May 9th, 2024.
How this space makes me feel. Like home. The soft but thoughtful music. The cozy fabrics. The wood… oh the wood. Fibers, textures, care, thoughtfulness.
I exchange a few words with the owner of this place, Cafe Ango. I tell him I’m from Colombia. The latest coffee beans he bought from Colombia were from Buesaco, Huila, and San Vicente. I tell him I live close to San Vicente. Which farm?, I asked. “I don’t know”, he replied. Don’t worry, I’ll find out when I get back to Colombia.
Small details everywhere. Each sugar spoon a different design. Each with its own story. Champagne cork cages (muselets) fashioned into chairs. Figurines pocking out of different corners of the café. If there’s a definition of inhabiting a space, and caring for a space, this is it. Not only a café, but a home, for customers, and for the owners, too. This is their little corner of Japan, where they are from, in Vientiane. In here, they are back home.
The longing for beauty, the longing for purpose, for connection. To create things and spaces with spirit. To love where you stand, the people, nature, the sun.
