When Father Was Away on Business
When Father Was Away on Business is a 1985 Yugoslav film by director Emir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by the Bosnian dramatist Abdulah Sidran, its subtitle is A Historical Love Film and it was produced by Centar Film and Forum, production companies based in Sarajevo. Set in post-World War II Yugoslavia during the Informbiro period, the film tells the story from the perspective of a boy, whose father Meša was sent to a labour camp; when Father Was Away on Business won the Palme d'Or at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In June 1950, a local neighbourhood drunk Čika Franjo serenades field workers, he sings Mexican songs, out of self-preservation, figuring it's safer for him to steer clear of songs originating from either of the two dominant global powers — the United States and Soviet Union — in the current climate of Cold War. Yugoslavia is experiencing a paranoid repressive internal apparatus looking to identify and remove enemies of the state in the wake of the Tito–Stalin Split.
The local children, including Malik, play around. Malik's mother Sena tells him that his father is on a business trip, while Malik is a chronic sleepwalker, his father, communist functionary Meša, was in fact sent to a labour camp by his own brother-in-law, Sena's brother Zijo, who's an higher positioned Communist functionary. Meša had made a remark about a political cartoon regarding the Tito–Stalin Split in the Politika newspaper. After a while, Meša's wife and children rejoin him in Zvornik. Malik meets the daughter of a Russian doctor, he falls in love with her. At the wedding of his maternal uncle Fahro, Malik witnesses his father's affair with a woman pilot, she tries to commit suicide by using a toilet's flush cord. Sena reconciles with her brother Zijah. In The New York Times, Janet Maslin credited the film for " a humorous, richly detailed portrait" of its characters. Time critic Richard Corliss said the film was worth seeing despite the lack of glamorous settings or characters. Variety staff called it "rather witty commentary" and compared it to Czechoslovak comedy films in the 1960s.
In his 2015 Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin awarded it three and a half stars, praising it as "Captivating". In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked it the 26th best film to win the Palme d'Or, citing it for depicting how "humor and the mystical power of family trumps all." When Father Was Away on Business marked Emir Kusturica's first time winning the Palme d'Or, the highest honour at the Cannes Film Festival. He won his second in 1995 for Underground. List of Yugoslavian films List of submissions to the 58th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film When Father Was Away on Business on IMDb When Father Was Away on Business at AllMovie When Father Was Away on Business at Rotten Tomatoes
Restaurant
A restaurant, or an eatery, is a business which prepares and serves food and drinks to customers in exchange for money. Meals are served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants offer take-out and food delivery services, some offer only take-out and delivery. Restaurants vary in appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of cuisines and service models ranging from inexpensive fast food restaurants and cafeterias to mid-priced family restaurants, to high-priced luxury establishments. In Western countries, most mid- to high-range restaurants serve alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine; some restaurants serve all the major meals, such as breakfast and dinner. Other restaurants may only serve a single meal or they may serve two meals; the word derives from the French verb "restaurer" and, being the present participle of the verb, it means "that which restores". The term restaurant was defined in 1507 as a "restorative beverage", in correspondence in 1521 to mean "that which restores the strength, a fortifying food or remedy".
The first use of the word to refer to a public venue where one can order food is believed to be in the 18th century. In 1765, a French chef by the name of A. Boulanger established a business selling soups and other "restaurants". Additionally, while not the first establishment where one could order food, or soups, it is thought to be the first to offer a menu of available choices The "first real restaurant" is considered to have been "La Grande Taverne de Londres" in Paris, founded by Antoine Beauviliers in either 1782 or 1786. According to Brillat-Savarin, this was "the first to combine the four essentials of an elegant room, smart waiters, a choice cellar, superior cooking". In 1802 the term was applied to an establishment where restorative foods, such as bouillon, a meat broth, were served. Restaurants are distinguished in many different ways; the primary factors are the food itself. Beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed, location, service, or novelty themes.
Restaurants range from inexpensive and informal lunching or dining places catering to people working nearby, with modest food served in simple settings at low prices, to expensive establishments serving refined food and fine wines in a formal setting. In the former case, customers wear casual clothing. In the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. At mid- to high-priced restaurants, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, who brings the food when it is ready. After eating, the customers pay the bill. In some restaurants, such as workplace cafeterias, there are no waiters. Another restaurant approach which uses few waiters is the buffet restaurant. Customers serve food onto their own plates and pay at the end of the meal. Buffet restaurants still have waiters to serve drinks and alcoholic beverages. Fast food restaurants are considered a restaurant; the travelling public has long been catered for with ship's messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, travelling restaurants.
Many railways, the world over cater for the needs of travellers by providing railway refreshment rooms, a form of restaurant, at railway stations. In the 2000s, a number of travelling restaurants designed for tourists, have been created; these can be found on trams, buses, etc. A restaurant's proprietor is called a restaurateur, this derives from the French verb restaurer, meaning "to restore". Professional cooks are called chefs, with there being various finer distinctions. Most restaurants will have various waiting staff to serve food and alcoholic drinks, including busboys who remove used dishes and cutlery. In finer restaurants, this may include a host or hostess, a maître d'hôtel to welcome customers and to seat them, a sommelier or wine waiter to help patrons select wines. A new route to becoming a restauranter, rather than working one's way up through the stages, is to operate a food truck. Once a sufficient following has been obtained, a permanent restaurant site can be opened; this trend has become common in the UK and the US.
A chef's table is a table located in the kitchen of a restaurant, reserved for VIPs and special guests. Patrons may be served a themed tasting menu served by the head chef. Restaurants can charge a higher flat fee; because of the demand on the kitchen's facilities, chef's tables are only available during off-peak times. In China, food catering establishments that may be described as restaurants have been known since the 11th century in Kaifeng, China's capital during the first half of the Song dynasty. Growing out of the tea houses and taverns that catered to travellers, Kaifeng's restaurants blossomed into an industry catering to locals as well as people from ot
Alcoholic drink
An alcoholic drink is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. Drinking alcohol plays an important social role in many cultures. Most countries have laws regulating the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages; some countries ban such activities but alcoholic drinks are legal in most parts of the world. The global alcoholic drink industry exceeded $1 trillion in 2014. Alcohol is a depressant, which in low doses causes euphoria, reduces anxiety, improves sociability. In higher doses, it causes drunkenness, unconsciousness, or death. Long-term use can lead to alcohol abuse, physical dependence, alcoholism. Alcohol is one of the most used recreational drugs in the world with about 33% of people being current drinkers; as of 2016 women on average drink 0.7 drinks and males 1.7 drinks a day. In 2015, among Americans, 86% of adults had consumed alcohol at some point, 70% had drunk it in the last year, 56% in the last month.
Alcoholic drinks are divided into three classes—beers and spirits—and their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%. Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggest that intentionally fermented drinks existed at least as early as the Neolithic period. Many animals consume alcohol when given the opportunity and are affected in much the same way as humans, although humans are the only species known to produce alcoholic drinks intentionally. Beer is a beverage fermented from grain mash, it is made from barley or a blend of several grains and flavored with hops. Most beer is carbonated as part of the fermentation process. If the fermented mash is distilled the drink becomes a spirit. In the Andean region, the most common beer is chicha, made from grain or fruits. Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic drink made from any fruit juice. Cider alcohol content varies from 1.2% ABV to 8.5% or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, cider may be called "apple wine".
Mead is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content of mead may range from about 8% ABV to more than 20%; the defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the drink's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. Pulque is the Mesoamerican fermented drink made from the "honey water" of maguey cacti; the drink distilled from pulque is mescal. Wine is a fermented beverage produced from sometimes other fruits. Wine involves a longer fermentation process than beer and a long aging process, resulting in an alcohol content of 9%–16% ABV. "Fruit wines" are made from fruits other than grapes, such as cherries, or apples. Sake is a popular example of "rice wine". Sparkling wine like French Champagne, Catalan Cava or Italian Prosecco can be made by means of a secondary fermentation. A distilled drink or liquor is an alcoholic drink produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables.
Unsweetened, alcoholic drinks that have an alcohol content of at least 20% ABV are called spirits. For the most common distilled drinks, such as whiskey and vodka, the alcohol content is around 40%; the term hard liquor is used in North America to distinguish distilled drinks from undistilled ones. Vodka, baijiu, whiskey and soju are examples of distilled drinks. Distilling eliminates some of the congeners. Freeze distillation concentrates ethanol along with fusel alcohols in applejack. Fortified wine is wine, such as sherry, to which a distilled beverage has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is wine that has had a spirit added to it. Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed, including port, madeira, marsala and the aromatized wine vermouth. Rectified spirit called "neutral grain spirit", is alcohol, purified by means of "rectification"; the term neutral refers to the spirit's lack of the flavor that would have been present if the mash ingredients had been distilled to a lower level of alcoholic purity.
Rectified spirit lacks any flavoring added to it after distillation. Other kinds of spirits, such as whiskey, are distilled to a lower alcohol percentage to preserve the flavor of the mash. Rectified spirit is a clear, flammable liquid that may contain as much as 95% ABV, it is used for medicinal purposes. It may be a grain spirit or it may be made from other plants, it is used in mixed drinks and tinctures, as a household solvent. Alcohol has significant negative health effects, including increased risk of cancer. Negative effects are related to the amount consumed with no safe lower limit seen. Wine, distilled spirits and other alcoholic drinks contain ethyl alcohol and alcohol consumption has short-term psychological and physiological effects on the user. Different concentrations of alcohol in the human body have different effects on a person; the effects of alcohol depend on the amount an individual has drunk, the percentage of alcohol in the wine, beer or spirits and the timespan that the consumption took place, the amount of food eaten and whether an indiv
World War II
World War II known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries; the major participants threw their entire economic and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China, it included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, the only use of nuclear weapons in war. Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with China by 1937, though neither side had declared war on the other. World War II is said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.
From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Finland and the Baltic states. Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, the fall of France in mid 1940, the war continued between the European Axis powers and the British Empire. War in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the long Battle of the Atlantic followed. On 22 June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history; this Eastern Front trapped most crucially the German Wehrmacht, into a war of attrition. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States as well as European colonies in the Pacific. Following an immediate U. S. declaration of war against Japan, supported by one from Great Britain, the European Axis powers declared war on the U.
S. in solidarity with their Japanese ally. Rapid Japanese conquests over much of the Western Pacific ensued, perceived by many in Asia as liberation from Western dominance and resulting in the support of several armies from defeated territories; the Axis advance in the Pacific halted in 1942. Key setbacks in 1943, which included a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, Allied victories in the Pacific, cost the Axis its initiative and forced it into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned toward Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in Central China, South China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands; the war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.
Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, the possibility of additional atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its intention to surrender on 15 August 1945, cementing total victory in Asia for the Allies. Tribunals were set up by fiat by the Allies and war crimes trials were conducted in the wake of the war both against the Germans and the Japanese. World War II changed the political social structure of the globe; the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia.
Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic expansion. Political integration in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and create a common identity; the start of the war in Europe is held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred and the two wars merged in 1941; this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935; the British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the fo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina, known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe, located within the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is largest city. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an landlocked country – it has a narrow coast at the Adriatic Sea, about 20 kilometres long surrounding the town of Neum, it is bordered by Croatia to the north and south. In the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, the northeast is predominantly flatland; the inland, Bosnia, is a geographically larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold and snowy winters. The southern tip, has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography. Bosnia and Herzegovina traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally and the country has a rich history, having been first settled by the Slavic peoples that populate the area today from the 6th through to the 9th centuries.
In the 12th century the Banate of Bosnia was established, which evolved into the Kingdom of Bosnia in the 14th century, after which it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule it remained from the mid-15th to the late 19th centuries. The Ottomans brought Islam to the region, altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country; this was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, it was granted full republic status in the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the republic proclaimed independence in 1992, followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina has grown at double digit rates in recent years. Bosnia and Herzegovina is regionally and internationally renowned for its natural environment and cultural heritage inherited from six historical civilizations, its cuisine, winter sports, its eclectic and unique music and its festivals, some of which are the largest and most prominent of their kind in Southeastern Europe.
The country is home to three main ethnic groups or constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second, Croats third. A native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. Minorities, defined under the constitutional nomenclature "Others", include Jews, Poles and Turks. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. However, the central government's power is limited, as the country is decentralized and comprises two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, with a third unit, the Brčko District, governed under local government; the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 cantons. Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks in terms of human development, has an economy dominated by the industry and agriculture sectors, followed by the tourism and service sectors; the country has a social security and universal healthcare system, primary- and secondary-level education is tuition-free.
It is a member of the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, PfP, CEFTA, a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean upon its establishment in July 2008. The country is a potential candidate for membership to the European Union and has been a candidate for NATO membership since April 2010, when it received a Membership Action Plan; the first preserved acknowledged mention of Bosnia is in De Administrando Imperio, a politico-geographical handbook written by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in the mid-10th century describing the "small land" of "Bosona". The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could derive from Illyrian *"Bass-an-as"), which would derive from the Proto-Indo-European root "bos" or "bogh"—meaning "the running water". According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia "adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna and themselves Bosniaks ".
The name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stjepan Vukčić Kosača's title, "Herceg of Hum and the Coast". Hum Zahumlje, was an early medieval principality, conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century; the region was administered by the Ottomans as the Sanjak of Herzegovina within the Eyalet of Bosnia up until the formation of the short-lived Herzegovina Eyalet in the 1830s, which remerged in the 1850s, after which the entity became known as Bosnia and Herzegovina. On initial proclamation of independence in 1992, the country's official name was the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina but following the 1995 Dayton Agreement and the new constitution that accompanied it the official name was changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia has been inhabited by humans since at least the Neolithic age; the earliest Neolithic population became known in the Antiquity as the Illyrians. Celtic migrations in the 4th century BC were notable. Concrete historical e
? (bistro)
"?" is the oldest traditional tavern in Belgrade, Serbia. Located at 6 Kralja Petra Street, the building is nearly 200 years old. One of the city's best known landmarks, "?" offers traditional Balkan cuisine with starogradska music played. The building, in which the kafana is located, was built in 1823, it was built by the diplomat and merchant Naum Ičko, on orders and with funds provided by the Prince of Serbia Miloš Obrenović I. Ičko was son of a noted diplomat, it was designed by an unnamed Greek architect and was built by the builders from Greece, commemorated by the inscription on the wall above the preserved, old table from this period. Prince Miloš awarded it to his personal doctor Toma Kostić known as Ećim Toma for his efforts during the Second Serbian Uprising. Realizing its favourable location, Ećim Toma soon converted the property into a hospitality establishment that became known around town as Tomina kafana, "Ećim Toma's kafana". During early 1830s, the kafana was frequented by famous Serbian linguist and language reformer Vuk Stefanović Karadžić.
It was named "Serbian kafana" and in 1878, the name was changed to Kod pastira. It got its present unusual name in 1892, during a dispute with the Serbian Orthodox Church authorities over the new owner Ivan Pavlović's intention to change its name to Kod Saborne crkve, which the church authorities vehemently protested, not keen on seeing the cathedral referenced as part of a kafana's name. So, as a temporary solution, the tavern's owner put a question mark on the door, it soon became the official name of the place. For a while, out of respect for the nearby church, smoking was prohibited inside the tavern, but this didn't last. In the post-World War II period, the bistro was still owned by Ivan Pavlović, but communist Yugoslav authorities nationalized the property in 1959 placing it under the administration of the state owned company UTP Varoš Kapija in 1962. Sometime during the next thirty years it was declared a heritage spot and given landmark protection by the City of Belgrade's Landmark Office.
"?" was added to the Protected Monuments of Culture list by the Republic of Serbia in 1981. Talk of re-privatizing the nationalized property first started in 2003; the tender auction of UTP Varoš Kapija, which administered tavern "?" was scheduled for 25 November 2004. The starting value of the property was set at €2,500 per square meter; the tender was annulled as the building, in which the restaurant is located, is protected by the state since 1946 and, as such, can't become a private property. Strong resistance from the tavern's employees, from various public figures, from some civil groups, paid off in February 2007 when the Government of Serbia decided to exempt the restaurant from the privatization process and signed it over to city administration as a heritage spot. A petition, signed by 2,563 people, called for the privatization to be stopped. In May 2017, the Serbian Ministry of Finance confirmed the earlier Agency for Restitution's decision to award the ownership of "?" to the descendants of Ivan Pavlovic, the property's owner from 1892 until 1959 when the property got nationalized.
One of the descendants said that they don't plan to change the purpose of the building but that he can't guarantee that one of them will decide otherwise. The Company Varoš Kapija said that several celebrities and artists wanted to take the kafana from them, either claiming they are the descendants of the original owners or wishing to buy the venue; the company filed a complaint asking for the annulment of the decision, claiming it has paid for the premises to the state and to the descendants. The house was built in Balkan manner by “the Greek builders”, it was constructed in “bondruk” manner, with asymmetrically built interior and two bay windows on the main façade. It has ground floor and upper storey, it is situated toward the street and the lot depth occupies a garden and a yard. The basement was built from bricks and it has two massive vaults of 6x12m; the ground floor is arranged asymmetrically, consisting of three 4 x 9m, 2.5 x 4.5m and 7 x 7m chambers. The upper storey has six chambers: large 9 x 3m hall, two 5 x 5m symmetrically positioned rooms, forming bay windows over viewing the street, a 3.5 x 4m room and a 4 x 3m kitchen, with auxiliary room of 2.5 x 2.5m.
Arrangement of rooms has remained unchanged despite of certain partition works in the ground floor. At first, it was called “Kod Pastira“ it was named “Kod Saborne Crkve” in 1892 but not for long; this name was neither in compliance with the Decree about Taverns, nor with a position of church authorities, who found this to be insulting for the Church. The owner put out just a question mark "?" as a temporary solution and as sign of protest as well until dispute with authorities was resolved. This name remained to this day. National restaurants — list of traditional restaurants by Tourist Organization of Belgrade "?" nije pod znakom pitanja — article on privatization of restaurant "?"@TripAdvisor "?"@Foursquare
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that serves coffee, related coffee drinks, – depending on country – other drinks including alcoholic. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks such as iced tea. A coffeehouse may serve some type of food, such as light snacks, muffins or other pastries. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to large multinational corporations. While café may refer to a coffeehouse, the term "cafe" refers to a diner, British cafe, "greasy spoon", transport cafe, teahouse or tea room, or other casual eating and drinking place. A coffeehouse may share some of the same characteristics of a bar or restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. Many coffeehouses in the Middle East and in West Asian immigrant districts in the Western world offer shisha, flavored tobacco smoked through a hookah. Espresso bars are a type of coffeehouse that specializes in serving espresso and espresso-based drinks. From a cultural standpoint, coffeehouses serve as centers of social interaction: the coffeehouse provides patrons with a place to congregate, read, entertain one another, or pass the time, whether individually or in small groups.
Since the development of Wi-Fi, coffeehouses with this capability have become places for patrons to access the Internet on their laptops and tablet computers. A coffeehouse can serve as an informal club for its regular members; as early as the 1950s Beatnik era and the 1960s folk music scene, coffeehouses have hosted singer-songwriter performances in the evening. The most common English spelling, café, is the French and Spanish spelling, was adopted by English-speaking countries in the late-19th century; as English makes little use of diacritics, anglicisation tends to omit them and to place the onus on the readers to remember how it is pronounced without the presence of the accent. Thus the spelling cafe has become common in English-language usage throughout the world for the less formal, i.e. "greasy spoon" variety. The Italian spelling, caffè, is sometimes used in English. In southern England around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was facetiously altered to and spelt caff; the English words coffee and café derive from the Italian word for coffee, caffè—first attested as caveé in Venice in 1570—and in turn derived from Arabic qahwa.
The Arabic term qahwa referred to a type of wine, but after the wine ban by Islam, the name was transferred to coffee because of the similar rousing effect it induced. European knowledge of coffee came through European contact with Turkey via Venetian-Ottoman trade relations; the English word café to describe a restaurant that serves coffee and snacks rather than the word coffee that describes the drink, is derived from the French café. The first café is believed to have opened in France in 1660; the translingual word root /kafe/ appears in many European languages with various naturalized spellings, including. Coffeehouses in Mecca became a concern of imams who viewed them as places for political gatherings and drinking, they were banned for Muslims between 1512 and 1524. The Ottoman chronicler İbrahim Peçevi reports in his writings about the opening of the first coffeehouse in Istanbul: Until the year 962, in the High, God-Guarded city of Constantinople, as well as in Ottoman lands coffee and coffee-houses did not exist.
About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo and a wag called Shams from Damascus came to the city. Various legends involving the introduction of coffee to Istanbul at a "Kiva Han" in the late-15th century circulate in culinary tradition, but with no documentation; the 17th century French traveler and writer Jean Chardin gave a lively description of the Persian coffeehouse scene: People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all freedom and without being fearful, since the government does not heed what the people say. Innocent games... resembling checkers and chess, are played. In addition, mollas and poets take turns telling stories in verse or in prose; the narrations by the mollas and the dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous not to pay attention to them. No one is forced to give up his conversation because of it. A molla will stand up in the middle, or at one end of the qahveh-khaneh, begin to preach in a loud voice, or a dervish enters all of a sudden, chastises the assembled on the vanity of the world and its material goods.
It happens that two or three people talk at the same time, one on one side, the other on the opposite, sometimes one will be a preacher and the other a storyteller. In the 17th century, coffee appeared for the first time in Europe outside the Ottoman Empire, coffeehouses were established, soon becoming popular; the first coffeehouses appeared in Venice in 1629, due to the traffic between La Serenissima and the Ottomans. The first coffeehouse in England was set up in Oxford in 1650 by a Jewish man named Jacob at the Angel in the parish of St Peter in
