Thinking about what title would suit a coffee story from the Bucharest of yesteryear, I remembered Ion Vasilescu and his "Suflet candriu, de papugiu", not another but, cafegiu-papugiu, it rhymes ... Instead, candrius, "who will understand him?" As a result, I searched in DEX and, from where I always thought that the synonym for candrius was candid, I was almost disappointed to find that, no word! I pray, if a candid soul is usually a bit crazy, it's okay... However, the definition given by DEX does not fit the Armenian brownies, or, I want to tell you about them, one thing, another...
Since the 1800s, the old Bucharest slums of Popa Soare, Mântuleasa and Olari have been home to several hundred Armenians, settled with their families on the banks of Dâmboviţa. In a census from 1820, in Mahalaua Podul Mogoşoaia (today's Calea Victoriei), 259 heads of families originating from Armenia were registered, many of whom were engaged in trade, selling tobacco or coffee, while others were furriers, leather goods, leather goods. The development of the Armenian community was interrupted with the end of the Second World War, when the process of nationalization intervened, and the commercial power of ethnic Armenians weakened considerably and many emigrated, especially to America.
A legend of the interwar coffee trade is Avedis Carabelaian, one of the biggest coffee farmers that Romania had. His contemporary successor is called Gheorghe Florescu, the one for whom coffee can only find its place in a temple. So, today he has his own Temple of Coffee, as he calls it himself, "Delicatese Florescu", on Radu Cristian Street, near Piaţa Rosetti. The name Avedis, which means "good news" in Armenian, seems to have brought him good luck.
Avedis Carabelaian arrives in Romania sometime around 1915, conquers the "good world" of Bucharest and soon becomes the coffee supplier of the Royal House of Romania. All thanks to his unique coffee preparation recipes. Recipes that will be entrusted years later to his apprentice, Gheorghe Florescu.
"The Armenians were expelled from Constantinople in April 1915 when the massacre known in history as the Armenian Genocide began. The Carabelaian family had 24 members. Of these, 22 were assassinated by Turkish soldiers. He, together with his father, Garabet Carabelaian, survived and arrived in Bucharest. Here they opened an elite cafe. As a result of the Armenian genocide, almost all the great Armenian coffee makers from Constantinople took refuge in Romania and in the interwar period we had a coffee paradise here. There were over 100 cafes. When I started my activity, there were 40 coffee-loving Armenians in all of Bucharest and this city smelled only of coffee! Natural coffee..." - recounts Gheorghe Florescu in an interview with Stelian Tănase.
In March 1971, Gheorghe Florescu took over from his mentor Avedis Carabelaian the coffee and sweet shop on Hristo Botev no. 10. Gradually, this place becomes a real landmark of the artistic bohemia of the Capital. He has as clients numerous personalities of the literary, artistic and medical life, but also important figures from Justice, Militia and Security. On March 4, 1977, the block at Hristo Botev 10 collapses, but by extraordinary luck, Gheorghe Florescu escapes with his life.
In the 1980s, the struggle to supply his new store proved extremely risky. In April 1985 he was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Paroled in 1988, he again engages in commerce. He participated in the events of December 1989, then in the "University Square phenomenon", as a personal driver of some American journalists. In October 1990, he suffered a stroke, which left him with hemiparesis on his right side. He relearns to write with his left hand and after four years of intense work, in 2007, he manages to finish his memoir "Confessions unui cafegiu".
On July 7, 2010, despite the economic crisis, Gheorghe Florescu managed to fulfill his lifelong dream. He opened, together with his family, the first gourmet coffee shop in Bucharest, renewing the best tradition of the old Armenian coffee houses, from the point where he left it, against his will, 25 years ago. He also fulfilled his desire to produce a coffee brand dedicated to his mentor: Avedis Divin Caffee.
There are a few places where you can drink good coffee in Bucharest, bought from "Delicatese Florescu" but, writes Alina Barbu for Food story: "the tastiest way to drink good coffee is in the small courtyard of the shop. Here, at a table covered by a canopy, you hear the hum of the center while you catch your breath next to a cup of coffee. If you're lucky, maybe Mr. Florescu will notice you and come outside to ask how you like your coffee. And when you leave, you will have a bag of coffee still hot, after it has been ground especially for you, in your backpack or bag. And a new story, which you didn't know, about the liqueur you drink every day".
Magdalena Vaida