durham, where’s the community cafe?
Posted on October 25, 2005
Filed Under coffee
Cafés make me happy. Or, maybe just café makes me happy. 
Either way, I know what I like, and I have an easy time falling in love with cafés when I visit other places. But I’m having a hard time finding one to love in my own hometown. I’m not so sure it’s a “grass is always greener” problem.
Whether I’m sitting alone or there to talk with others, cafés are the places that best facilitate conversation. But around here, café conversations take place pretty much only through electronic media. Don’t get me wrong, I’m often sitting behind a glowing laptop screen in local cafés, feeding my addictions to both coffee and the Internet, but is that all people can do in third places anymore? Predominant noises in local cafés include clickity-click-clack or only half of a quietly shouted cell-phone conversation.
I want to know, where’s the café…
… where the old coots rant about politics on Saturday morning?
… that’s dimly lit with mismatched furniture and it’s all so comfortable you don’t want to leave?
… with tables and floors made of real wood?
… where the volume strikes the right balance of overhead music (usually jazz) and the buzz of conversations?
… whose patrons are more likely long-time residents rather than four-year transients studying for a bachelors?
… where people who have not gathered for a book club can still talk about books just because they’re well-read?
… where they serve more straight-up coffees and espressos and fewer watered down candy drinks (mochaccinos and lattes)?
… where the walls are decorated by local artists’ works?
Durham needs a place like this. A cross between the clientele of Cup A Joe in Raleigh and the atmosphere of Tate St. Coffee in Greensboro.
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