Darice de Cuba

This week Vapiano opened its door in The Hague, the first one in Holland. Vapiano is a self-service Pasta and Pizza bar. It has a somewhat modern concept. When you go in you are giving a plastic card which will store the price info of food and beverage you buy.

The decor is very modern and natural, everything is made of natural wood it even smells of fresh wood. They have high chairs style, so I had to like climb a bit on my seat. the table are for max 6 person. Each table has pots of basilica plants which you can take a few to add to your food. There is bar where you can order coffee and alcohol. And several corners which sofas to lounge while having a coffee and I’m not sure but they might have WiFi too.

For the food you go to the pasta or pizza bar, you place your order and they’ll start cooking it right there, everything is fresh made. you choose something to drink and swipe your card so you can pay on the way out. There is a closed glass room where they make fresh pasta to supply the bars and sell for take away to cook at home.

I ordered a “ravioli ricottta e spinaci” it wasn’t bad but the tomato sauce was a bit sour. I think they added to much onion for they used two kind of onions. Next time I’m going to try the “pesto”. My sister got a pepperoni pizza which was a regular thin crust medium sized pizza, so if you are not a big eater one pizza could be shared between two persons. But for the price/quality the food is good. I had the pasta with bread and two bottled water which I paid 11,40 euros for.

The atmosphere is relaxed a couple of waitress to clean the tables afterwards. No one rushing you to eat and leave like some other places do. You can take your time, eat, drink and socialize.

Vapiano is already open in several cities in Germany so I suppose it’s doing well there. And now in The Hague which probably will be a success to as in my opinion The Hague is the most international city of Netherlands. Yes The Hague, not Amsterdam. Amsterdam is more of a country on itself. It’s scheduled to open in Rotterdam to, after that we’ll be able to see if they’ll do well.

I’m currently reading “Man Walks into a Room” by Nicole Krauss. It’s about Samson Greene who has been missing and is found wandering through the dessert. They find him 8 days later with his memory gone. He only remember his life till he was 12 but his intelligence is intact. He doesn’t remember his grown-up self, his wife, friends, anything.

The books starts as he goes back home to New York with his wife trying to get a grip on a life which he has no recollection of. He wanders around the city with his dog and visit his doctor once a week to talk about his condition and other stuff in general. Meanwhile the distant between him and his wife grows each day till he decides to move out.

He gets a call from doctor Ray Malcolm for him to join a neurological research facility in Nevada’s desert so they can study his brains. He becomes friends with Ray which whom he talks about science and life. Samson struggles with being alone and lonely even when he is surrounded by people. But according to Ray everyone is in search of love and company and when they find it they will still feel lonely at times. As Ray says, it’s about finding:

“How to be alone, to remain free, but not feel longing, not to feel imprisoned in oneself.” -Man Walks into a Room, Nicole Krauss

I’m two third done with the book and I like it until now, it’s a bit philosophical, about being alone, placing yourself in other people position and making sense out of life. I already have a feeling what is about to happen and I can’t wait to see where the story will head and end.