Jêle Café

The owner, a passionate and friendly man, makes Jêle a welcome spot to all who enter. I happened upon his café as I was dawdling around Basel, as I am wont to do, and was quite pleased to have found it. As I arrived, acoustic music filled the small space and a few folk were sat around tables enjoying the folksy refrain of a young woman performing her own songs.
One can order coffee, tea, soda, wine or champagne at Jêle. There were pastries on display as well as a savory treat resembling quiche. I opted only for a cappuccino and needed to add sugar to get it down. As the café has only been open since last July, the owner is still in the process of shaping the place up into what he wants it to become. He has already planned to have monthly readings (by local writers) and live music. I got the sense while chatting with him – he’s lovely at small talk – that he’d like to see Jêle become a salon of sorts where folk come together to discuss ideas and share thoughts about politics, art, music, etc. I think it’s a grand idea and wish, in part, that I lived either closer to Jêle or that Jêle were here in ZH, so that I could partake with some regularity.
A few other things learned while enjoying an afternoon at Jêle:
Zaza, a language spoken by an ethnic minority living in Eastern Turkey, was, until about 30 years ago, an oral language only. The name of the café, Jêle, is the name of a goddess in the Zaza culture who is the equivalent of Demeter, goddess of the harvest. I’m also fairly sure that if one were to express an interest in learning Zaza, then that could well be arranged. Just pop into Jêle and make yourself acquainted!
I didn’t find a website for the café, but I did find its FB page: