Chamiers
I went over to Chamiers for a cup of cappuccino. Unfortunately, I forgot both my camera and my sketchbook, so I bring you this image from the back of a napkin.
Chamiers is an art deco-ish bungalow from the 1950’s on Chamiers Road, which has been repurposed as a shop, with a little garden café attached. The shop has vegetable-dyed cotton clothing for women, and a variety of handmade things – I tend to get too attracted to the hand-bound books, for example.
I sat in the café, in shade which still felt cool in spite of the heat. Chamiers Road has become busy in the last few years; but the garden is set back enough from the road that it was surprisingly quiet. There are small tables on the veranda; in the open air at the side of the house; and under an arched canopy in back. They have good cappuccino / espresso; quesadillas and such; pasta; and sandwiches, all of which are pleasant enough, when you want to eat something western without going to a five-star hotel.
I drank my coffee, ate my sandwich (egg with dill cream), drew my sketch, in great peace and relative silence, and departed as if from a small oasis, back to the bustling world.
Is this the same coffee place, a few 100 meters from Park Sheraton, that you are talking about?
Here goes another name for this place. We’ve known it in the past as Eco-Cafe and Anokhi. It is indeed a nice place to go to after a day’s work.
You have described the experience well. Are you talking about Anokhi? I go there sometimes too!
Yes, it’s a funny system: Chamiers refers to the complex, inside of which are Anokhi and the Eco Cafe. I think that’s because Anokhi had already existed in another location, and the Eco Cafe was already part of Amethyst. Chamiers is partly owned by Kiran Rao, the owner of Amethyst…