In January we began a search for a new name, one that would capture the kooky spirit of the internet and be meaningful at the same time. Our vision now is ambitious partly because the internet inspires ambition. The web also allows for much creativity and spunk. Imagine a million dollar company ten years ago with a name like YaHOO. 

We worked through and tested 20 or more names, most were already taken as a dot com. Finally we tested several on the menu in the cafe. Balagula Chicken was a clear winner, balagula's not a fish (we knew that), now  balagula's not a FOOD either! Not a hat, not a food, not a fish. 
"Where's your balagula?" 
" I left it at home." 

"Have you done the Balagula?" (ba-la-goo-la)
"No, can't dance". " No, silly, anyone can do the balagula!"

 Ok the advertising campaign was done.
What next? 

Natasha's Cafe is now a separate company and will open its doors in the new location at 108 Esplanade downtown Lexington sometime this fall. Balagula of Lexington will open along side Natasha's Cafe at the same address. On the internet Natasha's Cafe will sell coffee and Turkish  coffee pots and the Balagula sells everything else.

As for "balagula", it's not a foxtrot or a hula, not a cross between beluga and balalaika, or an obscure ritual of initiation somewhere in the South Pacific.

What's a Balagula (ba-la-goo-la)? In our minds it's the existential howl. Why am I here or why did I buy this another useless thing!  Balagula is actually a Yiddish word for "cart-driver."  This is the rather rugged, but wise foul mouthed 19th century version of a truck-driver. The Balagula could fix anything, take you anywhere the horse and cart could go, and fill you in with all the news from neighboring villages with a few embellishments, of course.

The balagula brand is next. Indeed, you may get to wear a balagula after all!