La Bodega's Belle Epoque Home

Exploring the Baehler's Mansions

The setting for both the Bistro and Aperitivo are the beautiful red-brick Baehler Mansions. Although their once striking interiors are now lost in the maze of Cairo's buildings, these mansions were the starting developments for modern Zamalek and represent the empire of one of Egypt's most prominent foreign businessmen.

The early 1860s, the island of Zamalek was simply a large park, famous for its exotic collections of plants brought from around the world. As part of the fanfare that marked the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it welcomed its first residents at the Gezira Palace, a quickly-constructed guesthouse made to welcome visiting dignitaries for the opening of the canal. After the celebrations died down, the area continued to develop, but only slowly. The Gezira Club was founded in 1882 as Egypt's first sporting club, and the Fish Grotto was established at around the same time. The royal family, who had fallen on hard times after significant debt problems with the canal's construction, decided to sell the palace, at first to a Greek Basha who turned it into a hotel, and then eventually to Swiss entrepreneur Charles Baehler.

Baehler, an accountant by education, started as a junior employee in Egypt in 1889 with the Shepard, and within a few years became the general manager of the Egyptian Hotels Company, at the time the largest hotel group south of the Mediterranean and at the head of an empire that included most of the major properties in the country, and would even expand in the 30s to the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

To expand his empire and take advantage of Cairo's Western expansions, Baeher founded one of the first urban development companies in Zamalek, believing that the neighborhood could be a future business district. Taking a piece of the garden of his newly-acquired palace, Baehler contracted the construction of Alex Skynder, son of the renowned palace designer Antonio Lasciac.

Since their construction, the interiors have become some of the most well-recognized of Cairo's Belle Epoque architecture, with the detailed wrought-iron elevator shafts, cool marble work, and their uniquely large foyers.

Steeped in history, the Baeher Mansions today call a number of Egyptian institutions home, including La Bodega. It is through the historical significance of the Baeher Mansions, as well as the eclectic neighborhood of Zamalek as a whole, that we derive an essential part of the spirit of La Bodega.

Eat Parmesan Love

When you’re born into an Italian family, it seems almost cliché to be taught by your mother and grandmother how to cook but good thing the world can count on this one clichéd reality.

Also, a city without a good Italian kitchen might as well be taken off the world’s map.

Chef Giovanni Romagnoli is all smiles as he prepares a few surprises for Aperitivo diners

We’re glad to have lured Giovanni Romagnoli to Cairo to take over as Executive Chef at Aperitivo. An Italian born in Naples who has picked up a good thing or two from the matriarchs of the family and a few night courses he took in pizza making, he’s set to lead Aperitivo forward with several new menus and happenings in the restaurant.

Night time was all Romagnoli once had to learn the art of pizza making, during the day, Romagnoli was a computer programmer who simply “had a passion for cooking” present from an early age.

So important is pizza to the Italians, and so much an art and precise science, degrees requiring an almost scholarly study approach to the matter is necessary to receive an official stamped certificate to allow you to set up shop as a pizza maker. Romagnoli traveled all over Italy for months, visiting with different chefs to discover and sample the varieties of pizza possible to make.

Romangnoli, nicknamed Nanni by friends from a young age, quit his job and moved to Hurghada eleven years ago, setting up his restaurant “Da Nanni …non solo Pizza” (In the house of Nanni, not only pizza).

At Aperitivo, he’ll be focusing on Italy’s richer dishes which he’s now introducing to patrons. Truffle oil and porcini mushrooms, lobster and caviar but also more modest ingredients so typically southern will star in some of his dishes so as to introduce the immense variety found in Italian cuisine to Aperitivo regulars.

A caprese dello cheve with tomato confit, mussels with white wine and generous garnishes of black pepper, a pasta typical of southern pasta from the Amalfi coast with pecorino cheese, and a sea bass with cherry tomatoes in a white wine and olive oil are dishes he’s cooked up when he first took over the Aperitivo kitchen.

The epicurean surprises will be constant as he works on developing Aperitivo’s new menu which will be unveiled later on in the year.

Picking Produce at Makar Farms

Great meals come from great ingredients, grown and cared for with an attention to detail and love that gives food an extra feeling that comes from the heart. Out on the Sakkara Road a couple of kilometers after Shabramout and in the shadow of the step pyramid of Zoser lies Makar Farms, a 100 acre establishment that uses a combination of traditional Egyptian methods as well as modern hydroponic technology to create a wide range of natural international produce.

Cherry tomatoes are carefully grown in a green house

Mounir Makar on his farm in Sakkara

Back in the 1930s, the Minister of Agriculture published a comprehensive guide to farming in Egypt. In it, he listed exactly what could and could not grow in the country based on the soil conditions, intense sun, hot temperatures, and water quality. Agricultural adventurer and heir of the Makar family farm Georges Makar saw this as a challenge and decided to start bringing in seeds from abroad to grow European fruits and vegetables under the heat of the Egyptian sun. Almost 20 years later, the project has been taken over by Georges's son Mounir and has continued to be a success, with Makar the sole provider of many rare and new products to Egypt including lemongrass, leeks, multiple varieties of tomatoes, mustard, and more.

It's a never-ending experiment, with Mounir promising every year to try out a new species and has proven to be a challenge, requiring adjustments in the quality of water and the building of large air-conditioned greenhouses to make sure the vegetables and fruits feel right at home. To learn the secrets of their prized possessions the white and red endive, however, Mounir needed a little bit of adventure.

Endives are grown only in extremely moist environments, specifically Holland. After weeks of communication with one of the country's largest growers, Mounir made the long journey into the countryside to meet and view the complex growing and refrigeration systems. Upon arrival, the owners were friendly enough, but when it came time for the tour, they informed him that the power had mysteriously been cut off. Now, if this encounter had occurred in Egypt he might not have been so suspicious, but this was a little too much. He was able to get a tour of the facility in the dark, and by judging the temperature and the sound of the water drips, Mounir soaked up enough information to create his own design for the massive refrigerator units that are used to grow their delicious endives.

Next time you're looking for that something special to eat or to add a European kick to your home-cooked meals, try some of the fresh produce used in dishes at La Bodega as well as five-star hotels around the country.

Check it out:

www.makarfarms.com

Christmas at La Bodega's Bistro

Now a yearly tradition at La Bodega, children of La Bodega's patrons were invited for an afternoon of Christmas cookie decorating at the Bistro's lounge. The children were absolutely delighted to be running around and taking over what is very much the adults' hang out spot.

Though some of the guests approached the project with absolute studiousness working quietly on tree shaped cookies expressing their creative sides with sprinkles, others enjoyed making massive dough balls unsuitable for baking.

After some time decorating cookies, Santa arrived bearing gifts for every good boy and girl.

One of the young guests exclaimed to one of the mothers "He's a fake!" and although we tried to reassure her that in fact, he was the real mccoy, we suppose it came across that our maitre d Mohamed feels more comfortable taking care of guests than playing dress up.

La Fete on La bodega’s walls : Laurent Garosi creates a French Festival with the stroke of his brush

Laurent Garosi, artist, painter and Cairo lover decided to use his palette to bring the walls at La Bodega’s Bistro to life. With a touch of humor and a stroke of the brush, Laurent renovates the extension at Cairo’s most sophisticated neighborhood restaurant. On the 10^th year anniversary of La Bodega, the aim was to completely remake this space that has continued to consistently upgrade itself. Blending art and dining, La Bodega depends on the most talented of artists to create their commissioned work and in this case it was up to Laurent to revision the ten year old landmark.

Laurent Garosi speaks to the La Bodega blog

Inspired by the many fun time at La Bodega, Laurent, a regular, now wearing the painter’s beret, wanted to create art that was light and humorous. He aimed to tell a funny story, more like a joke, that made people laugh but with in the most professionally artistic manner. A very serious classy French joke on the wall. “La Bodega’s owners knew that they wanted, a French theme to go with the Bistro” Laurent recalls. “After a few meetings with the owners and showing them samples of my work, we were all on the same page and I could envision the new walls”. Laurent had been living and working in Egypt, which he moved to after falling in love with its oriental charm. He was now a regular of La Bodega. This artist felt he was perfect for the job, after all he was French, a La Bodega lover and a painter. It didn’t get much better than that.

Excited Laurent says in a very French accent “there is no other place in Egypt that carefully integrates art and dining together. La Bodega creates a “quality of space” and I wanted to be part of creating this complete dining experience.” Laurant adds “La Bodega is just beautifully designed with the rest of the restaurant success elements like the food and service complementing. You can feel quality in every aspect of the space.”

Laurent was inspired in this authentic 1929 built apartment in Zamelak, home of La Bodega. “My philosophy was to create a fete”, a dynamic French festival in multi color, with emotions popping out of the walls. A combination of the Moulin Rouge and French girls dancing the Cancan, but with a funny twist and a touch of romance”. Laurent works mainly with oil, acrylic paint and varnish. He creates pieces of art on walls and ceilings, giving classic, modern and metallic effects to whatever he paints. At La bodega he has transformed 6 walls and a large authentic mirror. The result was this French “fete” that is now the renovated Lounge at La Bodega’s Bistro.

To know more about Laurent's work, please visit: http://www.laurentgarosi.com/

Expatriate Nexus with a View on the Nile. By Hugh Miles, author of 'Playing Cards in Cairo'

Located at the heart of Zamalek, La Bodega is Cairo’s lounge bar supreme, the expatriate nexus with a view of the Nile and when I was writing my second book, Playing Cards in Cairo, it sucked me in like a vortex. This is where all the expats came to hang out, unwind, dine and dance. Every night is different, you never know who you are going to run into there, but it’s always memorable. I highly recommend La Bodega to visiting friends and I included it in my list of favourite spots for the My Kind of Town column in the Daily Telegraph: http://bit.ly/ho1at9

Hugh Miles, Journalist & Writer

This stylish oasis is the perfect antidote to a hard day working or visiting the tourist sites in a chaotic and teeming city.

Hugh Miles

Hugh Miles is an award-winning journalist and writer. For more information about him, please visit: www.hughmiles.com

Mira Shihadeh, artist, tells La Bodega about the fun she had creating the murals in the Bistro!

If you’re an artist you’ll know that some projects are closer to your heart than others and that some pieces are just more fun to create. My work creating the Murals in La Bodega’s Bistro, when the restaurant first opened ten years ago, has been a highlight of my artistic career and certainly some of the most fun I’ve had!

Recognise this? One of Mira's early murals in La Bodega that no longer exists!

I’m an American born Palestinian and had just moved back from New York around the time La Bodega opened. I am more a whimsical drawer than a painter, of anything figurative, from paper to stone carving. When the owners of La Bodega approached me, I really felt inspired. They knew exactly what they wanted: a creative use of the pillars and walls in the main dining room of The Bistro. Specifically, they had in mind a piece of art that blended with the walls of the restaurant and with the buzzing dinner crowd. Everything else they left up to me. They believed in my artistic capabilities, trusted my artistic sense and gave me the space to unleash my creativity. I really felt I was part of the new and exciting La Bodega project, where everything – from the restaurant concept to the art – was being tried for the very first time. It was enthralling.

I decided that murals it would be and set about working at once! I first made a paper cut out of how I envisioned the murals to be. Then, three weeks later my work at La Bodega was complete. The whole experience had great memories. I recall that award winning Egyptian Director Yussef Chahine was filming one of his movies at La Bodega and that they had set up a dressing room in one of the rooms I was creating my art in. Even world famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin complimented me on the shoes that graced the ladies’ feet in the mural…that meant a lot to me!

Mira Shihadeh, Artist

To me, a mural, drawing or sculpture is a story. In the case of La Bodega, it was very important for me to engage people: after all, the murals would be occupying, and interacting with, a very public space. I wanted there to always be a story for groups to point at and talk about, and for those dining alone to be entertained by. I personally like to create figurative art involving crowds and people. In the case of La Bodega, I set to create a parody. A snap shot of what happens in real life, capturing the emotions, stares and gestures involved.

I have studied psychology and also teach yoga. So, in this piece I wanted to combine all that with art to create a piece that expresses “life”. I wanted it to be lively, just like La Bodega is a place for friends and family to gather and celebrate different occasions in life. I wanted my piece to be loud without speaking, to be dynamic without it necessarily moving. This is exactly what you find when you go into La Bodega’s Bistro. I am very proud that I contributed to this great place and definitely remember my work there as the most fun I had as an artist.


Mira Shihadeh
Artist

To see Mira Shihadeh’s work visit: https://www.mirashiha.com/

My La Bodega! By Martin Brown, Mosaic Artist

I was so excited to be contacted by La Bodega to create the mosaics for their new sister bar Aperitivo. The brief itself was so precise and intriguing: “Reflect the spirit of Cairo's Golden Age and capture the zeitgeist of Paris on the Nile epoch.”

Aperitivo's famous mosaics in 'the making', by Martin Brown

Throughout the process, we went through a number of different versions from rough sketches to more detailed drawings. Finally, we reached the finished concept, based on vintage cocktail posters and advertising from this historical era.

The material I use is principally colored glass, cut by hand from large sheets into a variety of shapes. Squares, triangles, through to large flower shapes...I can put together pretty much anything, using our modern canvas of large jigsaw-shaped pieces of marine plywood. With the shaped glass, I have created small home pieces such as tables and mirrors through to much larger projects for hotels and restaurants. This is a centuries-old craft, but I love the fact that we can play with it, adapting it in a different way to create something contemporary.

Using the mosaic medium gives a sense of vitality to the bar, and lets people enjoy a taste of the movement and spirit of this particular era. We intentionally used varying sizes for each piece of the mural, using everything from larger chunks to miniscule fragments. Look closely, and you can feel the richness in the details.

Martin Brown, Mosaic Artist

Altogether, the two wall pieces took about six weeks to create. They were then all boxed up and set to fly with me to Egypt, that mythical land that I had first visited back in 1984. For three days, the mosaics were “lost in space,” causing us all to worry like crazy. Finally, they arrived; the boxes completely destroyed but thankfully the work survived and suffered no damage.

The construction of Aperitivo was delayed when the pieces arrived, and it gave me the opportunity to visit and discover Cairo and Egypt anew. I explored the vibrant city and the richness of its Pharaonic past, as well as enjoyed a spell-binding cruise on the Nile. The warmth and kindness of the people really touched me the most though, and it something that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Now that I have seen the mosaics in their full display and beauty, I can say that with its stunning combination of art pieces, great lighting and interiors, Aperitivo is a must-see venue for Cairenes and visitors to Egypt alike. I can't wait to come back to Cairo to enjoy an evening at Aperitivo and hope that it will come sooner rather than later!

Martin Brown

Mosaic Artist

Check it out: www.martinbrownart.com

His beautiful May collection of mosaic-themed furniture: http://www.martinbrownart.com/Martin_Brown_Art/may_2010_collection.html

La Bodega: A True Classic in an Age of Cheap Knockoffs. By Hind Wassef, Diwan Bookstore Co-founder

This year La Bodega turns ten years old. My first instinct is to rush into ‘my bodega’ and crack something open to come to terms with the fact that, yes, I’m getting old. After the initial wave of panic, I start to contemplate, brood, and meander down memory lane.

At the same time as La Bodega was being created, I, along with my sister and three partners, were setting up a new business too: Diwan, was conceived of as a neighbourhood bookstore, and like La Bodega, it sought to reinvent the consumer experience that had, up till then, prevailed in Cairo. It combined an unprecedented variety of books and other products with unique surroundings, and even a little coffee shop!

For me, that early time was one of entrepreneurial innocence full of youthful vivacity, optimism, and the big C: creativity. Allow me to relive the excitement of that moment (yes, with unashamed nostalgia): no task was too daunting, no concept too novel, everything deserved a chance and before you asked the question, the answer was, “yes we can.”

Hind Wassef, Co-founder - Diwan Bookstore

(photo courtesy of Enigma Magazine)

The market was full of infinite possibilities. There was a hunger for new concepts, places to experience—they inspired me; I fueled them with praise. La Bodega filled a void and Cairenes embraced it with undisguised delight. It was experimental, unabashedly toying with its identity and above all it had unmistakable character. It hosted art exhibitions, commissioned artists to do installations and murals used in its interior, had its own CD, “La Bodega Lounge,” and even welcomed Ilham al-Madfa’I, Iraqi singer and guitar player who revives old Arabic love songs with a twist of Spanish guitar. It repainted the façade of its host building, the Baehler Mansions, thus redefining the profile of the entrepreneur as socially responsible. In short it pioneered in everything it did.

The inspiration was contagious. Today, Cairo has become crowded and not just with traffic. Lounges, bars, cafés, restaurants, brands, chains. Have we reached saturation point? Are we unknowingly afflicted with retail fatigue?

It takes a lot to please us now. It also takes a lot more money to build anything. If the number of zeros in your plan is less than 7, you know that your listener is tapping his feet to Shania Twain’s “that don’t impress me much.” Consequently there is more to lose. The game has become more serious but less fun.
In the midst of all this La Bodega continues to shine. The blood and sweat of its creators still runs through its veins infusing it with creativity and individualism. Only ten years old, it is already drenched in history and has a memory for each one of us. It is a true classic in an age of cheap knock offs.

Hind Wassef
Co-founder, Diwan Bookstore
www.diwanegypt.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diwan-Bookstore/105024246196742?ref=ts

Ordinary Girl to Extraordinary Woman! By Amy Mowafi, Writer

It’s the whimsy and charm of colonial fantasy - the bird-cage ascenseur, the syrupy sensuality of its wood-panelled bar, the soaring Zamalek ceilings - secret havens for the shadows of the past. Like a soft-focus sepia-toned photograph made reality. It’s a corner table, wine and whispered conversation. Those are the evenings when I love La Bodega most. When – unlike the multitude of other Cairene haute spots that jostle for attention in an increasingly Westernised landscape – La Bodega is serene and stoic and has little desire to impress. Those muggy Cairo nights when it feels like the setting for an epic and exotic romantic saga set against the backdrop of some war laced with dazzlingly dangerous liaisons; as if one had sashayed in straight after drinks on the terrace of The Shepheard. An old-soul in a young establishment.

And yet there have also been nights, when I have perched on a battered-leather bar stool and watched with amusement as La Bodega has nonchalantly bent to the will of the achingly hip; speaking easily to a clientele for whom cool is the lingua franca. It sizzles and sparkles, and does what a cosmopolitan hot spot is supposed to do. But it does so with a sense – one senses – of irony. As if humouring these gorgeous young things that flitter and flirt through its sumptuous spaces, all the while keeping a protective watch over the city’s languid literati, with their talk of art and books and culture and Cairo; the powerful men in loosened ties brokering big deals amongst the pretty things; the wide-eyed foreigners with their fantasies of La Belle Époque. All loyal, all loving La Bodega with none of the flighty fickleness for which the Cairo crowds are so renowned.

Amy Mowafi

I came to Cairo nearly 10 years ago with exotic dreams of love and adventure bred of literature and grainy black and white movies and an over-active imagination. And La Bodega – fatefully located in the Baehler building right by my office – indulged me. It set the scene for those early trysts with men who spoke of things I didn’t understand. Because those worldly smooth operators your mother warned you about always invited you to dinner at La Bodega. And for a few hours, that space seemed to have the power to transform an ordinary girl into an extraordinary woman.

Later on, La Bodega’s cool rooms would envelope and inspire me on those hot summer weekend afternoons when the city had emptied out. I’d sit alone in the alcove, lean against that beautiful bay window, notebook in hand and work on the column that would one day unwittingly turn into a best-selling book.

And as I grew confident of my place in this city, learning to negotiate its harsher realities with my youthful daydreams, La Bodega played host to my after-hours adventures with the friends and acquaintances I had somehow amassed. Smart, fun, daring and flirtatious, a motley crew of characters for whom La Bodega was the only place to share a laughter-fuelled nightcap.

Finally, on the eve of La Bodega’s 10th year anniversary, and my own nearly-decade in the city, La Bodega would gather all my girlfriends, some from Cairo, and many having flown in especially for the occasion. They would pile onto the sprawling sofa at the back of the lush private lounge and they would toast my upcoming marriage; my last days as a single woman in the city that had transformed me. And - though they may not have realised it - they would so in the very space that had allowed me to realise my ultimate fantasy… to become a woman of Cairo.

So here’s to 10 years of love, adventure and La Bodega…

Amy Mowafi
Writer & Managing Editor for Enigma Magazine

http://amymowafi.com/

http://www.enigma-mag.com/