Last week I made a pilgrimage to Ernesto’s, the brand new successor-cafe to the iconic (if not always wonderful) Krazy Lounge in Wellington. Ernesto’s is now run by Havana, who also run the nifty Havana Bar and maybe-the-best-cafe-in-Welly Fidel’s, and distribute the wonderful Havana coffee far and wide.
Bad news. The vibe in there sucks.
They removed all the booths, replacing them with a single bench seat running the length of the left-hand wall (as you enter). They removed all the large tables and replaced them with lots of little ones, which are modular but not at all welcoming. Worst of all, they’ve left a gigantic unpopulated river of space flowing from the entrance, past the counter, right to the back wall. The left and right sides of the cafe might as well be different addresses, they’re so far apart.
It is, to be honest, a disaster. How could they screw it up so bad? The vibe is nothing like Fidel’s, nothing like the Havana Bar, nothing like the old Krazy. I don’t know what it is like. There’s no appreciation whatsoever for space and the way people inhabit it. Man. I was crushed, absolutely crushed. I so wanted this to rock, and it was the complete opposite.
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I had just beforehand gone a bit mad and spent some money on comics for the first time in an age. Picked up Local issue 6, which was a very cool tale about two roommates in Park Slope, Brooklyn who don’t quite get along; Pictozine issue 1, a new NZ comix zine with a grab-bag of stuff, including Dylan Horrocks outlining the contents of his personal Lighthouse library; and Snake Woman issue 1 and 2, a very pretty (Michael Gaydos art, the guy who did Alias with Bendis) conspiracy/horror story steeped in Indian mythology. This was ‘created by’ Shekhar Kapur, Indian film director best known outside India for the harrowing Bandit Queen and, of course, Elizabeth. It didn’t disappoint and I’ll probably pick up #3.
Almost bought God the Dyslexic Dog just because its title is cool. But didn’t.
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Watched Clerks 2 last night, for some reason. Not really recommended unless you have affection for the Kevin Smith oeuvre and accept that the funny isn’t much there. I thought it was nice.
8 thoughts on “Ernesto – disappointing”
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That’s two disappointments. I was looking forward to going to Ernesto’s too. I figured it would be a cafe to serve the overflow of people who can’t get into Fidel’s cause it’s too crowded. I noticed it has a lot of little tables with two or three chairs round them. Not quite sure what crowd they’re trying to cater to there. They don’t seem to have a lot of food, so not the cafe crowd…. it’s not intimate enough for a bar….
I was also looking forward to Clerks II but haven’t heard anything great yet.
Bring back Crazy Rick’s if you ask me. Sodding yuppies taking over this town, Auckland’s got nothing on it…
You know, I’ve heard that a lot about Clerks 2.
But I also heard that Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back weren’t funny, and that turned out to be wrong so I’m gonna go anyway.
True, they bagged a lot of the post-Clerks attempts. I love Mallrats, lots of good quote and things to allude to in the right company. Didn’t like Chasing Amy nearly as much – the only good bits were with the militant black-man and Jason Lee’s character. I didn’t mind the Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back movie either.
I actually thought that Chasing Amy was the best of the lot in some ways, largely because it successfully integrated more serious elements alongside the usual dick jokes.
Jay and Silent Bob was funny though patchy, but I think Mallrats was the funniest and definitely Jason Lee’s finest hour. “Say… Would you like a chocolate-coated pretzel?”
Oh, as for Ernesto’s – I was amused by the name of the cafe, but at this stage using the names of Cuban Communists to start a franchise strikes me as misguided at best so I’m not surprised they fucked it up.
“franchise”? 😉
I heart Mallrats 4eva.
Yeah, franchise. What else would you call it? They use related names – Fidel’s, Ernesto’s and Havana; all make extensive use of iconic Communist imagery and slogans; each new iteration is less destinctive and more generic…