The city where I lived when I was a student, was a cultural and tourist place; full of places where you could go for a walk, sit and talk and also why not? Eat a delicious cake in a plaza while admiring the beautiful mountain scenery.
Merida is a beautiful city to spend your vacations, or to live in; I don't know how things are now but they must not be much different since I left. There was one place in particular where I hung out with my two best friends; one of them, Mariana, knew the owner of a place we loved. It was a bakery-coffeeshop with very good prices, I remember my favorite was a chocolate cake with vanilla and chocolate chip frosting and whipped cream.
They also sold coffees that made your heart go soft with pleasure. Your palate danced in a sea of good flavors that left you surfing for hours, and after it was all over and you were satisfied, a smile would settle on your face for the rest of the day.
Mr. Esposito's bakery and cafeteria were our regular meeting places for gossip, appointments, doing college work or just tasting our favorite dishes. It was a quiet place where you could read in peace, no one interrupted you or made loud noises, as one of the rules of the establishment was that customers kept their voices low.
We had to ask for something to consume if we wanted to spend hours there and there was no problem with that, because apart from the coziness of the place, with comfortable wicker tables, artistic paintings hanging on the walls, Wi-Fi connection and an almost sepulchral silence, there was an excellent aroma that flooded our noses like the sea to the waves.
The smells were a combination of cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, and some other fruit like peach (the peach cake was delicious) and peach. It was as if you lit some incense in your house and got rid of bad energies. It was inevitable to feel comfortable and happy until you went out and had to go back home.
I always wished I could take a paradise of tranquility from that place to my rented place, enjoying a good dinner while reading a good book. There was a time when my friends and I spent more time at Mr. Esposito's cafeteria, and we stopped going to other establishments just to be there.
Mr. Esposito treated us with kindness since he knew us as regular customers, and he always approached us to talk to us. He would tell us about his life, his children, and his family back in Italy. He confessed that he missed very much the village where he lived in Sicily, where his brother and sister-in-law were, and that we would have liked to enjoy the smells of the countryside combined with those of the Mediterranean Sea, which was very particular in that area.
She also told us about a beautiful dream of bringing those rapturous aromas to this little piece of land that she called "My little Italy". His father was also a pastry chef and made the best desserts you could find on the whole island. He taught his son everything he knew, and as Mr. Esposito was very creative, he began experimenting with new flavors based on his smells.
When he was 24 years old, he moved to Venezuela, with his future wife and some of his cousins, settling in the city of Merida. Years later, he created his small business, in which at the beginning he only sold bread made by him, but over time he transformed it into one of the most popular coffee shops in the city.
All of us young university students used to gather there, not only because of the economic benefits but also because of the delicious coffee and cakes. However, sad news happened, Mr. Esposito passed away due to a liver deficiency. My friends and I were shocked, especially Mariana who was the closest to Mr. Esposito.
She was devastated and asked us to accompany her to the funeral, so we did it was a very sad event because the owner of that coffee shop was a very dear person. Months passed and things were not the same. Mr. Esposito's eldest son; Antonino was left in charge of the cafeteria. He was a very nice guy, but he didn't have the same perspective as his father, so everything started to change.
The sweet, bitter, and ecstatic smells that flooded the place were denigrated. The flavors of coffee and desserts were no longer the same; they had lowered their quality. The policies changed and other types of clients began to arrive; they broke the peace that was breathed in the place.
Gradually, our favorite place was becoming a kind of "Pub" of bad death, so my friends and I made the bitter decision not to return; missing the aromas that came from there.
We didn't get another favorite place, but we did visit several places and stayed that way for years. In the current city where I am, many establishments reminded me of Mr. Esposito's business when he was alive, and one of them brought a smile to my face, as it gave off the same aroma that the man from Sicily made.
THE END
What a touching and bittersweet story. When Mr. Esposito passed, everything that was a part of him including the aromas and his special touch with the shop and customers passed with him. His son can never be like him, hence the changes. That is life!
I guess this shows that we are each unique, beautifying this world with our special touch and fragrances.
Beautifully written! I enjoyed your use of poetic imagery to convey your nostalgia, especially in this paragraph:
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Thank you very much for your appreciation, I felt a lot of nostalgia when I wrote this text; I think that made my poetic feelings surface. I realized some time later that there will always be places that remind me of dear Mr. Esposito, especially those that transmit that rich essence.
Saludos fraternales @universoperdido
Saludos mi estimado.
A very relatable story. I too, have establishments and places that I really loved during my childhood. Unfortunately, time can be a very cruel thing and changes are to be expected. After many years, those familiar establishment had either changed owners, closed, and and are now unrecognizable to what I've remembered.
Yes, it's a shame that this happens, it really hurt us to lose our favorite place. However, we found other places where we could continue our social and student activities.
I really enjoyed the story. I know Merida and its coffee culture, something I have not seen in the rest of the country. I didn't know this story you tell today, but everything you say about that place is at least endearing. Thank you for sharing it, @universoperdido.
You would have liked this place, it was a quiet, cheap place with a very pleasant atmosphere. I was very happy there with the girls.
Yay! 🤗
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It’s so good that you found an alternative venue that reminded you of your most loved coffee shop. Scents live on in a person’s memory for that reason alone. Thank you for sharing your story with us on The Ink Well.
Yes, my nose and tongue were grateful, although one of them was struck by the similarity to Mr. Esposito's cafeteria.
Thanks for the support and for reading.
I had a similar place on campus studying for my first degree. Your vivid description makes me wish to have opportunity to visit that city.
You would have loved it, it was an ideal place for students, a pity that everything fell apart.
A beautiful place of your life you have brought us today. While reading your lines I remembered a favorite place that I had in my youth. It was nice to remember that time thanks to your story. As always, a pleasure to read you. Very good work.
Thanks for sharing.
Good day.
Thank you, I am thrilled to share this beautiful memory. It was a wonderful stage of my life in which I was able to experience immense peace.
Happy day and thanks for reading me.
I enjoy reading your work @universoperdido . You know how to engage one with words. This is an interesting story. Too bad Antonino didn't keep his father's legacy running the exact way he laid it. Changing business policy from good to bad can be discouraging.
Your words are very kind. I like it when people effectively perceive what I want to express.
Yes, Antonino was a boy with ideas, it's a shame they didn't go in the same direction as his father's, but hey... at least I'll keep the nice memories.
Sad story bro....
The death of a person and his place you held dear....
Really touched 😢
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This text conveys a nostalgia and a sense of loss for the negative transformation of a special place. You highlight the importance of aromas and flavors in the coffee shop experience, and how these elements contributed to creating a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere. Mr. Esposito's passing represents not only the loss of a loved one, but also the loss of the very essence of the place.
It also shows how a change in management and product quality can profoundly affect the customer experience. This manifests itself when you express disappointment when you notice that the flavors and aromas you appreciated so much have diminished and that the tranquility of the place has been replaced by a less pleasant atmosphere.
PS: it was good to recall a little Merida episode.
It was a very nice place to hang out, I wanted it to be my place until I graduated and left the city, but unfortunately it wasn't like that.
Thank you for your very good comment, friend. Greetings.
I'm afraid I haven't been lucky enough to get a coffee shop like the one in your story. From everything you tell, it was the ideal place to read and spend a pleasant time, in the company of good coffee and friends. It's a pity that things ended up like this. Thanks for sharing this anecdote. Regards, @universoperdido.
Yes, I wanted us to last longer there, but it's a pity that things didn't work out.
Thanks for your comment, brother.
Greetings!
Mr. Esposito was a very good man. It takes a good man to create a safe and comfortable space for people. At least you got to experience the warmth that surrounded him.✨
Yes, I keep that nice feeling as a memory. At least I lived it and I keep it firm in my mind.
Thanks for your comment.
You're very much welcome.
Have an amazing day.
Happy day for you too.
Wow. I can imagine how devastating it was to lose home away from home. Finding people like Mr. Esposito is not easy. Let's hope he is resting.
I like to imagine that he is happy in heaven after having left all the joy on earth, there will be no other person like him.
That's the thing about change in the leadership of a place, no matter how related the new person is to the former owner, the effect of new leadership would be obvious. I Loved your imagery in describing how beautifully decadent Me. Eposito's coffee was to you. Thanks for sharing.🌺
That's right, everyone has their vision, unfortunately Antonino's was not the same as his father's and ended up changing everything.
I will keep that coffee with love in the memories of my palate 😁
Too bad. The end of a legacy.
Please do. It was wonderful that you could share such nostalgic feeling with us.🤗
Loved this story, it was really heartwarming and tragic at the same time, an Italian story that feels so nostalgic.