Foodie Gangster, Urban Village Café, Café Cassino.

About 2km from Café Cassino is Urban Village Café, a trendy café in Mitraon village, notorious for bloody gang wars in which scores of people died over the years. But Vijay Gahlot, a local who started the cafe in August 2020, insists things have changed, and his café is a local favourite.

“Young people here are educated and aspirational, and a lot of them come here for conversations over coffee and tea,” says a beaming Gahlot. “In fact, 80% of my customers are from our village as well as nearby villages, who come here with friends and family. Even young girls drive their cars and scooters to our café by themselves--a reflection of changing social norms here. I called my cafe Urban Village Café as our village combines the aspirations of the city and the social values of a village,” he says.

Amit Thakur, the owner of Foodie Gangster, however, says he wanted to cash in on what he calls the “reputation” of the Najafgarh as the “home of top gangsters of Delhi”. “It ensured that my business took off immediately. A lot of people are attracted just to the name,” says Thakur, who opened the café earlier this month.

The logo of the café, which offers Chinese cuisine, displays a skeleton in a chef’s hat holding a big knife in one hand and a fork in the other. Most of his customers, Thakur says, are students preparing for competitive exams in the many coaching institutes in the area. The café, Thakur adds, has created a new space for young men and women to socialise, ushering in a whole new youth culture in Najafgarh.

Nitesh Baliyan, 22, a regular at Foodie Gangster, nods in agreement. “Youngsters in villages here like to hang out in cafés and not at the village chaupals,” he says.

It is afternoon and The Dining House, another new restaurant on Thana Road, which many locals call Najafgarh’s Khan Market, is occupied by many couples. “ Most of them are from villages and their families know that they hang out together at cafes, and are cool about it,” says Rishi Dabas, who started the cafe in December 2020. Many of these cafes are crowded until 11pm.

Agrees Preeti Sangwan , 18, who is training at a local boxing academy and is a regular at Najafgarh’s new cafes. “Young women here have more freedom than people in Delhi may believe. So many of them are getting into different sports and they often hang out with their friends at these cafes till late in the evening. And they feel completely safe,” she says.

While Dabas says that a lot of families in Najafgarh and nearby villages have started dining out, they are price-sensitive and do not like to try out the many options on his menu. “While youngsters are experimental with food, most middle-aged people stick to the basics – shahi paneer and roti-- and are hardly interested in browsing through the menu. And most demand deep discounts, which I cannot give, ” says Dabas.

But Poonam Gahlot of Café Cassino says that the only demand her patrons make is that she changes the music from western to Haryanvi pop. “While that kind of music does not go well with our ambience, it is a small concession to make for the support we have got for our café in Najafgarh,” she says.