Bewley’s Café Might Look Completely Different Once Reopened – But Will Dubliners Actually Care?

It’s been a long time since any fancy cream buns and pot of teas were served in Bewley’s café on Grafton Street – almost 30 months, in fact.

Amidst failed legal battles to reduce its €1.5 million a year rent rate and business losses of €1.2 million annually, Bewley’s Oriental Café shut its doors in February 2015, leaving 140 staff redundant. 

While the original plan for the café was to close the upper floors and halve the seating, it was revealed in November last year that the café had instead decided to go ahead with a substantial refurbishment, which will allow for 500 seats and make use of all floors, including the beloved theatre. 

With plans for open fires, a checkered marbled floor and the prized Harry Clarke stained glass windows to be restored, as well as making the entire café less compartmentalised and more open plan, the new Bewley’s sounds pretty spectacular. 

My concern, however, is will anyone in Dublin actually care?

I grew up on day trips to town fuelled by the excitement of getting to choose which cake I wanted from their selection at the front. My mam used to tell me stories of when she waitressed there for her very first job, and I loved picturing her working there, in what she told me was the exact same uniform that the Bewley’s girls still wore. Picturing the past.

For me, that’s the beauty of Bewley’s. The old-timey feeling you would get as soon as you walked in, the feeling that the whole building is just steeped in history. Considering it was built in 1927, I can only imagine the amount of scandalous conversations that were whispered there, overlooking busy Grafton Street.

Bewley’s was a perfect place for city shoppers to take a break, for college students to get a cheap sambo (they’d let you sit there for ages too, which is always a plus when you’re a broke student on a three-hour break), and the go-to spot for all of the grannies in Dublin.

With the legendary café soon to reopen its doors and turn some profit, I’m worried that Dubliners have moved on from Bewley’s and its mahogany magic. Hipster coffee houses are all the rage in the city now, with single origin beans and Chemex coffeemakers a standard sight. And while I can agree that that’s an amazing addition to Dublin, I feel that what the city really needs is a throwback to Ireland’s more traditional past, and Bewley’s offers just that.

When I mention to friends and colleagues how much I’m looking forward to the café’s reopening (sometime in spring, in case you’re curious), I’m surprised to be met with so much indifference. Either the majority of people I know never really visited Bewley’s, or they’ve since moved on to ‘cooler’ spots.

I’m not too sure if Dubliners will be bothered that Bewley’s will now have hand-painted Oriental wallpaper, and a new side entrance on Johnson’s Court. 

A few curious tourists and Irish nostalgics might pop the head in once or twice, but can we expect enough of a crowd to keep Bewley’s in business this time around?

Considering Dubliners’ penchant for all things new and shiny, I’m optimistic that there will be enough of a buzz surrounding its opening to tempt people back to the simpler days of tea for two and a scone in one of Dublin’s most beautiful buildings.

The café is expected to look very different to the Bewley’s of old, but considering that it’s keeping its most iconic elements, I think this change should be welcomed.

Whether the people of this city actually go back to their roots and make Bewley’s their catch-up spot once again, or whether I’m the only regular customer there after the first two months, remains to be seen.

Here’s hoping it’s the former.

Main image: Irish Jaunt/Flickr

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