A recently set up cafe has become a hangout of choice for coffee and food lovers in south Kashmir’s Shopian town.
Located across a gurgling stream in the Batapora area, the interior decoration of the Cafe Cosa Nostra speaks volumes about the refined taste of its young owner Irfan Saleem Zargar
An immaculate wallpapered hall is festooned with antique decorative lights. The stunning chandeliers dangling from the ceiling are the cynosure of all eyes while the wooden furniture bears an elegant finish.
Three wooden mini gazebos exude an aristocratic feel. The visitors could be seen engaged in animated conversations over sumptuous food.
The cafe is the first of its kind in this apple-rich town, which is being frequented by outstation fruit traders and other businessmen all around the year.
“In our town, this is the best and only space to hang out”, says Rouf Ahmad, a university student.
After completing his graduation, 30-year-old Zargar pursued a course in hotel management to give sturdy wings to his dream of carving a niche in the hospitality sector.
The success, however, did not come hands down.
“It began with failures”, says Zargar.
In 2015, Zargar set up a small book cafe in the town but it attracted only a few customers and finally, he had to shut it down due to a long-drawn-out lockdown in 2016.
“Due to lockdown my business began running into losses and finally I decided to fold up my tent”, he said.
Zargar’s passion, however, did not allow him to rest. In 2017, he tried again and rented a space in the heart of town and set up a cafe and restaurant.
This time he got a good response from people, but after some time it became well-nigh difficult for him to pay huge amounts in the form of rent.
” For some time I gave a good thought to my business plans and finally came up with the idea of constructing my own structure”, said Zargar.
Zargar owned a piece of land in front of his home in Batapora locality, which has recently emerged as a second business nerve center of the town–first being famous Gole Chakri–and constructed the structure.
“In August 2021, I completed the construction”, Zargar said.
Zargar himself designed the interiors of his cafe after going through a mountain of literature about interior design.
” I did the research for around 3 to 4 months before I began actually working on it”, said Zargar.
Zargar inaugurated his new venture in November 2021 and soon he began attracting a large number of customers.
“Although November tends to be a harvesting season here and people largely remain tied up with apple picking, I received an overwhelming response”, said Zargar.
Presently at least five employees including two chefs are working at the cafe.
The cafe offers a host of delicious foods. Apart from different Chinese food varieties, the cafe also serves Kashmiri Wazwan along with special dry fruit Kehwa.
“It is a place where you can savor each mouthful”, said a group of young men, who frequently visit the place.
Next time you are in Shopian and intend to eat something delicious, Cafe Cosa Nostra is the best place to binge on a variety of foods.