Conjunction Junction

For a few good words and 50 bucks, you could own a Manayunk eatery.

By Jennifer Hemler

What if you could have your very own cafe, with first month's rent paid, in a nice cozy neighborhood, for only $50?

Sound good?

Well, there are a couple of strings attached.

You have to write an essay good enough to convince the present owner that you deserve to own her cafe, and that you'll fit in with all the locals.

Lisa Cammarota, the spunky 27-year-old owner of The Junction, located directly across from the Wissahickon train station on the corner of Rochelle and Sumack, got the idea of selling her cafe in this unconventional method through a friend of hers, who sold his cafe this way. "I just thought it would be a much better idea. Someone could get the joint for 50 bucks."

But she isn't going to part with her cafe that easily. She's going to pick "the poorest person. Someone who really deserves it; I'll know when I read it... They should tell me why they think they deserve to win."

Someone who takes "plenty-o-Prozac" to deal with the business.

Someone who fits in with the regulars, who are "insane — no they're really nice people," she explains, introducing some of the regulars.

"I'm going to miss Bonnie the most... she's an aspiring artist."

Then there is Frank, who shows us his holiday photos of Santa astride a Harley Davidson — he "loves Harleys so much he works there for free," Cammarota explains.

Frank gives a tip on why the cafe is such a neighborhood success: "It's so laid back in here you can hear your hair grow."

Another neighbor strolls in. Her two children roll around on the floor, playing with Cammarota's two dogs Frederick and Sadie, who are permanent fixtures of her cafe. "Everyone's going to miss Frederick more than they miss me," says Cammarota. "[People] come to visit them."

Tim Couver, another Java junkie in the neighborhood, painted the sign out front, which features Frederick. Some of Cammarota's customers helped her furnish the cafe, giving or lending her some of the cool knickknacks that make the place user-friendly. There's a TV and couch in the corner, a stereo for costumers' use.

So this isn't your run-of-the-mill coffeehouse. It has atmosphere, warmth, camaraderie. "What inspired me," she says, "was this place, the beauty, the unique neighborhood. The people."

You'll inherit a family if you inherit the cafe. And, although the family is as loving and dysfunctional as the next, Cammarota simply found that the cafe isn't quite her cup of cappuccino.

She's planning on travelling out West, putting most of her stuff in the backseat (and selling some of it, so if you're interested in some old wooden furniture, funky ashtrays or other antiquey items, catch her before summer) and just driving.

Cammarota hopes to find a winner "before another one of these despicable summers, hopefully early next summer. I'd like to leave by June."

Cammarota is waiting for 1,000 applicants, which at $50 a piece, seems a good deal for her, but also for the lucky winner. "I'd like to have for the person who comes in, if they came in at the beginning of the month, to have that month paid for, to be able to do that so they don't have to worry about things for at least a month."

Reminiscing about opening the cafe, Cammarota explains the benefits of the neighborhood. "I was living downtown and it just got too stressful, so I moved to Sumack Street. I had thought about how there was no place to get coffee — you know, good coffee — fresh pastries unless you walk to Main Street, and I had looked at this place up the street... It just kind of snowballed. I was pretty driven. There wasn't even an outlet in here when I found it. I had a good friend help me renovate it... it took six or seven months to actually get it going. It's still not finished."

"It's exhausting," she adds. "Especially when you do it right. I don't do it right. There are a lot of coffee junkies around here, a lot of caffeine addicts, which I'm happy about. All day long, there are people who come in three or four times a day."

Although she modestly claims she hasn't put her all into the effort, Cammarota says business has been good and that there's nothing for prospective owners to worry about.

She says that the cafe costs $1,400 a month to sustain, and business has been "on the nose, which is good for being new [Cammarota opened last August] and for not advertising. A woman called today and just had tons of interesting ideas. Someone like that would do very well, someone with tons of energy, tons of ideas..."

If you fit that description, call Diana Cammarota at 482-5009, except for Mondays and Tuesdays, or send your essay and fee to The Junction, 5101 Rochelle Ave., Philadelphia PA 19128. Better hurry, though; within two days of her announcement, Cammarota received more than 40 calls of inquiry.

And if you stop in, say hello to Frederick. He responds to "yum yum."