West Town residents, now’s your chance to grab a coffee and celebrate your celibacy at the same time! The newest business in the Wicker Park area is Blend, 1725 W Division St. The coffee shop is part-owned by Johan Khalilian, of Project Reality, an abstinence advocacy group, and according to the cafe’s Web site, “It’s not just a coffee shop. It’s a journey that seeks to change the world through faith, hope and love.”
The kids today love their coffee. It’s now as cool for teens to sip unpronounceable $4 drinks at Starbucks as it once was to suck down cans of Pabst behind that abandoned factory, but if Blend’s goals sound ambitious to you, you’re not alone. How can a coffee shop change the world? Easy. By providing a “third place” that will “nourish diversity and human contact, create a sense of place and community, invoke civic pride, promote companionship, provide respite for the exhausted and overworked, encourage sociability instead of isolation, make life more vibrant, and provide a much needed safe place for young people who seek to flee from the everyday dangers they encounter.”
The location, in the heart of hipsterville and across the street from neighborhood favorite, Alliance Bakery, might seem like a bad idea, but this is a coffee shop whose hope “transcends the realistic and dances on the tips of the impossible” (more inspiring words from the Web site). Alliance is perhaps less ambitious than its new rival, but the bakery and café is no stranger to competition. Despite the Starbucks down the street, it has managed to keep loyal customers coming back for cookies, cupcakes, Intelligentsia coffee and free wi-fi.
Business actually might get better for both cafes with Wicker Park staple Filter closing soon, as a bank takes over its lease in the Flat Iron Building. Some hipster Filter fans will have to walk a bit further for their joe, but they might also have to confront their consciences if they go to Blend for their morning-after mocha.
