Posted by Adrienne on January 21, 2008

Hello everyone! Did you think I’d abandoned my quest? I’m close to wrapping up my holiday break so I thought I’d pump out a quick review before I am lost in another semester. I miss writing while I’m in school but I also love being in school, so I win either way.

Most of my past reviews have featured coffee shops in south Minneapolis because they are in almost every neighborhood and they are easy to find. But part of my reason for this blog to explore other parts of the city, so I recently wandered up to the industrially mysterious Northeast Minneapolis to check out what sort of community coffee shops serve this side of the river. Forgive my lack of photos of the neighborhood, but I happened to visit on the coldest day of the year so far.

NorthEast

Aside from the extra “pe” added to the end of their name, I liked Diamonds Coffee Shoppe right away. Mostly because it is located in a sweet old brick building within spitting distance of a regularly-used railroad track. I’m a sucker for old buildings and railroad tracks. It’s located on Central Avenue in the Logan Park neighborhood in the larger area know as Northeast. What I know about the Northeast is that it started as a separate city (St. Anthony) back in the day, growing in industry, mainly milling, and later merged with Minneapolis. The population was working-class immigrants from Eastern Europe and is currently home mostly to new African immigrants, young families, and students. It is described as diverse, especially in recent years, and tends to be lower income. Logan Park itself is fairly divided between residential areas and industry.

I also know that Northeast has a large artist population, apparent in the numerous old warehouses now converted to artist lofts. If you wander out past the railroad, you will find a maze of these old buildings which you can visit during Art-A-Whirl, an open studio extravaganza every May. The old Thorpe building in which Diamonds is located is one such building. A friend of mine creates beautiful ceramic pieces in one of the studios downstairs and the coffee shop shares a floor with an art gallery. Needless to say, it seems many of the Diamonds’ customers are artists themselves. The free wi-fi also ensures a certain population of students and the self-employed.

Photo by Chuckumentary

Prospect and Refuge

To me the space in a coffee shop is most important. Yes, the quality of the coffee is key, along with other features such as decor and music and fellow customers. But to me, if the space feels uncomfortable, awkward, or exposed, I will just not enjoy spending more than a few minutes there. In landscape architecture (and general architecture) we speak of the idea of Prospect and Refuge. This is the idea that humans feel most safe in a space that allows for easy visual access of a surrounding space from a hidden or protected spot. This is handed down, most likely, from our ancient ancestors who needed protection from predators. This is why, for example, we prefer to keep to the perimeter of a room – to keep one eye out for people-watching and to feel the protection of a wall behind us.

This is what I thought of as I surveyed the space in Diamonds. The shop is made up of different types of rooms, as opposed to one giant room, which to me is a more comfortable space. The ceilings are lower in some of the rooms; some rooms have windows, some have couches, some have music. One is allowed to pick what type of space to inhabit. The room I chose was a small brick room painted a lovely pale green. Since it connects two rooms with larger ceilings it felt especially comfortable, intimate, and warm on a cold winter afternoon. Another room at the back is more exposed with a painted warehouse-feeling. Here, I assume, is where they show “off-beat cult movies” on the weekends. An old couch and cheap tables are scattered about and strange hallways with creaky wooden floors lead mysteriously off to other parts of the old building. Toward the back of the building are more studios, complete with an old freight elevator. A small room in the front of the shop pleasantly reminded me of what I could only imagine a sitting room to look like.

Food and Such

The music in Diamonds rotates between the regular artist fare of 60’s rock, Tom Waits, and some old blues and funk. Good enough for me. The food sounds delicious (breakfast, soups, sandwiches, hotdogs!, and bakery items) but prices are a bit steep for likes of a graduate student. I have no complaints for my dark small coffee, which was fine, but the yummy pita and hummus plate left my stomach hungry for the $5.25 I paid. On my second trip I tried the tea and was very impressed with a flavorful loose Earl Grey. The decor is fairly minimal, focused on subtle color, old lamps, and real art on the walls.

On my drive home I tried to navigate without a map, which tells you how well I know my way around Northeast. I had a good time getting lost in nice little working-class neighborhoods and discovering how an unknown street might lead to a familiar one. Even though I’ve lived here over two years now, I still find new sights to see in this city. Northeast has found a new patron.