Anastazi's Station Cafe

I have a weakness for local shops, particularly once I get to know the owners.  I find myself dodging chains on a daily basis.  I have to admit, over the summer I have found arguably my favorite small business in the Philadelphia and Boston region.  There is this amazing coffee shop that appears extremely stoic from the outside but warm and artistic on the inside.  On the first day I went there, which is a story itself (I hadn't slept all night, and while I waited for the coffee shop to open, I got lost in the graveyard while it poured torrential rain on me) I fell in love with the owners, a married couple Steve and Anastazi, aka Aiza, aka Stazi.  I like to call her Stazi because then I can endearingly call the owners "Steve and Stazi."  They make excellent coffee (Equal to the coffee I had with the Italians in the North End of Boston, although the italians had better pastries and were more expensive) in addition to Italian Sodas in any flavor you can dream up.  So delicious, I am there for coffee all the time.

Now I would like to say, none of these pictures can do this cafe justice.  It really is a living piece.  The owners put so much time and thought into it, there are at least five beautiful pieces of art in there that I can think of off the top of my head (Brass Plant, Tyler School of Art Wall Fixture, Artistic Mirror, Stainglass Celtic Knot, Clock fixture) in addition to the fact that in order for them to get the cafe just the way they wanted it, Steve and Stazi handmade their own tables.  Did you catch that?  They decided to make their own stone tables and let me say, when I brought my Kyomunim there they immediately said "How Buddhist this cafe is!"  I must agree Reverend Hwang.

Steve (Picture to the left) is an extremely social and amicable personality whose family hails from Germany (I wouldn't have guessed) and he has this really endearing laugh that is difficult to explain but it would best be described as if the show "Carebears" had a villain on it, he would laugh like steve.  Wow, that still doesn't work but what are you gonna do, you gotta hear it.

Stazi (Below, haha) is a Puerto Rican New Yorker who is a self-described nerd.  She lives for the renaissance fair and has told me about her collection of ten swords.  She has her own little library and is an avid reader (Recently picking up my favorite fantasy book, Game of Thrones).  Before she was a cafe co-owner, she was a real estate agent.  She has a tude to boot and can break down anyone's walls with her shining personality.  Might I add, she likes to brag how one of her best customers is a Starbucks manager who needs "Real Coffee" she says.  She is a coffee expert and drinks about four cups a day herself.  Kudos guys for an excellent cafe!