Saturday, April 11, 2009

Bait el Gahwa





A traditional house restored tucked away in Muharraq, through narrow winding lanes next to the Kurar House and one of the latest from the series of projects by Sh. Ebrahim bin Mohammed Centre for Culture and Research, headed by Sha. Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa. Its Bait el Gahwa otherwise known as the House of Coffee. Walking through the lanes in the cool air (yes its cool here), the scent of coffee lingering and the Bahraini rich cultural presence welcomes us with open arms again with this recent opening. Its always a rich cultural delight when going to these places!

Bait el Gahwa is a recently opened cafe, a great place to unwind after some sight-seeing around the freej (neighborhood). They serve traditional Arabic coffee and other varieties such as nespresso to suit modern tastes. The interior is light and modern designed by Bahrain Interior Designer, Ammar Basheir, of MelaBlu Interiors.

"I love Muharraq's traditional architecture, and when designing the House of Coffee, respected this while bringing in modern design, so there's a juxtaposition of old and new and an element of surprise when you enter through a small wooden, traditional Bahraini door. Inside, the lines of the space reflect the patterns of the coffee leaf, as well as the shapes made by grounds in the bottom of a cup. We've mixed coffee essence into the paint on the walls and integrated coffee beans into the floors, so that the whole space speaks the international language of coffee, uniting people from all over the world." exclaims Ammar.


Credits: Time Out Bahrain, Sh. Ebrahim bin Mohammed Centre for Culture and Research, two photos me .

1 comment:

Hala said...

oooh they opened it..!! when I went they were still working on it.. I need to revisit..