Dogtown owner opens inviting coffee shop on Monroe Ave. in Rochester
Fran Basile, owner of Dogtown, has seen many businesses come and go in the century-old (give or take a few years) house that shares his parking lot. "It's been about six places in the past 10 years," he said.
And ever since a Starbucks closed in the neighborhood, Dogtown customers have asked about where to go for coffee nearby.
Finally, the owner of the wildly popular hot dog joint on Monroe Avenue decided to take control of the situation.
He and his wife, Peg Basile, have opened Hydra Coffeehouse at 701 Monroe Ave. The name is a nod to the mythical creature that has several heads, and when one is cut off, two more emerge.
"It's kind of like the building," Basile said. "I'm hoping I'm the last head."
What's on the menu
To decide on a coffee roaster, the Basiles conducted a blind tasting of several local coffees. They decided on Joe Bean for its espresso blend and drip coffee.
"We may bring in some different ones here and there for drip," Fran Basile said. "Right now we really like Joe Bean. They’re local and they are very good.”
The menu includes scratch-made baked goods baked in house: muffins, scones, desserts and more.
It also serves classic breakfast sandwiches, served on hard rolls from Giuseppe's in Gates, with a choice of plain or everything rolls. "We’re going to start at that point and see how it goes," he said.
The sunlit space
Suzi Brenner, a Rochester-based landscape architect and ceramics artist, created a combination planter and bench, filled with pollinator-friendly perennials and grasses, in front of the house. It provides a pleasant, semi-private place to sit outside, adjacent to the bustle of Monroe Avenue.
The Basiles liked her work so much that they hired her to create the interior. She brought the outside in, filling the sunlit room with earthy colors, live edge tables and an abundance of plants, including succulents in handmade terracotta pots.
The shop has a variety of seating on two floors; the upstairs landing features a post card-style mural featuring local landmarks. It was created by local artists Billy T. Lyons and Hannah Stollberger.
Intersecting with coffee history
While it seems like a coffee shop might be new territory for the owner of a hot dog joint, it turns out that Fran Basile's career intersected with Rochester's early coffee scene.
One of his first jobs, around 1977, was at Cafe Primo in Pittsford’s Schoen Place. Joe Palozzi, better known as Java Joe, founded the shop in 1974, featuring what Palozzi claimed to be the first espresso machine in Rochester. (Palozzi would go on to open Java Joe’s Café, next to the Eastman Theatre on Gibbs Street. Now called Java's, it is currently owned and run by Palozzi's friend, Mike Calabrese. Palozzi died in 2017.)
If you go
Hydra Coffeehouse, 701 Monroe Ave., opened for business on Sept. 5. The hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Parking is available in the lot it shares with Dogtown. The patio is ground level; steps lead into the building and up to the second floor.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Hydra Coffeehouse opens next door to Dogtown in Rochester NY
