Journalism of Courage
You cannot but enter Cafe Red Star without being struck by its homage to Che Guevara,for the glass door at the entrance itself is emblazoned with a black and white likeness of the man iconic to the Cuban revolution. And Guevara is not the only revolutionary to be honoured so,as we discovered on walking in to hear melodious Rabindrasangeet (songs of Rabindranath Tagore) wash over the cafe. But if the cafes name and icons suggest an inclination towards counterculture,popular culture is by no means left out,and soon enough,Rabindrasangeet is followed by an Enrique Iglesias number.
But here is a place,where Tagore and Enrique rest in easy confluence on the tracklist,just as Harry Potter and Dracula sit right beside the weightier 18th Congress of CPI(M) and Alternatives to Privatization on its bookshelf. As the owner Siddharthya Roy gladly tells his guests,the choice in music is as eclectic as the bookshelves and the menu,to make the cafe a place where all kinds of people can come to hang out,chat and enjoy,much like an improved version of a chai tapri. And so,patrons will find that the cafe has been set up with bean bags and board games,a television and guitar,and cosy,muted red light from the red stars scattered across the ceiling inviting guests to spend many a languid evening there.
The menu is simple and relaxed,with finger food,teas,coffees and smoothies forming most of it. Here again,different tastes converge the cappuccino sits on the same page as the Kolkata lebu chaa,and its surprising how well the quintessentially American ice cream soda goes with the Bengali kashundi and Prawn butterfly (crumb-fried prawn). We pick the Lime Light,a lime-flavoured ice cream soda thats a favourite with regulars.
Right away,the owner assures us not to worry about spilling the soda on the table or the floor,as ice cream sodas are a messy business anyway. The Lime Light can be a bit messy but is all the more fun for it. Light and mildly flavoured,its best to finish this drink before the ice cream melts and the sodas fizz dies out. The Prawn butterflies and Paneer masala stix are both things of beauty,fried to a spicy crisp on the outside,keeping all the natural flavour of paneer and prawn on the inside. A quicker meal was never had. The ice cream counter on the side promises sundaes galore,while the the newest additions to the cafe are to be a fresh salad bar and a counter for full set-menu meals such as Kosha mutton with rice or luchi and Prawn biryani,items which were popular at the cafe’s recent pop-up restaurant at Congress Bhavan during Navaratri.
Meal for two: Rs 500
Address: 118,Pride Purple Square,Kalewadi Phata,Wakad,Pune 411057
Contact: 65273333
