*NOTE: JOE BAR TRAGICALLY CLOSED IN OCT 2022.
As anybody who is a Facebook friend of ours will know Wendy and I spend an unnatural amount of time at a Capitol Hill café called the Joe Bar. It’s around the corner from our house. While staggering distance to home is always important for a good hangout, that’s not why we go there — two, three times a day. (Foursquare still reports that neither Wendy or I are Mayor of Joe Bar. Which is statistically impossible. Except the Joe Bar inspires loyalty like no other café in town.) Across the street from the (*now defunct) Harvard Exit movie theater in the landmark Loveless building, the Joe Bar has evolved into a crucial neighborhood nexus.
Unfortunately there are not many independently owned neighborhood hang outs due to increasingly sterile corporatized public spaces. You can feel the difference between a place like Joe Bar and the disguised Starbucks “Faux Bars” popping up around town. Walk in to Joe Bar nearly any time of day and you’ll find a friendly face or a warm conversation. Or sit and read unmolested. The relaxed Parisian-style charm and close confines of Joe Bar makes friends of strangers. Something there slows down the day to a civilized pace. That ‘something’ is an authentic community.
Summer evenings are regularly spent outside sitting with our dog and a nice glass of rosé or Blanche De Bruxelles. My favorite Sunday morning tradition is to breakfast at the outside tables with a simple soft-boiled egg, coffee and croissant. Like I said, civilized. The coffee is great. The crepes, both sweet and savory, are some of the best in town. The home-made soups are killer on those cold northwest autumn days. The prices are more than reasonable. They better be or I’d go broke.
Comentarios