The Breeches Cafe

RSS

The Breeches Cafe

21 Sep

Mere days remain until autumn as of this writing…officially. It’s still warm and sunny here in Central Pennsylvania. I’m of two minds about that. On the one hand, the end of summer means no longer being pressed into the pavement by the relentlessness of summer weather here. On the other hand, it means the countdown to short and frigid days.

Pennsylvania’s weather is unique and extreme. Summers feature a combination of humidity without rain, heat without wind, and sun without shade. Winters are the exact opposite of all those attributes. In between those extremes lies a veritable paradise. Spring and autumn in Pennsylvania are three to five weeks of epic beauty and perfect temperatures. As fleeting as they are, they’re worth anticipating.

Now that summer is ending, I anticipate more coffee runs. The Breeches Cafe in Boiling Springs, PA, is a good place to end summer (or kick off autumn) in that regard. You might remember our Coffeehouse Journey journeying to Boiling Springs before. That was to visit Caffe 101. That cafe is still there. The Breeches is located just outside the town proper at Allenberry Resort. Allenberry is locally famous for having a variety of performances take the stage at Allenberry Playhouse, located in the main complex of resort buildings. As resorts go, Allenberry has everything, from posh spas to fly fishing.

The Breeches looks like a ‘resort’ coffeehouse. It’s trendy and modern but infused with a massive amount of rustic charm. I considered not reviewing The Breeches because it’s a ‘resort’ coffeehouse. They’re too corporate, right? They fall under the category of chain coffeehouses, don’t they? Little deep conversation can take place in an establishment created just to cater to the transient needs of transient people. I know that’s what you’re thinking. That’s what I was feeling at the outset.

The ‘rusticness’ is a little staged, with just the right colors and precisely the right amount of bric-a-brac on the walls, but let’s remember, Allenberry is very much a stage. There is literally a stage. When you go to a resort (whether you admit it at the time or not), you want your expectations to be catered to. You want the idealized version of the setting you’re immersing yourself in. The Breeches is the ideal of a mountainside, trail-town cafe. I felt like relaxing on those comfy couches following a long hike in the forest. It embodies that particular feel to an even greater extent than Caffe 101.

Here’s the big confession: I don’t think that’s bad. There’s nothing wrong with artifice. That’s what all art and crafting is: attempting to bring a form, a thought, into the physical world. Follow the logic, and you’ll probably conclude that the world could use more staging, not less. Intent. That’s the word I was looking for. Consider how in a Hallmark movie set, where a perfect small town is built to inhabit if only for a while, there’s the intent here to recreate a worthy ideal. The idea itself is beautiful. I am a Hallmark movie apologist, and as beauty and innocence suffer attacks in the name of ideological gamesmanship, I become ever more so as time progresses.

We want the virtues of a thing like The Great Outdoors without the flaws. Ergo, creating a place that reflects that aim can’t be bad. The coffeehouse is part of an enterprise striving to embody the paragon of a certain notion. That’s honestly wonderful. There’s nothing less than artistic about the performance art that happens here. I think people are inspired by this space. They’re definitely well-fed. There was a plethora of bready pastry treats available.

The coffee was as much of an emotional roller coaster as the aesthetic was. The beans are sourced from John Gross & Company. That’s a rather massive food services supplier from nearby Mechanicsburg. It’s local. But, it’s not local…right? JG is a large distributor. You might guess I was worried at this point. A coffeehouse with big-store coffee. What could go right? The answer: a lot could go right. A lot did go right. Let me explain:

The roast I had was the ‘Signature Blend.’ That could mean anything, obviously, so I was bracing myself for the standard astringent diner-coffee fare. It was not that at all. There was only a hint of that taste. The rest of the flavor palette was a sumptuous nuttiness smoothed with an even acidity. Well-balanced, I mean to say. I don’t know whether the ‘Signature Blend’ is truly that good, or if the barista making it was just that adept. She was clearly one of those engaged people who knew her job and cared. Care matters. Care is the arm of decision in the coffee world.

Before this experience, I had never been to Allenberry, either the resort or the playhouse. After this, I’ll certainly return to experience one or both (and hopefully both). That’s the thing about Allenberry and places like it. They end up offering exactly what they aim to. Someone like me who needs to escape to a place on the exciting ontological borderlands of Nature and man will get exactly that. We’ll get good coffee, too, if this visit was any indication.

Note: The frequency of posts on this site should probably pick up quickly over the next few weeks. There is a slew of new coffee spots emerging around here and beyond. Additionally, the weather is nigh ideal for heading north into the Wilds and northwest into the deeper Appalachians. That’s right: Certain new coffee spots in non-Lancaster Amish country could use a little publicity and patronage. We’ll be tending to them in October and November, along with a few small coffeehouses associated with certain rural Pennsylvania universities.

And with that, I’m off to a poetry night downtown. No, I don’t have the poem done yet. Or, maybe I do. I might do the poem and then come back to finish the rest of this blog entry. That might render it less organic in the process. Oh, well. Freeform is overrated. Intent matters, and I intend to write a ton of words, by hook or by crook.

Until next time, stay caffeinated.