Review

Lots brewing at Cafe Momus
by Connie Bloom
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published Thursday, November 19, 1998, in the Akron Beacon Journal.

Here's your head-scratcher for the day: Why are the parking spaces at Cafe Momus a roomy 12 feet wide, rather than the standard, cramped 10? We'll put some coffee on while you steam the milk and percolate an answer.

Meanwhile, it would be hard not to notice the new European-looking building at 491 Brown St. Nestled among houses and apartments catering to University of Akron students, the two-story coffeehouse gets a first glance because it's such a surprise and a second glance because of its handsome appearance and proud workmanship.

John Balas credits his wife, Kay, with its design and attention to detail, from the stone corners, diagonal windows, hardwood floors and wood trim to the color scheme inside -- a dark royal blue and a deep, velvety red.

``My wife made it up,'' said Balas, whose name is carved in a stone on the outside of the building. ``It's a combination of Seattle and Stan Hywet. have you ever noticed that when you visit a coffeehouse, they tell you they scoured the world to find the design? Well, we scoured the world to find the design for our coffeehouse.

``We started our travels in Seattle in 1994,'' said Balas, who taught French and history at Northwest High School near Canal Fulton. The family branched out from there, visiting European coffee places in ensuing years.

``I have pictures of my son (Andy) in Florence and Venice. . . . We went to places in London, Rome and Paris. One coffeehouse on the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean had a dirt floor and a backgammon game.'' And that was all it had.

Balas studied coffeehouses of 17th-century England, where they were sometimes called ``penny universities'' -- places where people of diverse backgrounds could meet and share ideas, and thereby get an ``education'' for the price of a cup of coffee, which long ago was merely a penny.

Cafe Momus is named after the first literary cafe in Paris, says Balas. It was located on the Right Bank in the 1700s. He also refers to Act II of the opera La Boheme, wherein the ``bohemian'' artists meet on a dark, snowy Christmas Eve.

So readers won't be surprised to learn that this Cafe Momus will carry on in the literary tradition. ``A guy will come in and do Henry David Thoreau,'' he says matter-of-factly. ``We want to do a celebration of words,'' he adds, pointing out that the library in his stunning structure consists of books that were donated to the cafe and which it is willing to sell for $1 apiece. The profit then goes to Project Learn.

The interior of the cafe is considerate of learners, thinkers, plotters and planners as Beethoven is piped throughout the loft, library and main room at a whisper. ``I personally think people do not like absolute silence,'' says Balas.

Tables, couches, hard-backed and stuffed chairs don't come from the exact same molds, necessarily, but chime quite harmoniously. Attention to detail -- check out the miter joints, the pattern of the wood at the joinings, the spacing of the speakers, the layout of the tables -- is seen everywhere.

The main room of the cafe is two stories high. Several skylights let rays from the sun swoop down into the room like a big bird. ``People like natural light,'' says Balas. ``My wife bullied the builder. She was here every day during the building process. They wanted her to go away, but she wouldn't.

``She is the spiritual leader of this place,'' says Balas. ``I worked 33 years in the schools, and now my family will be here.'' All family members have a job, of course. Son Andy, 22, had a stroke when he was 10, ``so he gets to work here,'' said Balas. ``He is the mayor. I'm just the front man. Most teachers are part ham, and so my wife lets me talk.''

Cafe Momus serves coffees, desserts, baked goods, breakfasts (before 10 a.m.), soups, salads and sandwiches. Prices range from $2.25 for a bowl of soup to $4.95 for a panini sandwich, in which the panini, or bread, is crinkle-cut. Details, details.

Oh, yes, the 12-foot parking spaces. The worker who was laying out the parking lot told Balas, ``I can make these smaller, but they wouldn't be symmetrical if you flew over them in an airplane.''

Why chance asymmetry?