Shanghai's ultimate F1 cafe
Take the driver's seat at 1933's Ann Cafe
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Itching to make like an F1 driver after all the buzz about the upcoming Shanghai leg of the F1 World Championships? A tiny café in 1933 (the city’s beloved slaughterhouse-turned-creative complex) lets you take the driver’s seat -- literally.
What sets Ann Café apart from other coffee joints dotting Shanghai are its stylish red and black leather F1 car seats from German premium seat manufacturer Recaro, a company that also makes seats for airplanes, sports and luxury car brands such as Porsche and F1 cars.
Expensive chairs, cheap coffee
The café’s owners are a 30-something Shanghainese couple, Ann Jiang -- who gave the café its name -- and Owen Zhang, who met while they were studying abroad in Australia.
When the opportunity arose for them to open a café two years ago, the ardent F1 fans decided to let people enjoy lingering over an inexpensive cup of coffee in expensive seats.
According to the café’s manager, Shine Xia, the racing shell seats cost about RMB 8,000 each and are directly imported from Germany.
As the seats were too low for the coffee tables, the owners had to send them to a local factory to have steel legs added on. A chance to sit in them, however, costs only RMB 18 -- the price of a cup of Illy espresso.
“The chairs are designed to fit the body’s contours very well -- customers can come here after a busy day and feel relaxed immediately,” said Xia, who cites white-collar workers, creative types working nearby and foreign tourists as her regular clientele.
A notice board near the entrance covered with Post-its and Polaroids left by customers is testament to the café’s popularity.
“Though the chairs are quite basic, at least compared to many of the F1 racing seats, they are very durable and easy to clean,” added Xia.
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Indeed, the seats with nary a scratch or tear could pass for brand new, despite having been around for two years, the benefit of technology fit for F1 cars.
Besides the café, F1 fans can make a pilgrimage to the Ferrari store nearby or linger at the doors of the Ferrari Owners' Club on the second floor. The club catering to China’s 600 or so Ferrari owners has a strict members-only entry policy but, well, one can live vicariously.
