The not-so-secret life of Bandra’s café cats

Bandra’s café cats.

Bandra’s stray cats are no strangers to the residents or establishments in the neighbourhood. They are a quintessential part of the community and provide warm and entertaining sights to every passer-by. They are big, small, ginger, jet black, and everything in between. Now, they are also inviting you to the cafés they inhabit.

Bandra’s café cats, as we will henceforth refer to them, are more than just visitors. They have café-themed names, and seating of pride, and frequently make an appearance on social media. In some cases, they have also made their way to the branding and memorabilia of the cafés.

Cinnamon at Method

The late Cinnamon at Method café, Bandra, Mumbai.

If you’ve seen the sweet face and pudgy nose pop up on Method café’s viral Insta reels, you already know whom we are talking about. Cinnamon's many moods and antics have been on constant display on a skateboard, in a plant pot, or perched on the wall willing the shutters of the café to open.

“I had been seeing her on the other side of the road, with the fishmonger every day for two years. She arrived at Method on a rainy day in June last year. I gave her some food and she began spending the days here,” recounts co-founder Emma.

Her name came through an Instagram poll and seemed a great fit, “since we are known for our cinnamon rolls,” Emma says, and her shades of brown and white, with a heavy tinge of cinnamon.

The name stuck and the regulars and others alike have been fawning over Cinnamon. “She’s lazy and not very playful,” says Emma. She was to be found sleeping in different parts of the outdoor area, often leaving customers to tiptoe around her.

“There’s always conversation around her and she’s great company for solo writers,” says Mushtaq Sheikh, screenwriter, author, and a Method regular. He adds that he often saw people stay at the café longer and make friends with Cinnamon. “Besides, I like the fact that her presence conveys the café is pet-friendly without having to shout from the rooftops”.

For Emma, Cinnamon has also become a great representation of their ethos. “We are a community space that is art-driven and the cat is just another regular,” she says.

(Cinnamon recently passed away and there has been an outpouring of condolence messages on their social media.)

Cortado at Project Hum

Cortado at Project Hum, Bandra, Mumbai.

She’s a café regular one can tell. Once a common sight at Javaphile, a Bandra café, Cortado, has shifted loyalties to the relatively new joint next door, Project Hum. She arrived when the restaurant was under construction and favours the couch, made scratch-free for her. On odd days she can be found occupying a chair at the entrance of the restaurant.

She may look like she’s scowling but Cortado is friendly and only wants a treat from you.

“Writer Kalyan Karmakar gave her the name. She’s white with shades of black and brown. She is moody but also playful. Cortado suits her well,” says Raghav Sinha, co-founder, Project Hum. “She used to climb up a tree outside the restaurant and find it difficult to come down. The staff would have to help her get down. We got BMC to trim the branches”, he adds.

She’s on their Instagram often and there’s a lot of user-generated content about Cortado, too. The regulars and staff love her and she has been gifted a pet bed, a bow, and several treats. “There are people who come to the restaurant specifically to see her and feed her”, Raghav tells us.

Sinha claims that no area is out-of-bounds for her but she prefers the outdoors. “A member of the staff is usually stationed to feed her at her 12 pm and 6.30 pm meal times. She loves our frozen yoghurt and gets it as treats sometimes,” he says adding, “We are being more careful now though since the vet told us she’s overweight”.

For Sinha too, Cortado is a regular and big part of the community of regulars. “We are also pet-friendly and Cortado being there all the time says it better than anything else”.

Laila at Subko Café and Bakehouse

Laila at Subko Café and Bakehouse, Bandra, Mumbai. (Photo credit: Chetna Kapoor) 

She’s spunky, she’s athletic, and she rules the outdoor area at Subko, a popular café housed in the former Mary Lodge, in Bandra’s Ranwar village. The management tells us, she arrived at the café in 2021, lingering outside at first and coming in as soon as the doors opened. Laila now lives at Mary Lodge, venturing out at night sometimes only to return before the opening hour in the morning.

Rahul Reddy, the founder of Subko named her and brought her a tent-shaped bed where she rests and chooses to retreat when other pets come calling at the café.

Besides being a resident, Laila is also an inherent part of the café’s branding. The outdoor area is named Laila’s Den and you might notice a caricature of hers drawn on the glasses while sipping a chilled Cascara lemonade. “Laila is naturally a star. She made it to the branding very soon after people started noticing her. The den came to be called after her since she spends most of her time there and loves to take naps on the bench,” the staff say.

They also tell us that she isn’t camera shy and in fact, posing for pictures and reels. She’s also extremely popular on social media and otherwise. “Almost every day we have people who come to see Laila. There are lots of stories to tell but the funniest was when she peed on a guest’s bag and he was the one who ended up feeling guilty,” a staff member says.

The staff at the Bandra café feeds and cares for her and nearly everyone has a Laila story to tell!

Mao at The Nutcracker

If you’ve passed by Bandra’s quaint little restaurant and eatery, The Nutcracker, you’ve probably seen the unusual guard at the door overlooking the street. Mao sits tall at the entrance and gives you a thorough stare-down and once you are through, she may choose to share your table, settling down at the base cosily.

Mao is an elderly cat that showed up at the door during the first lockdown, the staff at The Nutcracker tells us. She never left and has since become a crowd-puller, they say, as a way of introduction, urging me to pet her. Mao looks up and promptly goes back to sleep at the foot of her favoured table.

She prefers the outdoors too but does take a tour of the indoor section each morning when the café opens. She’s made it to Instagram reels and has her share of fans. But it’s clear Mao doesn’t like the paparazzi disrupting her slumber and usually returns, gruffly to her position.

The Others at Veronica’s and Javaphile

The nameless cat at Javaphile, Bandra, Mumbai.

The city’s latest rage, Veronica’s, a sandwich shop at the once iconic Jude’s Bakery in Bandra, is taking it a step further. From the walls to the menu, all the way to the windows, there are illustrations of cats. “If you walk through the narrow lanes of this quaint village, you will find several cats and it’s not surprising considering Ranwar was once a fishing village. So, it felt fitting to include these cats as a constant character into the space and the branding,” says founder Yash Bhanage.

It is no surprise then that the café’s two varieties of roasted beans are named after the cats that frequent the adjoining village of Ranwar. They are Nosy Lucy and Buzzy Billy, both of whom have been photographed with the coffees named after them. Bhanage tells us that the cats are cared for by the neighbourhood. And so far, we haven’t spotted them venturing indoors or scoring a snack from the staff.

Several restaurants and cafes entertain street cats within their neighbourhoods, feeding them and ensuring their safety. Besides those listed above, there is also Javaphile, located on Carter Road that feeds and shelters a nameless but friendly cat. Make your way in the evenings to the bench outdoors, and the brown and white furball may jump up and choose to take a seat beside you, as you watch the sun setting on the marshlands.