Gene - 2404 Main

Remarkably, Gene is neither a cocktail bar nor an electronic group from the nineties. Instead, it's a coffeeshop, which is why I'm writing about it.

Gene is singularly situated situated for cafe-dom. It occupies a wedge-shaped building that splits Main street into two around 8th Avenue. This means that Gene is supplied with two street-facing windows and, because it's on a hill and at the end of a block which becomes the middle of the road to the north(ish), one gets quite a view of downtown from inside.

The furniture is plain, similar to that at Prado, actually - lots of whitewashed wood in a fashionable state of decay. There's a fine example of 'street-art' in the bathroom (no, really). The whole place is in a state of perpetual renovation, which gives it a sort of industrial feel that I like.

The Coffee is pretty good. Naked portafilters, which are probably pretty passe among coffee enthusiasts by now, are present to some effect. The first few times I went to Gene, I thought it (the coffee) exquisite and decided I had not enjoyed an espresso so much since Ziggy's days at Lupo, which is a reference I don't expect anyone to get, but I liked it. Whether the quality of the coffee has declined or my tastes have changed, I don't know, but the last time I went I found my espresso excessively bitter and hot (the latter probably due to the tall, narrow cylinder it was served in). But enough of these relatively objective matters and on to my weird problems with this place.

I suspect myself of being one of Gene's first customers. I noted its transformation from some kind of weird art studio to a cafe with anticipation (I love gentrification!) and started going there in the evenings to break up my workdays (usually 12 hours at the time). Then, it was in a more severe state of renovation and usually all but deserted. I consequently came to know the owner/manager, Gideon, which is one of the reasons I rarely go there now. Because Gideon always acknowledges me with such familiarity, I feel I obliged to make conversation whenever I go, which is not easy with him.

This and the hipsters that (tardily, I think) have infested the place have been enough to keep me away from Gene most of the time. Avoiding hipsters is a pretty hip reason to forsake a place, but there you have it.