about

What?
Cafe Pump is many things. It's a place to grab a quick coffee, it's a food blog exploring weekly themes, and it's a cafe fit for anything from a hearty lunch to an afternoon tea, or a good breakfast to a pre-dinner negroni. It's a bicycle repair workshop, it's somewhere you can refuel mid-ride, or treat yourself post-ride. It's a perfect marriage of food, drink, and cycling, which welcomes every kind of cyclist, and non-cyclists. It's an idea, a brainchild, and a concept cafe.

Currently, we're very much a concept cafe. Cafe Pump doesn't physically exist. We're taking a slowly slowly approach to the planning and research stages, and enjoying searching for that perfect location - an urban space in Amsterdam, Bogota, or Copenhagen? A quaint village in northern Toscana? The foothills of the Tramontana in Mallorca? We're also busy gathering ideas, flavours, and recipes to fill the cafe with comfort, taste, and function. With every passing day, the picture of exactly what Cafe Pump looks like becomes clearer. The minds eye spies a large and welcoming bar area, perfect for the traditionally swift Italian espresso, seating areas at which to dine - small cosy tables, large communal tables spread with magazines and conversation, and functional areas to include a bicycle workshop and service area, a small library, and retail area for all things bicycle-related. It could be some time before this dream materialises, but please bear with us. In the meantime, please feel free to follow us here, or on Twitter, to get a sense of what we're all about, and what we'll become.


Who?

We (Glenn and Emily) are two mild mannered international citizens with a shared passion for food, drink, and all things bicycle-related.  We define home as where the bikes and coffee machine are at, and currently that's Amsterdam, arguably THE cycling city. As most self-respecting Amsterdammers , we ride classic style Dutch city bikes most of the time. Spending time sat upright on two wheels, pedalling slowly yet purposefully, really is the best way to get to know a city or town, Amsterdam or otherwise. We also love spending time on our road bikes, but remain more committed to admiring the scenery and calorific pit-stops rather than lycra, personal bests, and Strava. Glenn also feels quite 'at home' riding a fixie, but stops short of being a full-on hipster. Teachers by day, most evenings and weekends see us at home in the kitchen, trying various recipes, and plotting, scheming, and dreaming of the labour of love Cafe Pump will become. We're planning to use this site as a blog to document everything along the way.

Disclaimer: Any ideas, thoughts, or recipes are posted in good faith, and credit is given where credit is due. Should you wish to collaborate or share in any way, please get in contact with us. Stealing is bad.

Cheers,
Glenn & Emily