Being A Hospitality Entrepreneur In Bucharest Lockdown

As a former flight attendant, my dream was to settle down at some point and return to my hometown Bucharest and open a cozy place, like the ones in cities like Melbourne, LA or Berlin, where I have spent most of my layover time.

HERE’S TO NEW BEGINNINGS

Fast forward to a  few years later, after moving back home this plan started taking shape by finding the perfect central, yet somehow hidden location for my first coffee shop, Alef Espresso Bar.

I’d lie if I would say that I knew what I was getting myself into. Since opening in 2018, I’ve learned a lot, not only about managing a business but also about understanding people, their needs, and what keeps them coming back to the same place. Owning and actually working behind the espresso machine, made me interact with the growing community, turning this little space into a hub, where all the cool and artsy people would come, enjoy a drink but also use the coffee shop walls to exhibit their work.

Almost 2 years later, after a lot of work, and an amazing team, the thought of a new place was crossing my mind. I wanted a bigger place, because me and my friend and business partner, Catalin, were thinking about going further with the idea of a hub, something that could bring drinks, coffee, food, records, and a microcinema together.

We found the perfect place just in time for the new year. Between new year’s resolutions, creating an identity, a rebranding and a time of uncertainty worldwide Miss Alé Central Culture  was born. We officially opened 3 weeks before the full lockdown started. Excited and proud of my new place, this velvet dream with Ana Banica’s art one the main wall and all the beginning hype, I didn’t fully realize what was going on outside of my bubble but somehow I started feeling scared and saw that also in our guests.

THE NEW NORMAL

Understanding the circumstances, we closed both places one week before the full lockdown started thinking about the safety of our employees and community.

Seeing myself at home 24/7, my life completely and undefinedly changed got me at a low point. At first, I started cooking, baking, reading and everything you see on Instagram feeds lately, but then anxiety kicked in. For the first few weeks, we delivered coffee and sweets with the girls from Tartelicious but somehow everything felt surreal.

I was worried about my team and community, about how after this everything will change so I started thinking about what can I do in a time when nothing seemed to work on or offline. I realised first of all how much I love what I do, that not even a pandemic could change that, so during this time I wanted to send the same message, that of new beginnings, hope, and the fact that no one is alone in this.

USING CREATIVITY AS A FORCE

We’ve teamed up with local artist Alexandru Purcarea to create a series of illustrations inspired by the coffee shop, to bring it somehow home for our community. Also during this time, we started making plans about the future, once everything will be a little normal; we started working on a summer menu, and the main focus, the kitchen and the food we will be serving. Having all this time to think got us really creative with the food menu, something I cannot wait to share once this is over. We planned all our regular events but assuring a safe environment for guests and our staff.

The microcinema, the last piece of the central culture also started taking a final form. Designed as a small hub for cinema lovers, that will host the latest releases, the classics, and also events.
The perks of not being in a rush was that no detail was overseen, and everything was obviously adapted to this new normal.

In my opinion, hospitality as we know it will be changed, at least for a while, but that’s not a bad thing. At the moment everyone is missing human contact one way or another. So after this, although we will still have to keep the distance somehow, we will get closer in other ways and maybe be more empathetic towards each other. 

A coffee run, brunch at your favorite place, a glass of wine on a hot summer night, going to a music festival with your friends will be things not taken for granted anymore.

Links to follow:
instagram.com/missaleespresso
instagram.com/missalecentralculture

Words by correspondent Alexandra Gaisteanu