Life Conversations: Meet the men who set up Pause - a new cafe and espresso bar in Lagos

There is a new espresso bar in Lagos, it is called Pause with the interesting tagline 'Never stop.'

An espresso bar typically sells different coffees and sandwiches, but this one has many more things on their menu.

I met Tony Khoury and Salim Abdelnour - the partners running the latest espresso bar at Palms Mall Oniru, Lagos.

It took a long time to strategize and plan the business. Here is how my conversation with Tony went;

When did you get the idea to set this up?

At the beginning of last year, we were looking to set up a business in Lagos.

How has the experience running the bar been so far?

"The customer love the branding and the interior, it gives them a feeling as if they are overseas or in France.

"The general idea is just coming here to grab something to eat on the go, not waiting for long and, being served by a friendly face. "

"But we are in Lagos, and they love to have meals like jollof rice so, we are trying to add more bulk to our diet - like some ham and chicken."

The idea behind the business name “pause”?

"No matter what you are doing in life, you have to pause.

The whole idea was a comfortable place where people can get away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Lagos - to pause and relax and be refreshed.

We did some surveys on the kind of names Nigerians like. We wanted to use a French name, but we discovered that Nigerians were colonized by Britain and would not like a French name, so we decided to go with Pause because it means the same thing in French and English."

"I also thought of calling it a bistro, but that felt more like food in the evenings."

Do you do deliveries?

"Yes, deliveries are pivotal to the business, very soon we would start. We also want to have an app where you can order from. There will be specials and breakfast of the day. That kind of stuff."

Setting up the business

When setting up this espresso bar, Tony was very particular about the kind of bar it should be; He took his time when selecting the staff and equipment. He wanted only the best.

Read my review of the restaurant here.