I recall seeing a bird-theme coffee shop a few years ago. It was/is located on Lakeshore Road, West. At the time I thought ‘what a great idea’ and then almost immediately remembered that the same idea had come to me years before during one of my visits with epiphany. We seldom see each other anymore, at least not since I’ve let myself depreciate.
Upon discovering this cafe I pulled over and parallel parked my car. Having accomplished that feat without incident after so many years of not having to insinuate myself, at least outside the realm of this forum, I strolled over to the Bird & Bean and promptly ordered a cafe-au-lait and then enjoyed it while assessing the cafe’s grasp of the birding theme. Unfortunately, I cannot recall how I rated it despite being fundamentally judgmental, at least up until I got help for this affliction. I never saw another Birds & Beans anywhere else in the city.
This doesn’t surprise me. I wonder how successful and how accepted such a cafe might be at the foot of Tommy Thompson Park considering the popularity of this site among real birders. More people visit other parks, some of which already feature a restaurant, or a cafe, such as Sam Smith, High Park or Ashbridges, but those areas are not primarily a birders’ retreat. Indeed, birders are barely tolerated by the dogs, joggers and cyclist that own the place. Then again, coffee via a cafe might be viewed as a gateway libation that could lead to harder stuff and the last thing birders need is blurred perspective. You know what that could lead to: bikes colliding with one another, ebird reports of flocks of flamingo or legions of Whimbel storming the shoreline.
It’s just a musing, so don’t think that I’m on the verge of establishing a cafe where indicated. Running a cafe is too much work and my investment limit is about a hundred bucks. Nonetheless, does anyone think that a Birders’ Cafe is a good idea? I imagine that most birders hike the spit with coffee in a thermos so they might thumb their nose at the idea of a cafe. Might birders confined to a small appropriate venue become like bikers at a bikers’ bar ... altercations about who saw what? Would bird photographers vie for inclusion of their pics to adorn the walls of the establishment? Would E.M. break into the cafe at midnight and swap all the displayed pics for his own photos taken when Trump was president the first time ?
