Latest news with #European-themed
The Wire
5 days ago
- Business
- The Wire
European-Inspired Dolci Café Opens Doors to New BEL Road, Marking Third Bengaluru Location
Bengaluru, July 15, 2025: Dolci, the premium European-themed café that has captivated Bangalore with its sophisticated dining experiences, proudly opened its third outlet on New BEL Road today, graced by the presence of the Colaco Family and Kumar Family, the brand's promoters, alongside Ms. Aarthi Krishnan. Following the remarkable success of their flagship store on Cunningham Road and their premium outlet on Lavelle Road, this new location continues Dolci's mission of introducing European culinary excellence paired with warm Indian hospitality to discerning diners across India's culinary capital. The New BEL Road outlet represents Dolci's continued commitment to bringing authentic European café culture to diverse neighborhoods across Bengaluru, following the successful launches of their flagship Cunningham Road outlet and premium Lavelle Road location earlier this year. Founded in 2008 by Ms. Shipra Kumar, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, Dolci has consistently elevated Bangalore's dining scene by seamlessly blending sophisticated European gastronomy with warm Indian hospitality. Under the strategic leadership of Co-Founder, Director & CEO Mr. Balaji M., the brand continues its rapid expansion with plans to establish 50 outlets across India. "Each new Dolci outlet is a testament to our unwavering commitment to culinary excellence and our vision of making premium European café culture accessible to food enthusiasts across the city," said Mr. Balaji M, CEO of Dolci. "The New BEL Road location allows us to serve the growing community in North Bangalore with the same quality and sophistication that has made Dolci a beloved dining destination." The New BEL Road outlet maintains Dolci's distinctive Santorini-inspired design aesthetic and open kitchen concept, offering guests a captivating dining experience that showcases both visual appeal and culinary artistry. The café features the brand's extensive menu of handcrafted delicacies, including artisanal pastries, traditional European cuisine, and innovative beverage creations. Guests can enjoy Dolci's signature beverages, including the popular Popcorn Latte and the unique Caramel Island Espresso, alongside a sophisticated range of coffee experiences from traditional European-style espresso drinks to specialty teas like Blue Pea tea. The outlet offers multiple milk alternatives including A2 Cow Milk, Soy Milk, and Almond Milk, catering to diverse dietary preferences. True to Dolci's founding principles, the New BEL Road outlet maintains the brand's dedication to using farm-fresh, GMO-free ingredients in all its vegetarian and egg-based dishes. Each offering reflects the culinary expertise that has made Dolci synonymous with premium café dining in Bengaluru. The new outlet operates with Dolci's signature show kitchen concept and exceptional service standards, creating an immersive dining experience that caters to both millennials and Gen Z seeking sophisticated dining options in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. About Dolci Dolci is a premium European-themed café and boulangerie established in 2008 that has revolutionized Bangalore's culinary landscape through its sophisticated blend of European gastronomy and Indian hospitality. What began as a passionate home-baking venture has evolved into a distinguished brand known for its gourmet offerings, Greek-inspired architecture, and unwavering commitment to quality. With three outlets now operational in Cunningham Road, Lavelle Road, and New BEL Road, Dolci continues to redefine the premium café experience while pursuing its ambitious expansion plan across India. Location Details: • Address: No 108, AGS Layout, New BEL Road, Chikkamaranahalli, Bangalore - 560094 (Opposite Blue Hyundai) • Contact: 91 8147755007 • Website: For more information about Dolci and its outlets, visit or contact 91 8147755007. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NRDPL and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.).
National Geographic
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- National Geographic
Is this shopping mall the gayest place on Earth?
Opened in 1982, the Yumbo Centrum in Spain's Canary Island bills itself as the world's only LGBTQ+ mall. With four floors and 200 venues across 200,000 square feet, the Yumbo anchors a queer community remaking travel as a double-down embrace of their true selves. Photograph by Thomas Rabsch, laif/Redux At the Yumbo Centrum in Spain's Canary Islands, Pride never ends Dario Villalba, 29, a shirtless actuary from Milan, roars into the night, jumping in a sweaty briar patch of men on a far-flung Spanish island. 'Sempre! Sempre!' he cheers. 'Sempre di più! Yumbo per sempre!' ('Always and always! More and more! Yumbo forever!') As a Bruno Mars remix blares, Villalba revamps the chorus: 'Sleep tomorrow, but tonight go crazy. All you gotta do is just meet me at the—'Yumbooooo.'' Opened in 1982 with the hope of 'if you build it, they will come,' Yumbo Centrum now bills itself as the world's only LGBTQ+ mall: four floors and 200 venues across 200,000 square feet of open-air Brutalist bedlam. Those numbers shape the dimensions of a surprising truth about this obscure locale: it just might be the gayest place on Earth. Yumbo anchors the resort town of Maspalomas, on the southern tip of Gran Canaria, part of Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. But it also anchors a LGTBQ+ community for whom Yumbo is a place where they can become themselves. 'It feels like family. Even strangers feel familiar,' says Huw Davies, 73, a Welsh retiree who first came to Yumbo in 2005. 'I've never been anxious when I'm here. That's real freedom. That's real love.' Yumbo's official Pride Week celebration is in May, but at Yumbo, Pride never really ends, buoyed by LGTBQ+-focused parties and events almost every month. Year-round, the polyglot crowds gravitate to the world's universal languages: dance, laughter, music, and rizz. Yumberos—that's the locals' name for visitors—come for round-the-clock sex positivity, and all the accompanying pleasures. Everyone at Yumbo is living their best main character life. The open relationships, the ride-or-die friend squads, the dads burping their babies at midnight; they all radiate Yumbo's gestalt glow. A Grace Jones double performs at a disco in Yumbo. The mall is covered with camp surprises, including clubs and bars for every interest, drag shows and European-themed bars. Photographs by Tobias Kruse, Ostkreuz/Redux 'Yumbo breaks all the rules—the patterns—and you find a new kind of gay life here,' says Leo De La Rosa, 39, a model from Madrid, as he strolled the mall. Even Yumbo's workers share the vibe. Take Jean-François 'Jeff' Renard and Thierry Fontaine, elderly husbands from Toulouse who dress up like burlesque twins and gadfly about before working together at a bar where they hold court. Or shy Osman, the locally born-and-raised 22-year-old who mans a tiny grill in the parking lot, selling $5 bratwursts from 9pm to 6am and, as he put it, 'learning that things can also grow in moonlight.' Or Gonzalo Benabu, 37, Yumbo's Argentine magojista ('massage wizard') who fills his downtime with whispered prayers as he holds the dog tag necklace his mother got him inscribed with one word: sagrado ('sacred'). Croatia's oldest coastal town Yumbo can be anything, from campy to earnest, or romantic, sometimes all at once. Simple people in a simple place For all its hype of diversity, queerness often suffers from an aesthetic sameness derided as 'clones'—an ironic homogeneity in fashion, music, physiques, and other aesthetics. Yumbo challenges clones, beginning with its labyrinthine layout of aggressively unstylish concrete and extending to its unexplained dinosaur mascot—a green brontosaurus with red stegosaurus plates—who wears a red bow tie. It's not shabby chic, just plain shabby. It's all decidedly counter-American (not opposed to Americans who are plentiful) rejecting the habit of turning gay havens into luxury real estate. The only freestanding structure in Yumbo's massive central courtyard is a Burger King where workers wear Pride t-shirts instead of corporate uniforms; it somehow has a rooftop 'secret garden' bar sponsored by Absolut. Yumbo also has a pyramidal mosque, an on-site doctor, a Wall of Love for sentimental scribblers, an AIDS memorial cactus garden, casinos and arcades, a park dedicated to a local gay rights hero, and an 18-hole rooftop mini-golf course. It has bars and clubs for every legal passion and proclivity. There are rainbow benches and staircases. A massive central courtyard full of men dancing to a Lady Gaga tribute band or remixed versions of a Journey medley from the television show Glee or the Brokeback Mountain theme. There are competing drag comedy shows, sports bars where the sport is Eurovision (a pan-European song competition known for its over-the-top kitsch), and drink specials so extreme that beer can be cheaper than water. Every inch of Yumbo is lathered in camp surprises: a spa where fish can nibble customers' feet, bars themed around gladiators or pirates, a bar that raised $68,000 to train seeing-eye dogs, restaurant menus with as many as 229 dishes and a dizzying array of chaotic bric-a-brac including an inspirational Beyoncé mug, rainbow mankinis, bobbleheads of Princess Diana, a Palestinian fútbol jersey, fur coats, a $850 crystalline Hulk beside a $570 crystalline Chewbacca, homoerotic sculptures, suggestive chefs' aprons, and rainbow sunglasses that read 'I LOVE MY GAY.' But yumberos can still buy on-trend clothes including good boy shirts, letterman jackets, neckerchiefs, and rompers. Plus, vending machines sell adult unmentionables as casually as bags of potato chips. Its eclecticism reminds yumberos that queerness is free to be whatever queer people want it to be. Cloning curdles gay travel too, homogenizing destinations into the same bougie beach blur. Yumbo, by sharp contrast, sticks out like a sore thumb. And yet its chiefly European crowds are choosing Yumbo over continental queer hubs like Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Madrid, and Mykonos. 'I can't stand gay people who think they're richer than everyone else,' says Mohamed Drifel, 36, a hammam manager from Marseilles. 'I like simple people in a simple place. The people here are simple. We're all the same, and I like that.' Most yumberos arrive by bus; it costs $3.95 from the nearest airport. Last year, 60 percent of the island's tourists made between $28,000 and $85,000. They even win over the locals. 'From the moment I enter Yumbo, I put on my shirt so no one will think I am for anything strange,' laughs Luis Paredes, 45, a local nurse. 'I associate it with something grotesque, a little decadent, and quite tacky.' He pauses. 'But it can be fun.' His pause breaks into a smile, remembering his second-ever boyfriend, who he met in Yumbo. 'In general,' he says, 'yumberos are respectful—even if they are uninhibited. That's a rare combination.' A shared paradise Yumbo's bars are themed with a European candor: Eiffel bar for Francophiles, Bärenhöhle for Germans, Club Mykonos for Greeks, Ola Nordmann for Norwegians. Corey Vuhlo, 37, a supply chain worker from Berlin, recalled working in lederhosen in the German section of Disney's Epcot Center, where he defied tourists' expectations as a Black German. 'Similar people come here, of course,' he says over a Burger King lunch, 'but more chill. Friendlier.' His friend Mucho ('he's a lot') piped up: 'The only thing better than smooth talkers are the rough ones.' Vuhlo laughed and continued: 'It's nice to see gay life as more open-minded. Not so fussy. It's kinda trashy here in a fun way. It's so '80s.' That '80s vibe might be intentional, guesses Alonso Santa Cruz, 32, an anthropologist from Seville, over beers. Any sanctuary Yumbo offered after its 1982 debut was immediately dimmed by the early, merciless years of the AIDS epidemic.'It's a bit of a theme park for older generations that couldn't have possibly had this in the '80s or '90s,' he says. 'It's really harmonious. Not peace exactly, but truce. It's like a shared paradise. Every group has their own heaven but here is a heaven for all.' Of course, Yumbo is not immune to criticism, as a French lesbian couple attested while passing Tom's Bar, a Yumbo hub that bans women and drag queens but welcomes dogs. 'Yumbo is a physical manifestation of the LGBT community,' says Cristina Agüimes, 29, a physical therapist from Lyon. 'Tell me. Where do lesbians go?' she asks. 'We have almost nothing. This is better than nothing. It's not paradise. But it's a start.' For all its camp distractions, Yumbo is a reminder that while the straight world defines travel as a fantasy, pilgrimage or escape, queer people have remade travel as a double-down embrace of their true selves, the adventure within, free from the pervasive anxiety of navigating the infinite obstacle course for otherness. 'As gay people, we're always coming out,' says Alan Thompson, 44, a personal trainer from Glasgow. He moved to the Yumbo area last year with his husband, Derec. They got engaged at Yumbo in 2018, sharing the stage with drag queens Michael Marouli and The Vivienne. 'In Yumbo,' he continues, 'you can stop coming out. It's so freeing. We're so happy to live in the Yumbo bubble as we see gay rights go backwards back home and around the world.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NOW OPEN: The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge Unleashes at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
North America's longest family inverted coaster features more than 2,500 feet of track at speeds up to 40 miles per hour making it the ultimate family-friendly attraction DOWNLOAD MEDIA ASSETS HERE WILLIAMSBURG, Va., May 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Busch Gardens Williamsburg is unleashing its newest and most immersive family attraction – The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge – opening today to all guests. North America's longest family inverted coaster delivers a highly immersive and thematic experience, where families are swept into a world of unparalleled excitement. Set in a bustling Bavarian village, the celebration quickly turns into chaos as glowing red eyes and bone-chilling howls signal the return of a terrifying creature. Riders dash through more than 2,500 feet of track at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. With its thrilling yet accessible design, this ride is perfect for kids, with a minimum height of 42 inches tall when accompanied by a supervising companion and 48 inches without, ensuring everyone can enjoy this coaster together. Members had the exclusive opportunity to be the first to ride over this past week, and the reviews were enthusiastic, with many eager to ride again and share the experience. Now, the park is excited to open the ride to all guests so everyone can see what the buzz is about. The Virginia park celebrated with a Grand Opening Ceremony, complete with a ribbon cutting, ceremonial first ride and a DJ dance party. Wolf Scouts from the Colonial Virginia Council of Scouting America joined local dignitaries and Busch Gardens leadership for the inaugural ride. "Last weekend, we gave our Members the opportunity to preview The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge during our 50th anniversary celebration, and they loved it," said Kevin Lembke, President of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA. "The return of the iconic wolf, paired with the nostalgia of our park's history, struck a real chord with guests, and the early reactions have been enthusiastic across the board. It's the perfect opportunity for thrill seekers of all ages to create new memories together." LIMITED-TIME MEMORIAL DAY SALE!For a limited time, save up to 35% on Fun Cards and Memberships: Fun Card: Unlimited visits to rides, shows and seasonal events throughout 2025. Membership: Unlimited visits for 12 months, plus FREE parking, up to 8 FREE guest tickets, VIP events, and exclusive discounts on merchandise, Quick Queue and more! For more information on The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge and Membership, visit and follow Busch Gardens on social media @BuschGardensVA. About Busch Gardens WilliamsburgBusch Gardens® Williamsburg is an action-packed European-themed adventure park, boasting more than 100 acres of family fun. Home to top-rated roller coasters, more than 50 rides and attractions, award-winning entertainment, and signature events throughout the year. For more information, visit Busch Gardens is part of the United Parks & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PRKS) portfolio of theme park brands. For more information, visit us at Media Contact: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bromley Library to host cinema event this weekend with celebrity guest and tea party
Bromley Library is set to host a cinema event today aimed at introducing the world of film to young people and their families. Small World Cinema has been taking place at Bromley Library for the last decade since first beginning in 2015. This popular film club and festival aims at introducing young people to classic world cinema in a 'fun' and 'interactive way'. This popular film club and festival aims at introducing young people to classic world cinema in a 'fun' and 'interactive way'. (Image: Small World Cinema) Taking place today (March 29) from 11am until 3:30pm, the event will be hosted in Bromley's Central Library with a line-up of screenings and activities all themed around films, as well as a European-themed tea party with the day ending with a screening of French feature film 'Chicken for Linda'. The event will also feature Great British Bake Off Finalist and Bromley local Christiaan de Vries who will be contributing a cake to the European Tea Party cake sale. The programme will feature children's cinema from around the world, with relaxed screenings to help bring film to all audiences. The event will be hosted in Bromley's Central Library with a line-up of screenings and activities all themed around films. (Image: Small World Cinema) A statement on Small World Cinema website read: 'Small World Cinema events are relaxed and open to everyone. We especially welcome children and young people with additional needs, who may find it hard to visit a regular cinema. 'Each film is accompanied by a creative activity to suit a wide range of abilities and to enhance awareness of certain elements in a film. 'There has never been a more important time to promote and encourage inclusion and togetherness. 'We hope that by watching films from all over the globe our children will not only be entertained but also educated about the world around them.' Tickets to enter cost £3 and can be secured via Eventbrite with all proceeds going towards the Family Film Club.
The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
US wine sellers and bars nervously wait for tariff decision: ‘It's a sad situation'
As the threat of exorbitant US tariffs on European alcohol imports looms, a warehouse in the French port city of Le Havre awaits a delivery of more than 1,000 cases of wine from a dozen boutique wineries across the country. Under normal circumstances, Randall Bush, the founder of Loci Wine in Chicago, would have already arranged with his European partners to gather these wines in Le Havre, the last stop before they are loaded into containers and shipped across the Atlantic. But these wines won't be arriving stateside anytime soon. After the Trump administration threatened on 13 March to impose 200% tariffs on alcoholic products from Europe, many US importers like Bush have halted all outgoing shipments from Europe. The 1,100 cases of his wine, from family-owned producers in his company's modest European portfolio, have already been paid for. But due to the tariff threat, they will remain stranded at their respective domaines at least until 2 April when the Trump administration is expected to reveal a 'reciprocal tariff number' for each of its global trading partners. The newfound uncertainty around tariffs has many restaurant owners, beverage directors, liquor distributors and wine importers on edge in recent weeks. The only certainty among the trade professionals interviewed is that a 200% tariff would be catastrophic for the wine and spirits industry globally. And while most believe the actual number will end up much lower, everyone agrees that even modest tariffs would send shock waves throughout the entire food and beverage ecosystem, weakening distribution channels and further driving up already astronomical prices. 'What scares me is how these hypothetical tariffs would affect [the many] European-themed restaurants like French bistros, Italian trattorias and German beer halls,' said Richard Hanauer, wine director and partner with Lettuce Entertain You. The Chicago-based group owns, manages and licenses more than 130 restaurants and 60 brands in a dozen different states and Washington DC. Hanauer predicts that concept-driven eateries that rely on European products would have to source wine and spirits from other regions because 'the consumer is not going to accept the markup'. Even though Trump has been known to walk back dubious claims about tariffs before, the wine and spirits industry is taking this recent threat very seriously. Most American importers, such as Loci's Bush, are adhering to the US Wine Trade Alliance's (USWTA) guidance issued in mid-March warning its members to cease wine shipments from Europe. Without guarantees that any potential tariffs would come with a notice period or exemptions for wines shipped prior to their announcement, the organization had no choice but to advise its constituents to halt all EU wine shipments. 'Once the wine is on the water, we have no power,' said Bush. 'We're billed by our shippers as soon as the wine arrives.' Tariffs are import taxes incurred by the importer and paid as a percentage of the value of the freight at the point of entry upon delivery. Since shipments from Europe can often take up to six to eight weeks to arrive, firms like Loci face the predicament of not knowing how much they will owe to take delivery of their products when they reach US ports. 'We've had many US importers tell us that even a 50% unplanned tariff could bankrupt their businesses, so we felt we had no choice,' said Benjamin Aneff, president of the USWTA, of the organization's injunction. 'It's a sad situation. These are mostly small, family-owned businesses.' Europe's wineries can also ill afford to be dragged into a trade war with the United States. According to the International Trade Center, the US comprises almost 20% of the EU's total wine exports, accounting for a total of $14.1bn (€13.1bn) of exported beverage, spirit and vinegar products from the EU in 2024. Many independent importers still recall Trump levying $7.5bn of tariffs on exports from the EU during his first presidency, which included 25% duties on Scotch whiskey, Italian cheeses, certain French wines and other goods. These retaliatory measures, which took effect in October 2019, resulted from a years-long trade dispute between the US and the EU over airline subsidies. 'We were hit with duties in late 2019. But we negotiated with a lot of our suppliers, so we were able to stave off any significant price increases,' said André Tamers, the founder of De Maison Selections, a fine-wine importer with a large portfolio of French and Spanish wines and spirits. But because the Covid-19 pandemic hit shortly thereafter, Tamers admitted, it was difficult to gauge the impact of the first round of Trump tariffs. The Biden administration eventually rescinded the measures in June 2021. To pre-empt any potentially disastrous news on the tariff front, many restaurants and bars are ramping up inventory purchases to the extent that their budgets allow. 'We made some large commitments for rosé season,' said Grant Reynolds, co-founder of Parcelle, which has an online wine shop as well as two bars and a bricks-and-mortar retail outlet in Manhattan. 'To whatever we can reasonably afford, we've decided to secure those commitments sooner than later so that we can better weather the storm.' The same is true for many cocktail-focused bars around the country, which are looking to shore up supplies of popular spirits that could end up a victim of tariffs, including allocated scotches and rare cognacs. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'If it becomes very apparent that these tariffs are going to go live, we could be looking at dropping close to $100,000 on inventory just to insulate ourselves because it will save us so much money over the next six months,' said Deke Dunne, beverage director of Washington DC's award-winning cocktail bar Allegory. 'It will have to be a game-time decision, though, because the last thing I want to do is to buy up a lot of inventory I don't need.' Hanauer said that he's seen some vendors offering wine buyers heavy discounts and incentives to stockpile cases of European products to prepare for the possibility of onerous tariffs. One bar owner feeling a little less panic compared with his industry counterparts is Fred Beebe, co-owner of Post Haste, a sustainability-minded cocktail bar in Philadelphia. Since it opened in 2023, Post Haste eschews imported spirits of any kind; the bar is stocked exclusively with US products from east of the Mississippi River. 'We always thought it would be advantageous to have our producers close to us for environmental reasons and to support the local economy,' said Beebe, 'but we didn't necessarily think that it would also benefit from fluctuations in distribution or global economic policy.' Instead of serving popular European liquor brands such as Grey Goose vodka or Hendrick's gin, the bar highlights local craft distillers such as Maggie's Farm in Pittsburgh, which produces a domestic rum made from Louisiana sugar cane. After the recent tariff threats, Beebe says, the decision to rely on local products has turned out to be fortuitous. 'I feel really bad for anyone who is running an agave-based program, a tequila or mezcal bar,' said Beebe. 'They must be worried constantly about whether the price of all of their products are going to go up by 25% to 50%.' On the importing side, there is agreement that this is an inopportune moment for the wine industry to face new headwinds. Wine consumption has steadily declined in the United States in recent years as gen Z and millennial consumers are turning to cannabis, hard seltzers and spirits such as tequila, or simply embracing sobriety in greater numbers. 'Unfortunately, the reality is that wine consumption was already down before this compared to what it was five years ago,' said Reynolds. 'This obviously doesn't help that. So, with more tariffs, you would start to see a greater shift of behaviors away from drinking wine.' But despite slumping sales and the impending tariff threats, niche importers like Tamers say they have little choice but to stay the course. 'You leave yourself vulnerable, but if you don't buy wine, then you don't have any wine to sell. So, it's a double-edged sword,' he said. 'Our customers are still asking for these products, so there's not much else we can do.' Aneff hopes that commonsense negotiations will lead to both parties divorcing alcohol tariffs from other trade disputes over aluminum, steel and digital services. 'I do have some hope for a potential sectoral agreement on wine, and perhaps spirits, which would benefit domestic producers and huge numbers of small businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,' he said. 'I can't think of anything that would bring more joy to people's glasses than ensuring free trade on wine.'
