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Munch goes to Kofenya
Friday, June 30, 2000 By Munch
OK, Munchkins, this installment is going to have to be written quickly and probably not very well.
[Editor's note: At least you're consistent.]
Munch is way past deadline.
[Ed. -- See above.]
But there's a good reason!
See, Tuesday night Munch was out working hard, checking out a new bar in ... somewhere in the South Hills. It's called ... um ... well ... it'll come eventually. Met a group of patrons there who were real, real nice, and who offered to take Munch deep into Washington County to some really great bars.
The next thing Munch recalls is waking up in a barn with a head full of hay. On the outside and inside.
Oh, and having hit on our cute designated driver, who responded, "Try me when I'm drinking."
Ugh.
Anyway, realizing it was Thursday morning, Munch was speeding through Peters toward Downtown when one bleary eye caught a billboard for a new "coffee house and cyber cafe" called Kofenya.
COFFEE!
Letting the out-of-alignment company car steer itself on a sharp right to Valleybrook Road, Munch saw the building literally straddling the sparkling waters of Brush Run, right beside the paved Arrowhead Trail.
How cool!
Turns out, it's as cool on the inside, too -- quite possibly one of the coolest places Munch has stumbled into around here in a long time.
From the fresh flowers for sale (along with Post-Gazettes, thank you) at the door to the fresh-faced, Gap-garbed staff, Kofenya makes a great first impression.
Trying not to spill a cup of coffee as big as Munch's headache and a blueberry muffin, Munch sat down in the airy dining room that looks out, through huge arched windows, on the creek flowing beneath the floor and the big parking lot.
Kofenya, which just opened last month, is really big, too, and divided into spaces including a cozy livingroom-like area with leather chairs and a fireplace, and a stage for live entertainment that, according to the monthly schedule, ranges from open mike nights to Disney characters for the kids.
The decor is slick, with artwork-covered brown stucco walls, fabric flowers on the cherry-stained tables, and funky touches like the purple onion domes that echo the place's Russian motif.
Ironically, reading yesterday's paper there, Munch learned that the local partners just closed their little kiosk by the same name in the Downtown Lazarus and will pursue other possible locations.
Kofenya is Russian for "a place where friends meet."
Indeed, munching breakfast were a couple tables of friends, at least one group of which had just finished a long walk on the trail.
Munch was in no shape to eat, much less walk. But the place's menu goes way beyond "coffee house." Servers were pitching the breakfast special of a ham-and-cheese omelet with a pancake and home fries for $8. Lunch and dinner sound delicious, too. The takeout menu Munch grabbed is full of "neo-classic fusion cuisine" choices -- a lot of them Russian -- ranging from appetizers like pelmeni (meat dumplings with melted butter and sour cream for $5) to sandwiches like grilled vegetable and gorgonzola panini ($5) to entrees like Chicken Kiev ($15), even roast duck ($16). You're welcome to BYOB.
Nursing a free refill of joe, Munch climbed (slowly) upstairs to check out the meeting/party room, as well as Kofenya's computers, which you can rent for $6 an hour. Thought about actually banging out this column there and just e-mailing it in, but alas, the system at the moment was down.
But it looks like a fine place to work, certainly more comfy than the desk Munch has to share with the sports agate writers back at the office. There's a copy machine and other accouterments, too.
What a great place!
Munch vows to go back to try the food, and maybe even take a stroll or a bike ride down the trail.
Just as soon as this throbbing stops ...
Ed. note: As Munch failed to note, Kofenya is located in St. Petersburg Center at 210 Valleybrook Road. Hours now are 8 a.m.-11 p.m. or midnight Tues.-Sat. and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun. (closed Mon.). But those hours will be expanded earlier and later in July. The phone is 724-941-2233. Thankfully, it even has its own Web site: www.kofenya.com
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