Mix of Euro, Med, American and Lankan

Demi HEWAMANNA

Whenever something new comes up…most people would say, ‘oh it must be expensive…ahh not my style…oh another one opens up” and more. But then there are others who want to try something new and who pass on their likes and dislikes to their friends.

And I (who loves to try out new places) do the same by recommending a place and always keeping space for their comments. These days, the most talked about place is the Fort Dutch Hospital which was opened to the public last year. The place was something truly out of the ordinary and really grabbed everyone’s attention in one go.

Among the many places of interesting shops and restaurants there is one place that many do like to go and hang out casually. This place is the latest family member to be added to Harpo’s Cafes and Restaurants and is called Harpo’s Colombo Fort Café.

Sticking to the Dutch atmosphere the new café is set up with an open kitchen, yellowish orange walls and wooden furniture giving one a typical beachy/pubby and touch of Italian atmosphere and outlook. One unique thing about the café is that it’s open for anyone – be it family, friends or just a single person and a person who is on their own won’t feel alone at all. The open kitchen area is also set out like a bar area with stools for a person to sit and interact with the chefs as he prepares your meal.

“This place attracts tourists and locals, office crews, hotel guests and others,” Group PR Dharshini said. It’s been three month since its opening and we have many people coming in such as from groups from offices. We have take away and we also do to delivery for the places in the vicinity, she added.

Colombo Fort Cafe Chef

Alec explaining what goes on inside the Fort Cafe

“Our first promotion is the Mexican Fiesta that is going on till March 15. Some of the items on the Mexican menu are Fajitas, Taco’s, Nachos, Burritos and Devilled baked crab. It is usually we take something off the menu and emphasis on it,” Dharshini added.

The newest member also to come in and join Harpo’s Colombo Fort café is the Director Operations – Alec van Cuylenburg. Yes he is Sri Lankan and a product of S’Thomas College who returned from the States last year.

“I came from the States after been there for 12 years. I got to know Harpo through friends and he gave me the task to bring out something good with this place with all the experience I had”, Alec said. “I have been in the travel trade and I worked my way through everything by learning things from many people,” he added.

Even though he works behind the counter and along with the chefs…he stresses on the fact that he is not a chef until someone who really knows his cooking tells him that he is a chef after tasting his dishes. I’m not a google chef but with the technology developed everything is there on the internet. With the internet you can take 5 different recipes and bring it down to one great dish. And some of the recipes you find are hand me downs and recipes that have been very closely guarded family recipes. I’m just a guy who loves to cook and feed people. I like to see from the moment the plate leaves the kitchen and is served to the customer and takes the first bite the reaction on his face as the flavours mix in the mouth. I believe that one should never put a product on the table that they themselves would not eat.

“I’m like a sponge. I’m curious to know something and figure out a way to make it mine,” he says.

Speaking on the Café, he says that it is a fusion restaurant. And today many people do not know what it means to be a fusion restaurant.

We go on European with a touch of Mediterranean theme basics with tapas and small menus. In this time, people can actually afford to go out and eat and more and more people are going out to eat. Nowadays both husband and wife do jobs and when they come home they don’t have time to cook and what they do is buy from out or eat out.

I used to work three jobs – wash cars, go to school, be a waiter and I always used to play around with the schedule and earning good tips at the end of the night. I got only four hours of sleep and sometimes you get so used to it that it becomes your routine and even now I can’t sleep till after 2.30 in the morning.

My first job was at a place called Uncle Al’s seafood restaurant, then it was the Colonial in Long Beach California and then went on to a bar to learn bartending from one of the oldest bartenders there. “He was like Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid film), and made me clean bottles for about nine months. Then one day, I came smiling after making some great tips and my boss asked me why I’m happy and how it happened.

The reason being was that I knew where each and every bottle was – and when you are a bartender knowing where everything is the most important thing because you don’t waste half the time looking for them and when the order is been placed you just reach out get the bottle and give it to the customer,” Alec stressed.

The Colombo Fort Café offers a casual dining experience to its customers with their fusion theme. Basically around 40 people can sit inside with 20 outside.

They can also serve in the courtyard. They do recommend reservations for dinner when looking at the space as in the night it gets pretty crowded.

Some of the really good dishes one should try out are the Flying Dutchman burger, Tapas, Harpos pizza range and enjoy the freshly squeezed juices. Open from 11 am to 11pm weekdays and till 12 or the last order is taken on weekends Colombo Fort Café is truly one place to sit, chill, enjoy the stars and maybe spoter shooting star and see how Colombo changes as the sun goes down.