You may not think of your local café in this way but it might just be helping you to live a little longer. This doesn’t have anything to do with the coffee you’re drinking or the plate of deliciousness you’re tucking into. It doesn’t have anything to do with the food at all, but rather the connections that you’re making in there.
A study by Harvard University conducted over 85 years indicates that the number one predictor of a long life is not exercise, diet or anything else that usually springs to mind, but in fact the number of positive social interactions that a person has.
This doesn’t mean how many friends you have. Positive connections, like the chat you have with your barista or the conversation you strike up with the stranger sat next to you make the most difference.
Which probably helps us to understand why some people, despite numerous so-called bad habits, manage to outlive the rest of us: the local pub is probably the best place of all to pass the time of day.
When we designed the restaurant we knew this intuitively. In Tibet, community is not yet a lost art, and the tea houses that Yeshi visited in Lhasa all had long sharing tables where local people sat together and chewed the fat. We were striving for the same idea, and there’s nothing we love more than watching this play out before our eyes.
I know we keep banging on about the Budget, but last week was a real missed opportunity. This government doesn’t seem to understand or value our industry and the role that small businesses like ours play in their communities. As more pubs, restaurants and cafés struggle to keep their heads above water, we will start to lose more of the places where we can connect with one another. It’s not just the lonely or elderly who gain from the experience of having a local, but everyone for whom a simple warm, friendly greeting can brighten their day.
I’ll stop there, but if you want to hear more of me then you can tune into my recent interview with Radio 5 Live (scroll to 28.20 to get my full reaction to the Budget). I seem to be getting increasingly political, so if the restaurants all have to close then you know which career I’m headed into next 😜
Business as usual this week, you’ll be pleased to hear. Come to us for dine in or take away, or you can also order the momos in through Deliveroo. Here are our opening hours:
Wednesday – Friday: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday and Sunday: 12-3 (lunch) / 5-9.30pm (dinner)
Our menu is on the website now – check it.
Looking forward to seeing everyone soon,
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Sat / Sun: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
☏ 01865 499318
Do you love the Taste Tibet cookbook? Please leave us an Amazon review! 🙏🏽
