During the revolution, the red letters outlined in gold at the entrance were a refuge. When in 2011 the Egyptian revolt toured the streets of Egypt and filled Tahrir Square a thousand times, the protesters who ran ahead of the uniformed or rival factions knew that, just a few streets from the epicenter of the fighting, there was an oasis of peace.
More than one Western activist or journalist was saved from a shower of stones thanks to the speed of the Café Riche waiters, who lowered the metal shutters on the windows just in time to turn the legendary restaurant into a bunker safe from the fray.
Founded in 1908 next to the Tal El Harb roundabout, the Wust el Balad or Downtown junction, this hundred-year-old restaurant-café is the penultimate vestige of Egypt from the last century and the thirst for freedom that in the 1960s and 1970s brought together artists, journalists and progressive politicians in its private rooms.
Now, sheltered by large windows and a dim light, its walls and corners, where gramophones and old books rest, are a tribute to that happy time: they are decorated with drawings and black and white photos of intellectuals such as the poets Salah Jahin and Amal Donkul, the film director Yusef Chahine or the Egyptian Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Naguib Mahfouz, who frequented the place.
Nostalgic testimony of a buried era, when French-style establishments such as the Belle Jardinière, the Gropi pastry shop or Egyptian movie theaters flourished in the neighborhood, the Café Riche survives the passage of time wrapped in an aroma of elegant decadence.
Proudly Egyptian. Every day, its waiters dressed in blue galabiyas with gold embroidery and white turbans serve delicate dishes of national cuisine such as baba ganoush, lamb kofta or moussaka, as well as the king dessert: rice pudding and raisins.
The legend of the Riche even intersects with the history of the country. Although the current owners –after French and Greek owners, since 1962 the owners have been Egyptian- prefer to keep the anecdote a mystery, it is said that it was at the tables of the Riche where a young Gamal Abdel Nasser planned the Movement of Free Officers, the coup that would put an end to the despotic Faruq I, known as the excessive king for his iron hand and his corruption. After establishing the Republic of Egypt, Nasser ruled from 1956 to 1970.
The historic cafe has also had illustrious visitors such as the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein or the Palestinian nationalist Yasir Arafat who attended the cafe on their visits to the Egyptian capital.
Despite the fact that today progress in Egypt limps along due to the advance of conservative voices, who are rising in the tourism crisis after years of political instability, the pandemic or skyrocketing inflation, the Riche continues to be one of the last strongholds of the secular intelligentsia. Also a meeting place and welcome.
Behind a table full of papers right at the entrance, Magdy Abdel Malik, son of the Egyptian owners, points out that hospitality is a non-negotiable hallmark. “There are clients of all kinds. From locals, to European, American or African tourists”.
At the end of the main room, dotted with wooden tables with blue tablecloths and white stripes, the young Salima and her Cairo boyfriend laugh without a complex.
She is Sudanese and arrived in Cairo three months ago fleeing the war in Khartoum and he, a businessman in the Middle East, has helped more than a hundred relatives and friends from the neighboring country settle in the city. “All of Egypt is full of Sudanese fleeing the conflict, the worst thing is that it doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon.”
If Salima’s loose Afro hair and the couple’s happy cuddling weren’t enough of a sign of freedom in the largest city in the Arab world, there is another detail that exemplifies the liberation of the venue: they both drink beer.
The Riche is licensed to sell alcohol, an extreme that attracts Western tourists and has made it a target of radical fury. The expression “you go to the Café Riche” is popular among hard Muslim groups to make a compatriot ugly for his unfair conduct.
The presence of western families indicates that the Riche is resisting and embracing tourism. After a dramatic drop in the number of visitors due to the revolution and the covid pandemic, Egypt is picking up pace: the country expects to end the year with 15 million visitors, a figure similar to that before the Arab Spring.