I first heard of the to-me-strangely-named Ding Repair Cafe when my friend Debbie Polelli recently posted that it was her new go-to favorite in town. And that our yoga teacher, Delaney Wray, worked there two days a week.
The next day while in town I noticed a colorful, graffiti-style mural on the wall of a building across from Dolce Vita with the words Ding Repair on it and I guessed that it must be the new Cafe’s location. Except it looked more like a surf shop, maybe even a closed one at that, than a hip new cafe like Debbie’s interior photos had shown. And Ding Repair? The name sounded more like a motorcycle repair or auto body shop to me, which this building looked like it could’ve been also.
I squinted at the building, scanning for a welcoming door, and then shrugged and walked on. Who was I to question the outer appearances of any place in this most-original and very-eclectic town of ours? If a great cafe was hidden behind that unlikely facade and if I didn’t understand its name, it wouldn’t be the first or last time that I’d be pleasantly surprised.
So the next day, my friend and I made a date to go there after yoga, and I’m glad we were together because I started to walk in one direction – me, towards the aforementioned surf/motorcycle repair-looking shop – and she in the opposite direction. I glanced at her oddly but followed her lead.
And she led me to a building where this time only the name on the small wooden sign “Ding Repair Cafe” seemed to be out of place. The building was the newly-face-lifted, beautiful, white building one block west of the Catholic church and plaza, and across from Cecilia’s (the seamstress).
Maybe you’ve noticed the central wooden sign that reads Annie’s Market. And the other which reads Vintage Coleccion. Well, to the right of those signs there’s a smaller sign which I hadn’t noticed before. It reads Ding Repair Cafe.
So, obviously I’m not a surfer (yes, I hear those of you who are laughing at me right now).
My friend, Debbie, quickly explained to me that “repairing dings” is what surfers do to their beloved boards to keep them always in the best of shape.
And, as their logo reads on the surfboard which hangs upon their wall, “Treat your body like you treat your surfboard,” it’s this same kind of loving care, the owners believe, that we should be giving to our bodies by the kind of food that we eat.
Think superfoods. Smoothie bowls. Kombucha. Fresh. Local. In season. Suuuuper healthy.
The owners are two young-to-me American gals: Corinne DeCristoforo (from New Jersey) and Carly Council (from Georgia), who met in a cafe while living and traveling in Australia. Who immediately committed to traveling together to Bali before they even knew each others names. Who later decided to open a cafe in Nicaragua (Corinne’s boyfriend is one of the Cerveceria’s owners, Tim) which initially was housed in the Art Warehouse (next to Bella Home, north of the Market) before last year’s unrest.
Corinne and Carly recently returned here to reopen the cafe and (as Carly put it) to be a part of San Juan del Sur’s re-creation, as well as to be impacted by the Nicaraguan culture (true global travelers like they are) and to hopefully make a positive impact themselves via their passion for cafe culture, healthy foods and fostering sustainability.
Besides their daytime cafe hours, they host fixed-menu pop-up dinners with international guest chefs and plan to begin sponsoring events.
It’s often tricky to locate places here since Nicaragua doesn’t have North American-style addresses nor for that matter even many street names.
And whether the name of a place (like the name of a cafe) or a thing (like an item on a menu) is in English or in Spanish, despite my speaking both, sometimes it doesn’t matter because I just don’t understand.
Like, what exactly is a Smoothie Bowl anyway? (Note: I’ll help you out here: See photo and a menu description. And the rest of you – stop laughing!)
