The Pedaler Finds a Niche

So…

When you are riding around town on your bike, you have a different connection with what’s around you. In a car you are separated by glass, metal and machinery. You also have to pay attention to the road, other drivers, pedestrians, etc. How could you ever really get acquainted with what’s around you doing all that work?

On a bike, nothing separates you from your surroundings. Your focus doesn’t always have to stay on the road. On an empty street, you can trust that your bike isn’t going to swerve unless you want it to. No worries about running someone over either; it’s not nearly as hazardous as possible car collisions.

(However, bike collisions are totally possible and very hilarious. In fact, anything that occurs on a bike that is a regular occurrence in a car is strange and funny. For example, traditionally us bikers don’t stop at all-way stop signs. We should, but we don’t. So, when two bikers arrive at an all-way stop sign at the same time, you get confused as to what you should do. One person has to slow down so the other can go first - same rules apply - but you laugh while you do it, thinking, “how bizarre.” Or when two bikers are stopped at the same red light. That happened to me once: we were side-by-side, just as if we were in cars - but you’re not; there is nothing separating you. So you think, “Should I say something? Should we be talking about how we’re stopped at this red light?” There is no protocol for such situations. I just said to the girl “This doesn’t happen too often!” And she said “No it doesn’t!” Anyway, I digress…)

The things you can discover when you are so intimately involved with what surrounds you can be really terrific or really awful. Today, I’m going to talk about a terrific discovery I made while riding around the west side – The Morning Glory Café. It’s located at the point where Porter and West meet, on the Porter side (388 Porter, to be exact.) I’d noticed it several times on my way down to the water, and finally got motivated enough to stop in this weekend.

What a delight! Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting – a cross between a bodega and my grandmother’s kitchen maybe. But I was totally surprised to find the quaintest little café that you ever did see. A singular room filled to the brim with all the things you need for a café: chairs and tables, a counter, coolers filled with beverages and supplies, a work space not made to hold more than 2 people, bathroom, etc. Painted a lovely butternut squash yellow-orange, they display local newspaper clippings on the fridge and have the requisite copies of Artvoice and flyers for local events and charities. The difference between them and the usual Elmwood Village haunts is that instead of being greeted by faux friendly tweemo hipsters or totally apathetic youths of any other variety, you get a warm hello from your Aunt Karen. (Insert friendly, youthful middle-aged woman of your choice here.)

This place is the stuff of new pop fiction: owned and operated by sisters Patricia Heaverlo and MaryLou Swenson and staffed by down to earth, ready-to-feed you ladies of all ages. Everyone who came in was greeted by name (except me of course; they’re friendly, not psychic) and they obviously have a close connection to those regulars who’ve kept them open for (gasp!) six years. Considering the location, I was surprised to hear they’ve been open so long. However, they have a close proximity to D’Youville College and a couple churches, so it fits perfectly into its niche. (I also mean that literally, it’s actually located in a little niche of space between buildings.)

The menu has all the café standards, but is rather extensive considering the kitchen size: seasonal soups, salads, wraps (with a variety of actual wrap choices, not just white), bagels, sandwiches, espresso and pastries. But then they kick it up a notch by offering breakfast sandwiches, panini, foccacia, pizzas, smoothies and a veggie burger. I had a “Cranberry Harvest Salad” and thoroughly enjoyed the freshly diced greens and veggies - it certainly wasn’t lettuce from a bag - along with a piece of delicious Italian bread buttered just for me.

Maybe I’m romanticizing this whole experience, but whatever - I’m a romantic. All I know is I really enjoyed finding a place I can return to for breakfast, lunch or a snack where I don’t feel like I’m trapped in the middle of some MTV reality show, nor do I have to feel compelled to bring my laptop in order to fit in. And I bet you in a couple more trips, they’ll be greeting me with a warm “Hey Kelly!” when I walk through the door.

P.S. They do party catering, too.
P.P.S. Their paninis are mostly named after real people that they know. How about we try to get a Block Club sandwich on the menu??!!

Bikers note: when coming to and from Richmond, take West and go around to Porter. It’s a far less intense incline both ways, and West is the kind of street where people sit on their porches and the elderly can ride their motorized scooters in the middle of the road without fear of being run over.

Posted by on 09/11 at 02:38 PM