A friend of us sent us a social media post this morning. It said that Salt Water Cafe in Bandra, is closing down. The news was too difficult to process.
It seemed like just the other day when K & I first went there. We ordered the cheese and charcuterie boards at Salt Water Cafe and fell in love with the place. That was 15 years back when they had just opened.
It became our regular haunt since then. For breakfast in particular. K would go for the runny scrambled eggs. Eggs Benedict for me. We would sit and enjoy our meal, watching the world pass by.
This was literally, so as we would sit in the booths by the window and look across to see what was happening.
These were the only seats to have a backrest.
The staff had become like family for us. They knew of my weak back and would ensure that the two of us would get one of the window side booth, even though they were meant for six.
We had our favourites among the mains. The John Dory. An evergreen favourite. I love the lamb burger. The liver parfait. The seared chicken leg. The wild mushroom risotto. The many additions to the menu that they would have and which we had tried out and enjoyed.
It’s a place where we would brings guests. Friends, the really close ones. Family (my mum loves the place). Friends who lived abroad and was dropping in town. A place where I had business meetings. Happy ones.
There was never a time when I took a person there and who left Salt Water Cafe without becoming a convert.
We will miss you, Salt Water Cafe.
‘You have not seen the last of us,’ says Riyaaz Amlani who owns the brand.
I hope he is right.