Goodbye Mimosa

Portugal has a tradition of a "cafe society".

There are coffee shops all over the place; some are quite famous. Years ago before television and internet overtook our lives, after dinner people would meet at a coffee shop to discuss the news of the day.  Although this custom has faded away, coffee shops are still hold quite an important place in the community.

The coffee shop in my neighborhood was called "Mimosa".  While there are other coffee shops nearby, Mimosa was THE coffee shop.  It opened at 7:30 am and closed at 8pm (what a shame).  It sold wonderful little cakes and  pastries that were made on the premises.  They also served lunches.  It was great.  It was always full.  I loved Mimosa. I looked forward to starting each day with breakfast at Mimosa.  Then suddenly in late June, from one day to the next it was closed.   Rumours began to fly as to the reason that they closed.  No one knows definitively but it seems that they were locked out for not paying their rent.  Apparently, the owner of the café was funnelling profits from this successful business into one of his less successful endeavours.  But who knows for sure.

Anyway, after 3 weeks this sign appeared giving hope to all who frequented Mimosa.  One more week and the coffee shop did open on the 26th but under new management. The name of the coffee shop has changed. While some of the wait staff are from the Mimosa, most aren't. They changed the color scheme to a green/brown that doesn't quite work.   The quality of the pastries isn't what it used to be.  Still, let's give them a couple of weeks to get themselves up and running before we rate them as so-so. . .