Lucknow: The tropical aroma of ‘coffea’ (the plant which bears the coffee seed) seems to be blending well with the poise Lucknow’s culture is known for. The city has seen a notable increase in the number of coffee shops and lounges in the past couple of years, says statistic with UP Hotels And Restaurants Association.
Their estimates show there are more than 100 reasonably good coffee shops/joints/lounges doing fair business as of now. The fact that “almost a third of these units have come up in the past two years” establishes the trend further.
Endorsing the trend, Prateek Hira of Indian Association of Tour Operators said, “Take a visit to Gomtinagar… a coffee shop serving more than espresso can be seen every 10 meters and each one is doing substantial business.”
One of the first in the city to open a coffee shop in year 2,000, Puja Vaid confirmed that Lucknow’s love for coffee has evolved over the decade. “When we opened, we were forced to customise the cappuccino as people wanted a milk-dominated mild coffee while vending machine espresso was the point of comparison. But now, people know that cafe latte would be mild while real espresso is actually a thick black coffee served in a small cup,” she said.