# @thebusride on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DIFAcriz6zr
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/61799230-thebusride-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/151b8dba98.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-04-05T20:25:58.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Busride (@thebusride) — https://gondola.cc/thebusride

## Caption

Here’s one from the archives. Cafe Zoe emerged on the scene in Bombay back in 2012, in a very pre-Instagram era. When we first walked into the space with suuuperjoujou and tarinimohindar it was a back store for a printing press, with a low false ceiling and freshly gutted ash-smeared walls from a recent fire. What we started first up was a careful dismantling, just looking for forensic clues to the building’s original avatar, and for what we could discover.
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What emerged was a magical space, filled with the famous shadowless Bombay North light, that allowed the city to become a textile powerhouse rivalling the best in the world and physically sculpt the mill district that Cafe Zoe was a part of. Hidden arches emerged behind chipped plaster and old Kota was patched up with newer shades. With the design we removed a lot more than we added.
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What Cafe Zoe managed at the time was to be casual and sexy at the same time, curating a dining room ambience that made eavesdropping easier and making friends effortless. 
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With powerhouses like chefviraf steering the hospitality and datawala dropping in his unique eye to its documentation, Cafe Zoe slipped casually into the South Bombay itinerary. Any memories here?
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#thebusride #thebusridelab #oldwork

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 195
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 7

## Tags

thebusridelab, oldwork, thebusride

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