Ooh la la: ‘Café culture’ comes to Aberdeen

‘Café culture’ is on trial Aberdeen, with shop owners and professionals aiming to turn the city centre into a little Paris.

Belmont Street and Gaelic Lane are now closed to traffic between 11am and 6pm for seven days a week, allowing flâneurs and loafers to sip hazelnut macchiatos in peace.

Chic outlets now have tables and chairs out on the street, allowing hipsters free reign to use their macs and write novels, poetry and screenplays under the warm comfort of the northern sun.

The outdoor seating started on the 3rd of August, and if it proves successful after the three month trial period may become a permanent fixture.

There’s apparently even free Wi-Fi.

Marie Boutlon, Deputy Leader of Aberdeen Council, said: “There are cities in Scotland and others all over northern Europe with a similar climate to Aberdeen which have a strong and vibrant café culture – that’s what we’d love to help create here.”

Families and friends out dining and drinking al fresco will now be commonplace to the cosmopolitan Aberdeen atmosphere –  Madrid, Lisbon and Berlin, eat your heart out.

Jamie Hutcheon, director of Cocoa Ooze on Belmont Street, said: “We have been approached by many of our loyal customers asking why we didn’t have any tables and chairs outside for them to enjoy their drinks and lunches while taking in the atmosphere of the hustle and bustle of a lively street.

“They often ask us why it is such a strong culture in other cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow but in Aberdeen we are left with very few choices.”

On the first day of the street closure Hutcheon experienced a 45 per cent rise in sales and the changes have proved hugely popular with shop owners.

During the day, people will be flooding Instagram with artsy filtered snaps of books, cappuccino’s and coffee art.

But there’s still the guarantee of Siberian Vodka Bar and Revolution hosting a mass of us getting hammered by night, and stumbling down this little slice of Europe on our way to the club.