Hideaway Coffee
Interview | Linnea Hopfenbeck
Cris was working on just the other side of the road at a competing cafe before he applied to work at the place he’d come to own. “I knew everyone, all the regulars,” he says down the phone, and even though I can’t see him I have a feeling he’s smiling. He worked opposite Hideaway Coffee House for three years before Covid came and shut it down. It was when the world started opening up again, as he was walking around the area he had worked for so long, that he saw that Hideaway, tucked into a quiet, fairytale-esque alcove in Soho, was hiring. With his experience, his knowledge of the area, and the owners being young people like himself, he got the job. Not only that, soon he was manager.
Yet after him and his girlfriend had managed the cafe for over three years, he became restless. Having grown up in Venezuela, he missed hot summers and blue waters. He wanted sun, and beaches. He wanted to leave. Spain was on top of the list, and the Canary Islands seemed like a good option. He even went to see whether it could be his future home. But the Canary Islands were quiet, which was one thing he loved that London wasn’t. So, he thought maybe he’d stay. But he still wanted change. “I wanted to do my own thing.” he says. So he went to the owners and told them he’d like to be a shareholder. In a strange turn of luck, the owners wanted to move on. They offered him not just a share, but to take over the cafe completely. It would stay in safe hands, and stay independent. It would be his. After a year of negotiations, it was made official in November 2023. “We’re still super good friends.” Cris tells me, referencing the previous owners. Since, Cris has continued to update the cafe, from equipment, menu and organisation. “It’s amazing,” he says, about changes that were talked about for years, and then being able to see them happen, “it makes a huge difference.”
But the focus, and the joy has stayed the same. Hideaway is about top-quality, fast coffee, but from real, caring people. When talking about independent cafe’s, Cris is passionate; “It’s really hard to find in Central London” he says. “I started going to other coffee shops and realised how disconnected the service is from the customers.” At Hideaway, things are different. After years of management and now running the business, Cris is still there to make the coffee, meet the customer, and get to know them. When asked what his favourite part of working at the cafe was, his answer was clear; “Serving the people. Just serving. Being in contact with other people, the human aspect. I don’t see them as customers, I see them as friends.”
Hideaway Coffee | W1D 7DP