Rapture Café proves that it is possible to run a smart, successful business and still care about community and integrity. Co-owner Joe Birdsong is a hunky, butch fantasy dripping with bad boy looks and prep-school eloquence. Throughout the Midwest there are legions of clean cut, middle aged, married men secretly surfing the net trying to find forbidden glimpses of just his type. Hopefully in minimal attire and giving the camera the finger. He and partner, punk/drag/glamourpuss legend Hattie Hathaway have successfully created probably what larger chains started out to do before getting lost in the corporate sauce of branding and mass appeal. It is large and comfortable and surprisingly does not require six bitter wanna-be pop stars to pour a single cup of coffee.

The real reason to visit is the vibe. If you are an artist, unemployed, or a real good queer pervert you need to be there. Keep in mind there is a selection of teas unsurpassed in this hemisphere – the coconut chai is sex in a cup. You can also find coffee table books on Harleys, Clive Barker and Courtney Love along with selections of high fashion glossies and zines with dirty stories about really hung Latino guys who don’t shave their nuts. They even have lesbian porn for girls – not the purple eyshadow, cheap stiletto heels, Larry Flint version but the kind real chicks dig.

MIKAL SAINT GEORGE: The last time I spoke with you you were recovering from a night of auditioning boys in their underware wrestling in Jell-O. Any good stuff like that since?

JOE BIRDSONG: That’s part of Daniel Nardicio’s D-list radio broadcast. We did just have a garage (gay-rhage) sale here. His intern would actually model the clothes for sale and people would bid and then he would take it off. So at three in the afternoon we had this boy in a jockstrap on a coffee bar!

MSG: Tell me about your concept in creating this space.

JB: Well, the idea was to create a safe space that really carries on a tradition of arts and activism and consciousness that the East Village is known for. It is a space for visual arts, it is a space for community, it is a place for people to come together and hang out.

MSG: I love the fact that it is a multi-concept business, that there is more than one thing going on. What has been the general response?

JB: Overall – very, very positive. People really like it and have told me it is a breath of fresh air because it is not just another bar. It’s not another Starbucks. They really appreciate the care and the work that goes into this. They appreciate that the space is open and welcoming and we are not trying to shove the New York Times best seller list down their throats.

MSG: Tell me a little bit about the book section. It really feels like a well curated library of sorts.

JB: Our location plays a big part. We pay a great deal of attention to the art scene here. We hope to attract the kind of people that add to the culture of this neighborhood. We pay attention to art, literature, sexuality, gender issues. Biographies are huge. People seem to like to read about other people’s lives. There’s some politics but we don’t go crazy.

MSG: Thank God!

JB: We are certainly left leaning.

MSG: Has anyone come in and stayed too long. Like a cup of coffee a magazine and camped out for the day?

JB: Absolutely!

MSG: That’s obviously not a problem!

JB: Well, it can be but 95% of the people that come in are extremely respectful.

MSG: What advice would you offer to someone that wanted to start a business in the rapidly changing East Village?

JB: Just don’t stop thinking you can do it.

MSG: Would you ever go nationwide?

JB: It’s too early to say but if I looked ten years down the road I wouldn’t mind seeing one in New Orleans, one in Santa Fe, San Francisco, maybe L.A. But, again it would have to be a curated kind of space specific to the individual needs of the location.

MSG: Is there a specific schedule for art installations and performances?

JB: Pretty much we are doing month long installations on the walls. Performances, last month we were pretty booked, this month not as much but June we are really busy. It’s a matter of connecting with the right talent. I haven’t perfected the formula yet!

MSG: Perfect answer!

Online | www.rapturecafe.com