A mother of two, Shruti Paranjape, enrolled her children in the kids club last year. The kids learnt the basics of music and musical instruments and then moved on to the nuances of classical music. Sounds like a music school, doesn’t it? Only it’s not. The kids club that Shruti chose is in a cafe on Law College Road, that goes by the name of Music Cafe. “The way they inculcate music is fascinating and my younger daughter loves what she is learning. So I signed her up for their yearly package,” Shruti says.

“I am an ardent lover of music and wanted to create a place devoted to it. The aim of our kids club, that takes place twice a month, is to introduce the benefits of music to children who don’t have a musical background, in the form of musical games and memory games,” says Anand Kolharkar, co-founder of the café, whose menu features music seggregated under various categories and suited for different purposes. The food and beverages here, however, are on the side. For instance, you could choose Confidence Booster, a 20-minute session of tunes that will beat any pep talk you could think of, with a side of coffee, sherbat or kadha. And all of that at just `100.

“We also customise the music we offer, to suit individual needs,” says Santosh Ghatpande, co-founder and music therapist at the cafe. Kaustubh Chavan experienced this first hand, when he came to this cafe seeking relief from his insomnia. “I thought it might end up being boring since all they had was classical music. But I was surprised after listening to the music they gave me. I actually slept for four hours after the first session. The sessions have definitely helped me,” Kaustubh shares, about his experience at the unusual cafe.

And interestingly, Pune has been seeing a bunch of such concepts spring up in various corner of the city. The recent addition to Viman Nagar’s food and beverage scene, Autobahn, is the first restaurant in the city to adopt Japans ages old conveyor belt system of serving food. Here, a system of conveyor belts carries food in colour coded bowls around the seating area and diners are free to pick up any bowl they choose and start eating. Bowls are priced from `99 onwards and can go up to `149 per bowl. “Red bowls contain non vegetarian, green bowls have vegetarian, grey bowls are for
chaat and salads and blue for dessert,” explains Tanushree Roy, director of the restaurant. What’s drawing customers to this place is the zero waiting time once you are seated. Raviraj Ingole, an engineer, says, “You sit and start eating. This resto is definitely for those who hate waiting for their food to arrive.” Swetha Sanath Kumar, a homemaker, adds that the conveyor belt system keeps children amused and occupied. “The kids don’t trouble me when it comes to ordering. They simply pick up a bowl of their choice and start eating. It is definitely innovative and hassle-free.”

The conveyor belt system at Autobahn…

On the subject of keeping kids amused. Those of us whose kids are their furry canines, know how difficult it is to find a pet-friendly place to go for dinner, leave alone somewhere that has something for the pet to eat too. That’s where Café Two’s and Four’s in Baner comes in. Initially just a pet hostel, it is now a cafe for pets, where your four-legged friends have a menu dedicated to them. “We have a menu for dogs, besides a lawn where they can play freely. Owners can celebrate pet birthdays and have a cake made for them too,” says Gauri Suryawanshi, the owner of the cafe cum pet hostel. Dr Manasi Naralkar, a gynecologist who visits the café with her Labrador, says “I went to the café when Caeser turned five months old. They decorated the place and had a special cake made for him. My pet had his share of jumping around in the open space and enjoying the pupsicles – a special treat they give the best behaved dogs.”

Pets are allowed to move freely here…

Pupsicles at Café Two’s and Four’s