Al Jazeera Café now open at Katara

“Breaking News…This just in! Al Jazeera media personalities and staff welcome the public to visit their innovative media café! Located in Katara, at Building 4 on Shakespeare Street, the new establishment is at the centre of Doha’s cultural activity.” 

Director of Distribution Samir Ibrahim welcomed guests to the opening of Al Jazeera’s media café at Katara Cultural Village. The building is a multi-functional space as it houses two studios, historical artefacts and the café itself.

Walking into the café you feel a sense of spaciousness and yet they have managed to pack a lot under one roof. Make sure to admire the beautiful water feature which displays the Al Jazeera logo with falling water droplets.

The centrally placed dining area is surrounded by specialised recording apparatus, which is similar to the equipment that the broadcasting channel uses in their newsrooms. The rolling news feed is an exciting concept, and diners had fun seeing their twitter handles scroll above their heads as they enjoyed a three course special menu. This mix of food and media is the exciting concept behind the café. 

Executive Director for Global Brand and Communications at Al Jazeera, Abdulla Alnajjar, hoped that the café would encourage conversation: “What we’re offering here is an experience that makes people feel part of Al Jazeera…the cafe is a hub for conversation, debate and sharing of ideas and opinions…The cafe fuses together our modern connections with the traditional idea of the coffee house as a centre of community”. 

Kamahl Santamaria, news anchorman and host of ‘Counting the Cost’, gave an exclusive guided tour to VIPs and members of the media. He commended the media café as a way of bringing Al Jazeera to the public, by allowing visitors to explore its broadcasting history.

Displays included items representing important moments in Al Jazeera’s history including memorials to fallen comrades. The first camera used in 1996 for Al Jazeera’s original broadcast can also be found here in the live recording zone.

Kamahl also gave a demonstration of the mock-newsroom which it is hoped will be used as a learning tool for Qatar’s educational institutions.

The studio allows visitors to play news anchor for the day by reading the news from a teleprompter, and being their own producer by editing their final recording which they can then keep. We couldn’t help but be inspired by the interactive broadcasting studio - which explains our news flash report headline above! 

The café walls are covered in framed flat screen TVs highlighting breaking news stories, and displays of tablets which visitors can use to watch any Al Jazeera channel from around the world.

The café also uses the tablets to hold their menu app which aids diners to choose menu items easily through the use of visual images and calorie information.  

The menu is inspired by an international mix of cuisines through blending European dishes with Arabic flavours which diners were able to try in a special menu tasting.

Watch out for the organic quinoa salad and the beef cheeks! The café also offers a selection of organic dishes for the health-conscious and includes a variety of dishes on the kids menu.  For a more in-depth review of the menu items check out Qatar Eating.

Al Jazeera Cafe is in Building 4 on Shakespeare Street and is open to the public from 8am to 10.30pm. The interactive and live studios will open later in the year.

PC: Qatar Eating and Al Jazeera Cafe