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The nightlife of the Zeleni venac tavern did not have to wait for the epidemic of kovida 19 and the shortening of working hours to die, it had long been suffocated by the “virus” of the restoration transition that affected the restaurants in the capital at the beginning of the new millennium. Still not giving up. Dozens of cult cafes in all parts of the city, including in the ever-visited and popular “Zelenjak”, have either disappeared or have become gambling houses, pharmacies and a few other shops.
The nightlife in Green Wreath today has been reduced to kiosks with fast food and “fast” drinks. However, this entire area, famous in many ways, was left without a single “real” cafe. At least this is how the belief has taken hold for many years, rarely does anyone remember how long, a kind of pearl of the city’s catering was closed: the restaurant “Ciudad Blanca”. Located on the mezzanine floor of the main Zeleni Venac building, where the pharmacy is now famous, it was a true haven and haven for an unusual group of people, from market vendors to “friends of the night” from a nearby park near the Faculty of Economy, policemen and criminals “lighter”. better known as “silos” or tabadžije, the hanging children who missed the last bus, even the confused passengers waiting for the first train to the “inside” …
Apart from a good commercial position, there was nothing else to enjoy. The buses buzzed all day in the vicinity, so it seemed that each dish was “spiced” a bit with the exhaust gases, as well as that some particles of smog could be found in each drink, because Zeleni venac was the most polluted city even then. And one more thing: it was not a classic night like the one that was done in other taverns in Belgrade at that time, which ran until late at night. This was something like “having to do it”. It is rare that someone comes to “Beli grad” according to a pre-arranged arrangement. It was not entered with that sweet tavern uncertainty, but with the clear understanding that you just have to spend time …
– After all, “Beli grad” was known for incidents, but only in a narrow circle of those who visited him. These “real” scandals were somehow reserved for “decent restaurants” with “decent working hours” and the same kind of guests, because in them everything that happened outside of protocol was remembered and recorded in the newspapers as an instructive example. and a way to increase circulation. Like today, after all – points out our interlocutor “cafanologist” journalist Miloš Lazić.
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The children of New Belgrade, well known in bohemian circles gathered around the “Yugoslavia” hotel, were almost a regular guest of the “White City” due to circumstances that can be assumed. At that time.
– We sit “By the horse” until the end, until they kick us out, until the last chair is turned over and placed on an empty table. Then we cross to “Inex”. He worked an hour longer, but never long enough to have happy company. And there we welcome him to the fajront and say goodbye, each one at his side. Some to the houses, others to the “Last Chance”, and we, the citizens of New Belgrade, to “Zelenjak”. And there are parked buses, dark, engines off. We realize that the last night is gone. A few more dollars in his pockets. We also looked at the address of “Ciudad Blanca”. What else, I guess we won’t walk through Branko’s … And so on until four in the morning, until the first bus in the morning. Those few hours spent in the “White City” were always similar, or rather impersonal, and most of them disappeared from memory very quickly. Nothing unexpected could have happened there except for a few common things: chattering about nothing, short glances from other tables, a song nipped in the bud by already trained and accustomed waiters, some fights that ended with slapping, recalls Cheda.
Ceda’s story is similar to other memories of the restaurant, which was a kind of workplace for many in those years. The tables at this cafe were occupied by market vendors prone to glasses and reluctant to travel home immediately after a workday.
– Patrols of the “people’s militia” passed by, as if to check if everything was in order, and in fact to recover and take a break in the walk through the center. In the last hours, the guests were “friends of the night”, only to warm up a bit in the cold months and gain confidence in themselves to continue the “work”. Well, they were often the cause of disagreements between the muscular “males” anchored in the corners of the “White City,” Cheda recalls.
And just a hundred meters away, at the beginning of Queen Natalija Street, the smells of local cuisine from the “Kragujevac” restaurant spread. Due to the working hours until 10 pm or 11 pm, this cafe was not very tempting for “night birds”, but it was packed with guests throughout the day, right up to the facade, as an ideal place to stop by one before getting on the bus and after hard work. of the day. And as it happens, many in “Kragujevac” also worked overtime …
The nightlife of the tavern used to take place a long time ago and across the street, at the corner of Queen Natalija and Upper Kamenička, in a restaurant that will go down in history as “Golden Cod” . Of course, this café has not existed for a long time, and the memory that Gavrilo Princip and his friends from the “Young Bosnia” organization elaborated in detail and rehearsed the assassination plan of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Ferdinand in 1914 in Sarajevo has been dissipated. Later, this cafe was called “Triglav”, after the bookmaker moved there, and then Chinese merchants tried their luck in business.
Today, two pretty decent cafes live in Zeleni venac. Their problem is that they are located next to the market, so those who do not deal with “counterfeiting” are reluctant to visit them. They are quite empty of guests. Unlike the old “White City” out front, when people lined up for a free table …
“Cafanologist”
The author of the texts on the nightlife of Belgrade cafes received the disinterested and kind help of a colleague from the house “Politika” Miloš Miša Lazić, retired journalist and publicist, author of innumerable newspaper headlines, but also books on food , drink, people, just over coffee, master of writing. words that know life equally well on both sides of the bar … We could hardly find a better interlocutor and “advisor” and it is no coincidence that friends and all who know him often add the term “cafanologist” to his name , alluding to his knowledge. city catering.
Star guests
It is recalled that the Zvezda fans of New Belgrade gathered around the “White City” before each big game: the younger cafes, not very inclined, waited on the plateau above and the “bosses” sat in the restaurant , drinking the last drink in front of football. Megdan with some of the Western European teams, in order to settle the final details of the strategy of cheering on the beloved team. From “Ciudad Blanca” there was a mass movement towards “Marakana”, and the return led back to the same place – to “Ciudad Blanca”, to settle impressions, exchange opinions and, often, cross poems, because someone was always dissatisfied . .
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