Spies Cafe

From a themed branding exercise in 1990's Orlando, to a well attended venue in Washington, DC attended by real spies, Spies Cafe is the place to meet and listen. Based on the meeting places of international spies in Paris and Istanbul it has become both a popular exercise, and a real event.

At the Saturday Spies Cafe's held at the National Press Club, in Washington, DC Gary Powers, jr. son of Francis Gary Powers, the U2 pilot met for the first time Ross Mark, the Daily Express Bureau Chief in Moscow who broke the story, and had to run when Khrushchev found out. Spies Cafe has hosted many other Cold War and WWII spies, and Intelligence Agents, often speaking for the first time about their adventures.

The basis of Spies Cafe is many original cafes used by spies and their handlers, in Washington, DC, London, Berlin, Istanbul and Paris. It is a theme that can be adopted for many periods in history, and recently we adopted Civil War and Revolutionary War themes for Philadelphia.

Spies Cafe - Visit to London's "Cafe Daquise"

After our Spies Cafe became known around the world, an Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine Editor invited me to visit a real Spies Cafe, Cafe Daquise, in London, during one of our European trips. This had been the regular meeting place for MI5 and KGB spooks during the height of the Cold War.

The cafe was very simple, but like similar cafes in Georgetown, were ideal for exchanges and dead drops, and clandestine meetings, especially through "Back Channels".