A special cafe for the hearing impaired.

The tranquil atmosphere, friendly smiles, and dedicated service of the hearing-impaired staff at Flow-ee Cafe (The Giao Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi) have left a deep impression and won over many customers, even though the cafe has only been operating for over a month.

Surprised by the warmth and friendliness.

Flow-ee is a small, very quiet cafe. As soon as you arrive at the door, a young staff member opens it with a friendly smile, greets customers with sign language, and gently invites you inside.

Flow-ee members take a commemorative photo with customers.

H.THUY

The staff work attentively without speaking, and the customers are also silent, simply pointing to the menu to order drinks, using sign language, or writing down the names of their drinks on a piece of paper.

Right opposite the entrance, Flow-ee Cafe has a dedicated check-in area for customers. Here, customers can write down their impressions of the cafe. "My first experience at Flow-ee was very impressive; the staff were lovely, enthusiastic, and friendly. I will definitely come back and learn more about how to talk to them"; "The cafe is creative, very clean, and the drinks are quite delicious"... are some of the customer reviews for Flow-ee recently.

Bảo Ngọc, a freelance writer, first visited the cafe out of curiosity because of the sign that read: "Flow-ee is served by deaf people." Gradually, she became a top priority for anyone looking for a comfortable space to be creative. "I was very surprised by the warmth, friendliness, and cuteness of the staff here. Even though they can't hear or speak, they all radiate friendly smiles and provide attentive service," Ngọc shared.

Speaking about the origins of Flow-ee, Ngo Quoc Hao (born in 1996), CEO of Flow-ee and its "translator," said that Flow-ee is a startup project of Hao and seven other shareholders. The group opened a cafe to create jobs for the hearing impaired and create value for the community. At the cafe, all the staff are called Flower.

Flow-ee's vision is to ensure a safe and creative working environment for people with disabilities and hearing impairments. "Many people ask us why we choose deaf people as service staff instead of other people with disabilities? We've researched and found that deaf people are one of the most vulnerable groups. While mute people can still hear, deaf people can't speak; they can only produce sounds. Therefore, this group needs more opportunities," said the CEO of Flow-ee.

Speaking about the cafe's rather unique name, "Flow-ee," Hao explained that "Flow" means flow, and even the cafe's design features winding lines and flowing currents, representing ups and downs, highs and lows. These are the difficulties that people with disabilities face, while the upward paths represent creativity and joy in having an environment to showcase their abilities. The main colors of the cafe are gray and yellow; gray is like the low notes, the difficulties in life, while yellow represents freshness and cheerfulness.

"Every morning when I wake up, I feel so much joy."

The cafe currently has 6 hearing-impaired "Flowers" divided into 2 shifts, with 3 people in each shift, all young people aged 21-33. In the early days of opening, members of the group took turns being on duty at the cafe from morning to night to support the staff. The hearing-impaired individuals came to Flow-ee through an organization that focuses on inclusive development, training, and placement of people with disabilities.

"Before, I thought that deaf people would feel constrained and wouldn't be able to fully express their potential, but they interacted with customers very naturally. The 'Flowers' showed me and the customers that they are not small and pitiful, but on the contrary, they are very dynamic, youthful, and bring positive energy to many people whenever they come here," Hao said.

Tran Ngoc Mai (33 years old, residing in Tuyen Quang), a waitress here, shared that she was born and raised in Tuyen Quang and was born deaf and mute. Currently, Mai has a family, and she and her husband live in Hanoi ; her husband is also deaf and mute. "Making drinks is my passion. I have three bartending certificates and have worked in restaurants before. When working at Flow-ee, I received additional training in customer service and procedures... Every morning when I wake up, I feel so much joy when I prepare coffee, bingsu ice cream, tea, etc., making sure that customers find it delicious," Mai shared.

Flow-ee has a very diverse drinks menu including juices, teas, coffees… But the most unique item is undoubtedly the bingsu (shaved ice dessert) combined with alcohol. It's the perfect combination of the sweet, refreshing taste of shaved ice with the slightly spicy, aromatic flavor of various types of alcohol.

Bingsu is not a popular dessert in Vietnam, so the process of making it is quite challenging. The team's initial idea was to combine ice cream with alcohol, but after a long and arduous experimentation process, the ice cream transformed into a shaved ice dessert with fresh fruit flavors combined with various types of alcohol. Each cup of bingsu comes with a small, pretty cup of alcohol for customers to savor spoonful by spoonful.

"Making pandan leaf bingsu, watermelon bingsu... might seem simple at first, but in the beginning, for two months straight, the team focused on finding the most suitable combination of ice cream and alcohol every day. The result is a very unique and distinctive menu for Flow-ee," Ngo Quoc Hao said.

Although it has only been operating for over a month, Flow-ee has attracted a large number of customers, including hearing-impaired individuals and foreign tourists. Many young people and children come here hoping to learn sign language. Based on this, Hao and his friends plan to open free sign language workshops in the near future.

Furthermore, after Flow-ee in Hanoi is operating stably, the group also hopes to open a branch in Ho Chi Minh City and sell online to create more opportunities for young deaf people to work and create value for themselves and the community.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quan-ca-phe-dac-biet-cua-nguoi-khiem-thinh-185230910195112325.htm