Owl Light Outings: Spirited voices at Cricket’s Coffee Et cetera
by D.E. Bentley –
The window sign for Cricket’s Coffee Etc. on 53 Main Street in Geneseo, NY is on the head of a drum; it is one of the first things you notice. In thinking back to the earliest roots of storytelling, it seems fitting to pair a cricket with this earliest form of instrumentation, historically used as musical accompaniment alongside griots and other storytellers. Crickets talk by rubbing their wings together and their ears are on their knees, which means they engage in spirited conversation and listen on the go. This analogy seems fitting as well, given the engaging conversation and mingling of ideas that the space conjures from its community of followers. I looked around at the gathering of young and old and in-between, of left and right and undecided, of here and there and many places near and far.
A young couple at the table nearest me gave up the large table that they had comfortably occupied a corner of to a gathering group of regulars, who kept sliding in chairs as more people joined. This expansive group’s lively conversations were varied and relaxed: ranging from politics to healthcare; from LGBTQ rights to evolution; from monuments to the “Lost in the Mall” question. Refreshingly, they talked about ideas and embraced differences in opinions; divergent thoughts lingered silently in the air before being mentally warehoused for future reconsideration and discussion.
There are other things I look for in coffee shops beyond conversation, coffee and tea – all of which Crickets offers in generous and varietal abundance. Foods to pair with the coffee and friendly counter encounters are important. Cricket’s has this covered, with a menu that includes the basics: bagels, muffins, soups and waffles, along with an expanding selection of interestingly stacked sandwich options. They also now offer wine and beer, for the downslide of the caffeine up, along with kombucha on tap. Orders are made at the counter; service is friendly and timely.
That they support arts provides another layer of coffee shop luxury. Along the back side wall, adjacent to a second seating area and on the way to the self serve coffee and the anybody bathroom, is an area for visual arts. The current display is a selection of prints by Eileen Feeney Bushnell, an Undergraduate RIT Professor who teaches non-toxic printmaking techniques that she also uses in her art. Cricket’s also hosts group activities on Wednesdays, live original music on Thursdays and a free movie night on Fridays.
Given all that Cricket’s offers – I have seen many changes since I first ventured in several years ago – it is good they have et cetera in their name. That Cricket’s is in a college town does give them a coffee shop edge, but it is evident that the business’s layout and design and the expanding menu, arts and events are part of a well thought out strategy for turning a space into a lively and engaging social venue.