Once there were local coffee houses in most cities appealing to local tastes. Then from the nerds and dismal skies of Seattle, Starbucks erupted. Quickly it eliminated competition. Coffee lovers lined up to feed the fire known as Starbucks. Any one deciding to open a coffee house had to imitate Starbucks.
Starbucks has reached a vulnerable time in its life. No matter how hard it tries to become more than a place to tap on keyboards and sip coffee it fails. In Cleveland new coffee houses are opening with more than strong coffee, humdrum pastry and the atmosphere of a call center.
Locally, Presti's was one of the first to offer much more than Starbuck's and did it quite well. The only minus is it can be in any Little Italy in any city. MoCa arrives on the scene and can only be in Cleveland. Here the food is Hungarian and Italian. Befitting a city where the Italians and Hungarians once lived together in the Buckeye-Woodland neighborhood. I said food as grilled sandwiches, bakery, chicken paprikas and chili are on the menu.
The décor is almost Japanese with simple furniture and earth tones. On the walls hang paintings for sale from local artists. A large sidewalk area is fenced in to separate the outdoor tables from Clifton Boulevard.
A good example of this must-be-Cleveland is the breakfast sandwich. Here the biscuit is a many layered Hungarian crackling biscuit. What a wonderful idea. The usual dry southern baking powder biscuit cannot compare to the rich yeast raised pogasca. The ham, egg and cheese are superior to other breakfast sandwiches. I do admit that the pogasca was not as good as I have had elsewhere. Perhaps it was micro waved or just not the baker's strength. The coffee is better than I have had elsewhere.
The owners are thoughtful men who are carefully designing what should become the neighborhood's gathering place for home cooked food as well as bakery and coffee. I admire them for selecting this area where the most recent activity has been losing businesses as councilman Jay Westbrook and the director of Cudell Improvement collect pay checks for opening the doors to deterioration.
I could not be happier to welcome MoCa to my neighborhood. I hope MoCa succeeds in stretching the definition of a coffee house. Outside they post what's cookin' that day. I will be calling in my orders for carry out regularly.