Two café-au-laits with Sabah

– The barista in the heart of both the Clock Building and the students -

She greets you with a smile in Hjerterommet coffee bar, no matter if you want a coffee or a salad. This has given her an extra special place in the heart of many Ås students, including mine. I am of course talking about Sabah the Barista!

Journalist: Ingvild Sunde

Photographer: Tuva Hebnes

Translator: Ida Haraldstad

I am welcomed into the Hjerterom kitchen around half an hour after opening, and the conversation runs along the lines of baking croissants and folding of wraps. Sabah makes all the food herself. “It adds a certain level of quality to what I offer, - a bit of motherly love maybe?” she proposes and laughs. Now and then, there is a ding from the bell on the coffee bar’s counter. Sabah takes her time chatting with both me and the customers.

Coffee bar – not cafeteria

Hjerterommet is a coffee bar located in the middle of the first floor in the Clock Building and it is one of the smaller serving locations on campus. With high ceilings, the room still has a cozy interior design with couches, good chairs and tables, and a calming palette of autumn colors. The large wall is adorned with a piece of art made by Hanne Friis.

«What makes Hjerterommet special is the focus on coffee, and that’s the reason the food selection isn’t as big. This means that I ground the coffee beans before I brew them, which gives them a great quality,” Sabah explains. She serves up everything from an iced coffee to a cappuccino to a regular plain black coffee, and also tea. The low hum of the coffee machine mingles with Sabah’s own lovely hum, interrupted only by her cheerful voice when she greets her students with “Hello dear!” and “Great to see you here!”. This is the sound of Hjerterommet. I find it hard to describe the coffee bar without mentioning Sabah. She is a part of it.

Five quick questions with Sabah

What is your nationality? «I come from Turkey.»
How old are you? «60 – no, 59! – Not 60!»
Do you prefer coffee or tea? What’s your favorite? “What a question! Coffee. I like it black … but I am no stranger to drinking many café-au-laits during the day”
What is your favorite hobby outside of work? “I am kind of an old lady. I am addicted to e-books. Other than that, I knit and take care of my plants. I also love traveling.”
Favorite travel destination? “Oh no, I can’t pick one! I have, among other things, lived in Canada and driven through Africa, so I have to say anywhere, as long as I’m traveling!”

«A little flirt»

Sabah was hired by SiÅs in 2017 and started as a cafeteria worker at Sørhellinga. She got the job at Hjerterommet only days before the ill-fated March of 2020. She talks about the time before the pandemic with a smile. She feels the best part of the job is the connection she gets with other people – “A little flirt” she calls it. “I get a relationship with the students. Before the pandemic, they could come and talk to me about whatever weighed on their hearts, if they were frustrated, sad, or simply in a great mood.” She has high hopes to recreate this again.

“We actually had an aquarium together with the students at Sørhellinga, and we grew our own vegetables,” she says. I am wearing my revue sweater for UKA I Ås 2022 as we chat, and Sabah starts thinking about students she had great relationships with that were in previous revues.

Sabah is steadfast in her claim that Hjerterommet is special. And she agrees when I propose that it might be the connection between people that makes the coffee bar so unique. “There isn’t any self-checkout, you must speak to one another. It gives a great atmosphere.”

Five quick questions about Hjerterommet

When is it open? Monday to Thursday 07.45-15.00 and Friday 07.45-14.00
When did it get remade into a coffee bar? The coffee bar was established in connection to the Statsbygg renovation of the Clock Building from 2014 to 2016.
Why is it a coffee bar and not a cafeteria? In 2016 the cafeteria coverage on campus was considered good, but students and faculty wanted a place to get really good coffee.
What is the story behind the art piece on the wall? The art piece “Shades of Rubia Tinctorum” was made by Hanne Friis in 2014. It is a wall installation in textile, it was colored with the plant madder, with the Latin name Rubia tinctorum.
Where does the name Hjerterommet originate from? According to an earlier edition of Tuntreet, the name stems from the Norwegian saying “der hvor det er hjerterom, er det husrom”, meaning if someone cares for you, they’ll make space for you.

Source: Pål Magnus Løken – acting CEO of SiÅs, TT10/2016, and KORO – the Decorations Fund – Public Art Norway