We just got back from visiting a new coffee place that recently opened across the street from our neighborhood. It’s been open a couple months, and we’ve probably been there a dozen times or so. And every time we go, it seems to change a little bit. It started out as a regular old coffeehouse – coffee, espresso, cappuccino, tea, pastries – with maybe a sandwich or two on the menu. The coffee is pretty good, the pastries are REALLY good (they have the best carrot cake – I find it rather amusing that I absolutely abhor carrots, but I love a good carrot cake) and they have an excellent espresso milkshake – great for people who love coffee, AND people who love ice cream.
And then one day we went into the shop, and there seemed to be some random bits of construction going on. They’d added a small stage area, and were obviously planning on showcasing live music now and then. Makes sense for a coffeehouse. On our next visit, we noticed they’d added a small riser for the cluster of tables on the wall opposite the stage – even though the entire café area is about the size of my living room and kitchen. A riser seems a bit of an overkill. It’s not as though you’d ever find yourself in an area of the coffeehouse where the stage was obscured by throngs of coffee drinkers.
In addition to the riser, they’d started adding a wall to hide the door to the kitchen. A couple ceiling fans materialized, and a sign on the door announced that a liquor license was in the works. Then one day the pastry case disappeared – and in its place was a big pizza oven. I had a fleeting worry that the carrot cake was gone forever – but then I saw it sitting on a platter on the counter around the corner. Which is good, because the only way I’ll ever eat a carrot is in cake form…
And then tonight, mom and dad and Rick and I went over to the café, and saw even MORE changes. The counter has been replaced with a bar, behind which is a display of several different kinds of beer and wine (I guess the liquor license came through). And the tables were all jumbled around haphazardly, suggesting that we’re still not seeing the finished product. I’m really wondering at this point just how many changes they can make to the restaurant until they’re satisfied that it’s “just right.” I mean, it started out as your run-of-the-mill coffeehouse, and has morphed into some kind of coffeehouse-pizza-parlor-bar-café-live-music-venue. It’s almost like it can’t decide WHAT it wants to be, so it’s just going to be a little bit of everything. I suppose that makes it the perfect place to go when you can’t make up your mind about what to eat or drink…
But I don’t care how much they change, as long as they keep the carrot cake. :)
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