– owner reflects on 15 years of service to the public

By Telesha Ramnarine

ALTHOUGH she has learnt the art of delegating, Nisa Rahman-Walker will diligently work in the kitchen, helping her staff to cook and bake, all in her bid to ensure that her customers get the quality of food and service they deserve.

Perhaps it is this kind of insistence that took her and her husband, William Walker, through the last 15 years of running the Oasis Café with the same top standards that they opened with a decade and a half ago.

Mrs. Walker was still busy distributing cake and other goodies on Saturday when she spoke to this publication, although the actual celebration and giveaways happened on Friday, the actual date of the anniversary.

Reflecting on how it all got started, she said the family moved back home from New York and really missed the good coffees and hangout spots that they enjoyed in Manhattan. Having gotten tired of asking friends and relatives to bring back coffee beans for them, they decided, ‘Why not let’s get our own and offer it to others at the same time?’
It was good timing too for them because there was hardly a coffee shop around with the kind of comfort and convenience that Oasis Café would later begin offering. “When we moved back here, we found that this kind of thing was really lacking here and we though that others too may have been feeling just like us,” Mrs. Walker recalled.

That she loved baking and cooking was only another plus to the ingenious idea. Although she is not often in the kitchen these days, she would make it a point to put on her aprons and get her hands dirty each time they hire a new staff member.

“I don’t do as much because I’ve learnt to delegate. I always train new staff until they meet the standards of being left alone. To maintain the standards, we had to be strict. There was never to be any shortcuts in terms of compromising on the quality of our ingredients and so forth,” she said.
Mrs. Walker believes that they’ve been able to maintain high standards at the café because of the commitment they made to themselves and staff– that everyone would be treated equally; like a VIP customer.

Both customers and staff are treated well at the establishment. “We know how hard our staff works and so we treat them like family. And some of my best friendships have been cultivated with my customers. They are no longer customers, they’re family,” she expressed, adding, “We want to be a source of comfort to our customers, so they can be sure that here is a safe and hygienic place; safety is the most important thing.”

Having started with just four workers, the business grew to include about 25, just prior to the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Just 11 staff members have remained there for now.
Mrs. Walker said the best thing for her is hearing her customers’ laughter in the café. “Everyone here should feel like it’s the extension of their living room where they can let go of their troubles and just relax. You come through the door and your loneliness goes away because there’s always someone here to make you feel better.”

The café offers breakfast and lunch, along with afternoon teas, cakes and pastries. Outdoor dining is also currently available. It opens at 07:30 hrs on weekdays, 08:00hrs on Saturday and 09:00hrs on Sunday, and closes about 18:00hrs.