what makes a city livable?
samovar, a teahouse at port grand, karachi was born out of the desire to have
a place where you could breathe, talk, and sip tea.
it was conceived to be a place for conversations, built around tea, traveling and destinations.
the journey started with the name.
Samovar's first sketch was done gratis by a friend, and then an architecture student at Indus Valley, Sophia Rehman
The earliest 3D rendering of Samovar as Chenak, by an architectural design studio
Photo Courtesy: Food Connection Pakistan
Samovar's first sketch was done gratis by a friend, and then an architecture student at Indus Valley, Sophia Rehman
from conception, to existence
/ SAMOVAR TEA & COFFEE HOUSE
i. from Chenak, to Samovar
the tea house was slated to be called chenak, named after the ubiquitous, colourful tin teapots found at roadside tea stalls.
the first logo, therefore, had the name chenak in persian script. that, however, could have been a barrier for samovar's potential customers who may not have been able to read the persian script. chenak was then spelled in english.
chenak, however, turned out to be the name of a loose tea brand by a local company. to avoid future legal complications, it was decided to change the name, and hence, samovar was born.
iii. menus, maps
the earliest rendition of chenak, a cafe with seating space, was done by a friend gratis. but once the location at port grand was confirmed, an architectural studio was hired to help design the stall which would serve as a take-away tea stall.
the design went through various revisions, until a clean, black and cream minimalist stall was finalised. ten days before the opening, we were offered seating space as well.
the journey can be seen in the slideshow above.
Created by Amna Iqbal, Creative Head at The Express Tribune, Samovar's conceptual menu, in the shape of a map, with teas as destinations
The front side of a trifold menu, in the shape of a map
Samovar's entire range of teas, at present
Created by Amna Iqbal, Creative Head at The Express Tribune, Samovar's conceptual menu, in the shape of a map, with teas as destinations
samovar's menu was conceived as a map, with teas as destinations.
all teas at the onset were inspired by destinations the owner had travelled to, or studied very closely.
the menu map has been through several revisions since then. some pleasant, others not so much.
conceptually, the menu map is open-ended. tea flavours, as and when incorporated, can be added to the menu map as a new destination.
ii. from paper, to
the port
