Coffeehouses used to be places of community – think of the 1960s, when beatniks and folk singers used the cafes as a stage for their art and their political views.
Now, go into any Starbucks and it feels more like a library, with patrons sipping on pricey lattes, earphones in place, tapping away on their laptops in solitude.
Try to strike up a conversation and you might be viewed as an intrusive pest.
But the throw-back style coffeehouse is still alive and well in Peoria. There are several places where you can not only get your caffeine buzz but your entertainment fix, too.
Take Copper River Coffee & Tea, 2535 W. War Memorial, for example. The shop, which previously housed Kade’s Coffee up until a year ago, serves up coffee and loose leaf teas to laptop-toting customers during the day.
But in the evenings, they turn the floor over to bands and comedians.
Copper River will host comedian Trey Mowder on Thursday, during a “Laugh A Latte” series.
Manager Ty Paluska says they don’t charge for the entertainment, but they do put a tip bucket out and hope customers support the artists. Paluska plans to host educational seminars, too.
“In the future, I’d like to have nights when we have different professionals come in – people who are passionate about what they do, and talk about it for people who want to learn about a different profession,” he said. “We want to incorporate education and the arts.”
Paluska said coffeehouses provide an escape from both career and domestic stresses.
“It seems like everyone, anymore, goes home after work and locks themselves into their house,” he said. “There’s this idea called the ‘third place’ – it’s not work, it’s not home. It’s a place to get away, sit down and find something else to do.”
Music on the menu
Even though it’s more of a restaurant than a coffeehouse, Rhythm Kitchen has cultivated an atmosphere of community and live music.
Owner Shelley Lenzini this week marks her 11th anniversary at the Water Street location, a venue known just as much for live music as it is for an eclectic menu (and you can order up mochas and other specialty coffee drinks, for what it’s worth).
Lenzini started out with one-man-blues-band Bruce Needham, who would set up in the center of the restaurant with little more than a guitar.
“It was great, and I kind of miss it. It was a little more personal,” Lenzini said. Now, bands set up in the front of the restaurant. There’s an open stage on Wednesday evenings, giving music students and amateurs a place to earn their chops.
“It’s eclectic, comfortable, inviting. We don’t allow computers, we don’t have Wi-Fi; you have to actually talk to the person you’re with. It’s just a place where you have to interact with people. And I don’t charge a cover. The Peoria community, they don’t like to pay a cover.”
Starting this month, Lenzini will begin Soul Food Sunday. She plans to bring in folk and gospel singers on the last Sunday of the month and serve dishes such as pan-fried catfish, homemade macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meat sauce, collard greens, fried chicken and corn bread. The first Soul Food Sunday will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 28.
Taking it outside
James Cross, owner of Leaves ‘N Beans in Peoria Heights since 2008, has paired java with entertainment, too.
In the warmer seasons he has hosted live music every other Saturday outside on the shop’s patio. They plan to start this up again in the spring.
“One thing we’ve noticed is that people love to be seen, especially in the Heights, with people putting out tables on the sidewalks. People love to be outdoors, they love the atmosphere,” he said.
Cross is hoping to attract local jazz bands – preferably ones who aren’t looking to get rich.
“There’s not a lot enough markup in coffee sales to pay for a band, and I think that’s why the bars end up getting the live music instead of coffeeshops,” he said. “So we hope to find bands who want to play for the love of the music.”
Books, music, coffee
John Valentine, who owns Panache at Sheridan Village, seems to have concocted a winning blend.
Panache is a place that just begs customers to settle in. There’s a mess of cafe tables, a fish tank gurgling quietly, packed bookshelves that stretch to the ceiling.
Customers are welcome to contribute to the library, borrow books while they pass the time, or even leave with one.
It’s a diverse collection that includes everything from Michael Moore’s “Dude, Where’s My Country?” to “Condi: The Condoleeza Rice Story” to “Watership Down” and the cliff notes to Jack London’s “Call of the Wild” and “White Fang.”
After the books proved popular, Central Illinois Jazz Society members started leaving their CDs in the shop.
“People can take those, too if they wish,” Valentine said. “We’ve told people that if you want to take books, fine. One lady teaches class and she’ll take 20 of them at a time, she may bring some back, she may not.
“But we’ve got more books than we started with, and the customers like it. I don’t want people to feel like we’re Blockbuster, where if you don’t return it your fine exceeds the value (of the rental).”
Panache’s live music schedule includes an open mike on Thursdays; Dave Hoffman on Fridays; and Tan Nguyen and Suzanne Pavesich on Sundays.
Valentine says any old joe can take the stage on open mike night: random singers and musicians, the occasional poet.
“We get some real dandies. Some of them aren’t that good, but some are. They’ve got to start someplace,” he said.
Valentine, who opened up shop at the current location in 1996, says Panache is basically his living room. He has repeat customers who bring him vacation souvenirs.
He’s had customers ask if they can add their pet fish to the coffee shop tank, which houses a mix of South American cichlids and large Tinfoil barbs.
Children love to watch the fat fish hover lazily. Valentine recently added a large television, where he plans to screen jazz bands, silent movies, musicals and opera.
“I looked at a lot of (coffeeshops) around the country and kind of stole an idea from one and an idea from another. I wanted it to be eclectic. I didn’t want to exclude old people or young people, or singles or married people or any ethnic group. And that’s the spread of people that we do have.”
Danielle Hatch can be reached at [email protected].
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