A Flat Space To Write: Finestra
Steve Beisner -- November 19, 2005
On Figueroa Street, around the corner from the Santa Barbara Art Museum, and looking as though it might have been designed by the museum's interior decorator, is the Finestra Cafe. Having heard people whisper that Finestra is somewhat militantly Christian, I've avoided the place, but now I'm happy to report that the atmosphere, while decidedly wholesome, is not aggressively so. In practice the religiosity has been muted, tempered by Santa Barbara's ubiquitous live and let live secularism.
My impartiality is challenged by Finestra's identification with a religious sect, but I like the place, despite finding the subtle "happy, happy, joy, joy, I'm saved, you're not" vibes a bit obnoxious. Others might not be bothered at all.
The cafe is immaculate, more so than even the chain coffee houses. No rings on tables from previous customers, no used cups in sight. The tile floor with oriental style rug looks clean enough for brain surgery. The room is gorgeous: twenty five foot ceilings, with windows almost that tall. I sit in a fine reclining chair next to a window ten feet wide and thrown open to the paseo. I look across to Bogart's: Christian Cafe against Pagan Pub.
The music is soft Christian rock. It's so subdued that the messages are only subliminal, if they're there at all, a kind of spiritual Muzak. Indeed the Christianity is so restrained as to be almost invisible to the casual observer, but I was born in the Bible Belt and have a raging allergy to saviors of any kind: my alarm keeps going off. There's a good crowd here on this Saturday morning, exuding the same wholesome meme. They could be Young Republicans For Christ, but they're friendly rather than obnoxious. Many appear to be acquainted: a "fellowship," I'm sure they would describe themselves.
Enough of my amateur sociology. The house coffee is respectably strong with a choice of brews. The furniture is extremely comfortable, whether one prefers to lounge or sit at a table. The noise level is moderately high, but mostly white noise of the kind that fosters a feeling of privacy within a crowd. The wireless Internet is free and fast.
Finestra provides an atmosphere I find conducive to writing. It's not as soulful as some of our better local cafes, but it is clean, comfortable, and a place where I found I could easily follow my Pagan muse across the threshold and into the place of fictional dreams.
Finestra is located on Figueroa Street, east of State Street.