Something’s brewing in Honesdale

Cappucino, conversation and culture abound in the town’s burgeoning café scene

By BARBARA LEWIS

HONESDALE, PA — Growing up in Honesdale in the ‘50s and ‘60s, I had only a vague idea of what a “café” might be. The word conjured up scenes of beret-clad artists and writers sipping expresso at outdoor tables in Paris or Rome, but it wasn’t until I moved to Greenwich Village after college that I began to enjoy the café experience first hand. After 20 years of living in lower Manhattan, where meeting friends at a café for a cappuccino was an integral part of life, family obligations called me back to my hometown. With regret I left the ethnic bakeries and bohemian coffee houses of the Village for the small-town luncheonettes of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Little seemed to have changed since I’d left.

Yet something was brewing, and it wasn’t long before the Himalayan Institute opened a small café and upscale bookstore as part of its new yoga center on Main Street in late 2002. Now, less than five years later, Honesdale boasts not one, but four cafés, each with its own signature atmosphere and dishes, music and decor. All the cafés have at least a couple of outdoor tables, and as the weather warms, one can enjoy a tasty bite in the company of friends and neighbors in a variety of venues.

The Yoga Café

“Chai,” strong, spiced Indian tea made with hot milk and sugar, is the trademark beverage of this cafe and the favorite of yoga students and business people alike. Cappuccino and smoothies are other popular choices, and the pastries, which are made with all-natural, and mostly organic, ingredients, bear such wholesome names as “wilderness cookies” and “earthballs.” Lunch selections include hearty vegetable soup, a zucchini and cheese wrap or a salad.

A rotating art exhibit adds to the artistic “feel” of this attractive, glass-fronted, airy space, which has become a gathering place for local writers, philosophers, moms with young children and high school students stopping by for a game of chess or backgammon with friends after school. An attentive ear may pick up on a conversation about almost any subject here at the Yoga Café, from spirituality to politics, meditation to computers, community business to deep philosophical issues.

On the second and fourth Friday evenings of every month, the Yoga Café features live music by local and visiting musicians, and these popular events often play to an enthusiastic, standing-room-only audience.

“Upstairs” happenings, like drumming circles, health lectures and art exhibits, also bring people to the cafe to enjoy the food and conviviality before and after those activities.

Patisserie du Jour

In the summer of 2005, the Patisserie du Jour, run by popular owner/chef Branko Bozic, made its debut at 5th and Main Street. Branko, a renowned chef trained in Heidelberg, Germany, who worked in Switzerland, France and England, and later as the chef for Governor Casey of Pennsylvania, is the creator of quintessential French pastries and gourmet dishes, all of which he personally prepares himself. He offers a tantalizing array of sandwiches, with such ingredients as smokey sopressata sausage with roasted red peppers and aged Asiago cheese on a French baguette, or lox with capers, onions and cream cheese on a homemade bagel. There’s also lighter fare such as homemade soups and mixed green salads to allow you room for a luscious lemon or fruit tart, Napoleon or Madeleine. The European décor and music provide the perfect ambience to enjoy his buttery croissants and other Continental fare, and to meet neighbors you haven’t seen for a while in this comfortable, inviting atmosphere. Outdoor tables under an umbrella offer a fresh-air alternative to indoor dining in warm weather.

Chef Branko also cooks exquisitely prepared take-out dinners on weekends, and a special gourmet dinner of many courses one Saturday of each month during the winter. Advance reservations are a must.

Bean’s Roasting House & Café

A particularly attractive new café with a lovely outdoor garden for summer dining has been on the scene barely four months. Brainchild of co-owner Matthew Allen, a native of Michigan who started working in restaurants at the age of 14, Bean’s Roasting House & Cafe fulfills a long-time dream of this ambitious young man. Coffees and teas had become his passion, and he wanted to find the ideal atmosphere to bring his specialty drinks to a receptive audience. When the owners of Deja Vu put their restaurant on the market, Matthew knew he’d found the perfect spot.

With co-owner Kevin Coughlin to help promote the business, Matthew moved ahead with his plans. Roasting all the coffees himself, and purchasing loose teas and herbs for unique and tasty hot and iced teas, Matthew has a coffee menu and a tea menu, in addition to the food menu, which offers a full selection all day, from breakfast specials to lunches with a Mexican flair and dinner entrees from pasta to porterhouse steak.

Beans brings some new and special services to Honesdale residents and visitors. Beans is open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m., and even offers home delivery service as far away as 10 miles. It stays open until 1:00 a.m. during the week and until 2:00 a.m. on weekends. This gives the younger crowd a place to come after evening and school activities, and for anyone to drop in after a play, concert or dinner in Scranton or Hawley. Friday and Saturday evenings, Beans offers live jazz and other mellow music for the enjoyment of its patrons. Truly, there is something for everyone—at any hour—at Beans.

Sweet Eden

Another newcomer to Main Street is Sweet Eden. Owned by Joan Spencer, who has offered her delicious home-made baked goods at the Farmers’ Market in Honesdale for the last two summers, her tasty confections are made with the freshest ingredients, many from local sources. Fashioned from family recipes and those she’s developed through her own experimentation, Joan’s creations include luscious fruit pies, made-from-scratch cakes, muffins and scones, plus rich cheesecakes and crunchy oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies. All are available as special orders for gift baskets, weddings and special events.

Sweet Eden, with Italianate plaster walls, an art nouveau ceiling and attractive track lighting, has a European flavor that appeals to all five senses. Antique teacups, eclectic music, flower arrangements, tasty herbal teas and robust coffee add to the sensual touches that tempt the palate, as you sit at one of the café tables or relax in the cozy cushioned alcove of the front bay window. As Heather Hogan-Spencer, Joan’s daughter-in-law who helps her in the café, puts it, “Sweet Eden has a big city feel with country warmth.”

Honesdale’s palate is indeed being tempted, treated and satisfied. But beyond that, our enjoyment of aesthetics and conviviality is also being nurtured. A new, more sophisticated dimension has been added to life here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The era of the café has arrived.

(Barbara Lewis is a freelance writer, photographer and café aficionado who lives in Honesdale.)