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Lazarus Bell Cafe
The Lazarus Bell Cafe is an entrepreneurial project started by students of the Green Valley school.
Situated in the always hip Centrium District, the Lazarus Bell Cafe has set up shop in the Hsieh Center. The Hsieh Center is a shopping and gallery center, notable for its distinct inner architecture. The middle of the building has a complete open area from the first floor to the top, letting in rare sunlight from the midst of a busy city. Various small shops and quite a few art galleries that regularly showcase talent. The previous owner of the area which the Lazarus Bell Cafe now hosts once had an experimental smoothie and vegan restaurant, but sold the space in order to fulfill their own personal art career.
The Lazarus Bell Cafe can be found on the fourth and fifth floors.
A variety of food and drink is offered at the Lazarus Bell Cafe. However, its main pride would be the food that the Green Valley Gardening Club used during the Flower Festival: flower infused coffees, lemonades, and cakes with actual edible flowers.
This includes:
⚘ Rose Cold Brew
⚘ Iced Lavender Latte
⚘ Rose Appleade
⚘ Rose Cake
⚘ Lavender Cake
Natural lavender and rose syrup is regularly made fresh.
Lazarus Bell Cafe also serves sandwiches, wraps, salads, soups, and various pastries. The drinks also include water, sodas, coffee, and tea.
Along with offering food, the cafe also has advertising agreements with various businesses (big and small) throughout the city of Eddan. Some are more long term, such as being able to pass along bouquet orders to certain flower shops. Others are more short term, advertising a product or classes on a weekly or day-by-day basis. The length of time depends on the agreement between the cafe and the other party.
The cafe is divided into two different floors. The first floor is the general dining area. There, the lighting has been maximized as much as possible with large windows, although the various plantlife indicative of a lot of Eddan architecture tends to add cool shadows here and there. There are also doors leading out to an outdoors dining area, which is nestled deep among well taken care of gardens. The first floor is also where quick orders can be made for coffee or sandwiches to be made on the go, and there is a small waiting area set aside for this.
The second floor is part cafe and part study area. Students in particular (whether of Green Valley or any other school) are encouraged to use this area to study in, figure out group projects, and complete their homework at. Those who show proof of such things or show up in uniform receive a discount on their orders. To show its difference in purpose from the first floor, instead of regular tables with chairs, a more lounge atmosphere has been provided. Comfortable couches and armchairs are situated around coffee tables. Near impressive windows that overlook the rest of the Hsieh Center's insides and another set that can look over the first floor balcony and Eddan, low tables have been set up so that people can sit on plush pillows.
The entire establishment is disability friendly.
The first floor staff areas are fairly routine in that this is where the food and drinks are prepared. While there is an open bar area for coffee and other such things, there is a small kitchen area attached to it along with a staff only restroom. In contrast to the small kitchen, the bar set up area is fairly wide along the wall, leaving there plenty of room for employees to work behind it without slamming their elbows into each other.
The second floor staff area is intended to assist with the issue of any students or individuals closing. To deal with the issue of the curfew, there is a small living space on the second floor where workers can rest for the night. While the wall-embedded bunk beds are artistic enough, the space has the bare minimum of outlets for any electronics and a simple shower. It's only intended to be a small temporary space for anyone working late cleaning up or caring for the cafe. Only a small number of employees can stay in it at any given night.
Only employees can enter, as the room is locked with card readers, and only employee cards are accepted.
The Manifesto
[The manifesto goes on for a good few pages, talking up the various skills that participants will learn if they take part, on and on.]
Employees
As a general rule, most Primary and Lower cycle students cannot officially help with things such as food preparation, service, or handling money. However, for those with a solid interest, they can act as an extension of the Green Valley Gardening Club (GVGC) and check in on the plants of the cafe either in the morning or afternoon before curfew. They can get a free drink or snack of their choice when visiting with this purpose.
Senior Cycle students are restricted to being able to work only after school and during the weekends, although this fortunately means that afternoon and weekends are always fully staffed.
Higher and Advance Cycle students work whenever their class schedules permit them to.
To ensure that there is both always someone who can help attend to the cafe and also watch over the many young students working it, adult volunteers have been found for this very purpose, although they also receive a paycheck for their time.
The Awakened
Run by Ciro Bonavida aka Chikusa Kakimoto, the Lazarus Bell Cafe is meant to be a place that the Awakened can gather discretely without alerting the nebulous "Enemy" or seeming suspicious. Not only does this give a reason for Green Valley students of varying cycles and social groups a reason to be together, but adults also won't seem out of place in the cafe. Even for adults who haven't "volunteered" to look after a bunch of school kid, everyone goes to cafes, don't they?
Not all employees are Awakened. As a smokescreen, Chikusa has made sure that some regular students are employed. However, he makes sure to never give them closing hours so that there's less of a reason for them to stay overnight.