Coffee House is alternative to bar scene 1
By Lane Van Ham
Staff Reporter ________
New University of NebraskaLin
coln students probably nave a long
time to wait before their 21st birth
day. The question is: Whatcanonedo
instead of hitting the bars?
One alternative is The Cottee
House, 1324 “P” St.
“We’re about the only place
people can go for the loose term
‘hanging out’ where there’s no alco
hol,” said Jim McCabe, Coffee
House owner.
McCabe opened the Coffee House
in July of 1987 with the idea that
Lincoln needed a place similar to
those he’d seen in other towns.
“I’d been to coffee houses a lot in
San Francisco and Oregon and I al -
ways thought it was rather weird that
a college town like Lincoln did not
have a coffee house,” he said. “It
was one of those things I kept men
tioning for four or five years, and
finally someone said, ‘Well, if you’re
going to keep complaining about it,
you’ve got to do something about
it.’ ”
McCabe said his vision of the
Coffee House was based on the Euro
pean model, rather than the beatnik
coffee houses of the 1950s.
“The European (coffee house) is
more open, a little more quiet, where
the ’50s coffee houses were more
funky, casual, rustic, strumming gui
tar in the background kind of things,
he said. “The European is more con
cerned with varieties and quality of
coffee and pastries.”
-1
The atmosphere at the Coffe®
House lends itself to many possiblB
activities and attracts a wide vanetH
of clientele, of whicli students aiH
only one component.
‘ ‘I had the idea of a place you eafi
sit around and have conversation anl
small meetings with other people®
drink coffee, relax, play games Rk
don’t think there’s any other plat
that has this, which is why we can
a cross-section,” McCabe said. “wR
get some business people in the carlBf
morning and then students more R
the afternoon and evening.” K?
The Coffee House also features R
constantly rotating display of an oR
its walls, arranged by one c
McCabe’s employees who is also a
art student.
‘‘We have big walls, and a ven 1
very high ceiling in the front, andRl
started thinking, 'Whatam ! going R
do with these walls so they ’re not sH
bland9’ It seemed like art was a log®
cal outgrowth, and we rotate it ever®
6 to 8 weeks for variety,” McCatS
From time to time the CoffeR
House also features poetry reading®
and live music, but McCabe saiR
apart from an upcoming benefit fR
Lincoln’s community radio statiorR
KZUM, there is nothing in the work®
in this regard.
me ^uiiee nouse serves MgrffS
lunches in addition to items such JR
bagels, muffins, cookies and checs®
cake. All of the items are brought i®
from other places, and McCabe saitS
he has had difficulty finding the qual®
ity of food he’d like to have.
“There really isn't much as far a®
a good bakery in Lincoln,” McCab®
said. “! ’ ve found private bakers 10 b®
the best thing so far. I’d like to hav®
high quality English pastries, whic®
aren't as sweet as French, but they’r®
hard to find.”
Of course, there is always the®
obvious -- coffee, and other drinks. ■
‘ ‘Some people whoaren t familial®
with us come in and just ask for a cup I
of coffee. When they find out we*
have five different kinds, they don’t*
know what to get,” McCabe said. |
McCabe added that there are some B
compensations for those who don’t*
like coffee, such as tea and Italian I
Sodas. j
The Coffee House isopen Monday I
through Thursday from 7 a.m. to I
midnight, Friday and Saturday from 7 I
a.m. to 2:00 a.m. and Sunday from 11
p.m. until midnight.
Diebenkom works ,
now at Sheldon
Forty-one portraits, figure studies
and still lifes by American painter
Richard Diebenkom are on display in
the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
through July 30.
The exhibition of etchings is taken
from the Sheldon collection for the:
American Federation of Arts and will
tour 11 cities after closing at Sheldon.
‘‘Diebcnkom’s etchings provide
us with unexpected insight and com-.
mentary on a lesser-known aspect of
the artist’s oeuvre,” said George
Neubert, gallery director. Vk-:
tenkorn is among a small number of j
contemporary artists who enjoy an»
international reputation as one of
America’s most respected painters, t
4 ‘The character of his art, its mas- j
terv and authenticity, is brought to
full force in this first serious effort in
printmaking by this American mas-1
ter,” he said.
Diebenkom is noted as an abstractH
painter, but he also has produced an
important body of figurative and
representational graphic works, Neu
bert said. The woits in the Sheldon
exhibition record the artist’s experi
ments with figurative compositions.
The exhibition is supported in pari
by the Nebraska Arts Council and is
part of Art Access, a pilot project o
the American Federation of Aru
su, ported by the Lila Wallace-Read
ers Digest Fund.
Allen Scheben/Daily Nebraskan
Andrew Robinson, senior engineering major, shows off a cup of Mexican Mocha, one of the
Coffee House’s specialty drinks.
• -
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