Cafe Django

Walking down Kirkwood Avenue, you can find a mix of local eateries and chain restaurants. But just to the north on Grant Street, in an icicle-lit, purple home of a building, you’ll find a different kind of food experience called Cafe Django. \nCafe Django is a jazz bar showcasing local musicians and their performing jazz talents. Although the cafe is coined a jazz bar, all ages can enjoy the live entertainment while dining on Asian-fusion cuisine. \nThe cafe, named after Belgian gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, captures the spirit of a 1940s jazz hangout, complete with mood lighting, an upright piano, a classic microphone stand, posters of jazz greats and old brick walls. The small bar area is just the right size for the area and adds character to the environment. The intimate space has several open rooms, all connected, giving most patrons front-row seating to the live music. \nThose who perform at Django vary in age and experience, but the majority are IU students, such as the Ryan Imboden Quintet, which showcased its talents to a full house last Friday night. \n“Playing here is fun. All of our friends are here and we just have a good time,” said Imboden, a sophomore majoring in jazz. \nThe group, which has played at the cafe several times, says there aren’t a lot of places to play in town for people their age. \n“This place has a really friendly and open atmosphere. All ages can come and it’s a nice place to have a good time and hangout with friends,” said freshman Michael Moynihan, the group’s tenor saxophone player. \nRestaurant attendees, who turn out on performance nights, pay a cover charge of $3, which goes in full to the musicians. \n“This is a good place for students not only to make pocket money but to gain experience,” said the cafe’s owner, Kunyang Norbu. “I wanted to open this as a place for music majors to have gigs, play what they want and get some good experience.\n“This town is filled with so many talented individuals and creative people. We all love music – why not help each other out?”\nNorbu, who has collaborated with others to design her own original recipes, enjoys the art of creating food.\n“I love playing around with food, creating my own dishes,” she said. “It’s full of challenges, but I always look at it in a positive way.” \nThe cuisine is an eclectic mixture of Tibetan, Indian and Thai made to order, mild to extra hot, with several vegan food options. The cafe’s most popular item, “Nutty Noodles,” is a dish made with a choice of meat, sauteed noodles, seasonal vegetables covered with peanut sauce and topped with crushed peanuts for $6.85.\n“This dish was named in honor of one of my favorite former servers,” Norbu said. “His nickname was Nutty and he always put peanut sauce on his sesame noodles, and eventually it caught on, so we made it a dish.”\nThe cafe also has several popular drink options including pumpkin spice cappuccino. The cost of an entree varies, but an average lunch dish will cost about $5, with a dinner dish costing around $10.\n“I really like to eat here,” said senior Alyson Gross, a server at Django. “In the summer the patio is open and my friends and I sit out there at night and drink wine and listen to music.”\nNorbu, who did all the cafe’s interior design, considers it another way to apply her creativity to her business in addition to her culinary art. \n“I had a lot of fun doing it, we put a lot of good energy into the process, and I think people feel that when they walk in,” Norbu said. \nAs an active community member, Norbu has contributed much of her time outside of her restaurant to activities, such as helping to start the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington. Norbu helped found the center with her husband and former IU professor of Tibetan Studies, Thubten Norbu, who is the older brother of the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.\nUntil 1999, Norbu and her husband helped to facilitate the center at 3655 S. Snoddy Road and orchestrated four visits from the Dalai Lama, beginning in 1987, when he came to bless the grounds of Changchub Chorten, the first monument on the site. His most recent visit was in 2003, when he returned to bless the TCC’s Kumbum Chamtse Ling Temple. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to return to Bloomington in October 2007.\nMore recently, Norbu divides her time between her husband and the cafe.\nNorbu, who spends long hours managing her restaurant, explains her dedication to the cafe.\n“In some ways it’s like a child,” she said. “You see it grow, you nurture it, you spend quality time and see it through.”\nCafe Django is located at 116 N. Grant St. It takes reservations for parties of five or more and often works with special events, such as wedding rehearsal dinners, work parties and graduation celebrations.\nThe cafe’s normal business hours are for lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 9:00 a.m. to midnight and Sunday for breakfast and dinner at 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. For more information, call Cafe Django at 812-335-1297.