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APPETITE FOR ART
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The Lemon Grove .
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CREATIVE COLLECTIVE: From left, Natalia Lepore-Hagan, co-owner Jacob Harver, Courtney Waskin, and co-owner Keith Povec inside the new Lemon Grove.
Lemon Grove Cafe serves up creativity as its key ingredient
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Vindicator entertainment writer
The Lemon Grove Cafe in downtown Youngstown isn’t your typical restaurant-bar.
Owner Jacob Harver describes it as a gathering place — and a room with character — where something is always going on. It has opened in preparation for its grand opening Friday.
Harver doesn’t even see himself as the proprietor — at least not in the traditional sense. He’s more like the person who guides the creative energy.
“I don’t think of myself as an entrepreneur or any type of businessman,” he said. “I’m just coordinating people who are good at what they do. ... It’s really a collective of talented people.”
Harver wants it to be an artistic haven and a place to gather. “It’s not your typical cookie-cutter suburban coffee shop or bar,” he said.
To realize his vision, Harver has surrounded himself with artists, craftspeople and other creative types in the venture.
Keith Povec, who makes handcrafted furniture, is creating the tables and chairs in the Grove, which also will be for sale. Povec, who spent six years learning the art with J.L. Treharn & Co., a Youngstown-based maker of fine handcrafted furniture, also will custom-build furniture for customers.
Art will also be displayed and sold, with wall space reserved for student-artists as well as more established ones. Jason Van Hoose is the resident artist.
Courtney Waskin is the Lemon Grove’s manager and chef. She most recently worked at the Flaming Ice Cube in Boardman.
The menu focuses on paninis, with muffins, juices and specialty coffees also available.
“We’ll use as much local produce and natural and organic ingredients as we can,” said Harver.
Although it has a full bar, the Lemon Grove doesn’t revolve around alcohol.
“There will be full liquor available, but I don’t want it to feel like a bar,” said Harver. “It’s more like a coffee shop with alcohol.”
The Lemon Grove, and its kitchen, is open until 4 a.m. seven nights a week. Among the niches it hopes to fill is as a post-closing-time eatery.
“Because we’re open so late, it could be a place to grab a bite to eat and maybe sober up after the bars close downtown,” said Povec. “You won’t have to head to the suburbs.”
Harver said his place isn’t in competition with existing downtown nightspots, all of which, he said, have their own unique character.
A stroll through The Lemon Grove reveals it as eclectic, artsy and jazzy. Wood etchings of William Burroughs, Woody Allen, Hemingway and James Baldwin adorn one wall.
The skinny but very-long room is furnished with intentionally mismatched high-top tables and chairs.
Wood beams salvaged from a 160-year-old barn in Brookfield are used behind the bar and as drink rails. The slate from the barn roof forms the walkway that leads from the front door to the bar, and the planks that were the barn’s siding have become the floorboards.
A stage is nestled into the front, backed up against bay windows that look out onto the Federal Street sidewalk. An upright piano sits on the stage.
Harver said he is putting in a small smoking patio out back, which opens into a courtyardlike parking lot. The Lemon Grove already has free wi-fi.
From the outside, the yellow front exterior has already become one of the most inviting storefronts in downtown Youngstown.
Harver said there will be entertainment every night — everything from an open mic to nationally known bands, although not the type that might be at home in Cedars or Barley’s. “We’ll have everything from Appalachian to Zydeco,” he said.
Other events will include poetry readings, discussion groups, political debates — and everything in between.
Harver, a 26-year-oild Youngstown native, is a graduate of Ursuline High School and Youngstown State University. He spent the last four years working for Verizon wireless, but opening his own place has always been on his mind. The Lemon Grove is his first business venture, and he spent more than $100,000 gutting and renovating the long-abandoned building at 122 W. Federal St. downtown.
“I’m seeking to balance the reality of business with what it should be,” he said.
Harver is also looking for additional investors. Interested people can pick up an informational packet from him.
XThe Lemon Grove is open from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.