Inside, the common parlor is furnished in an assuredly mismatched manner: a velvet armchair from a bygone city, a low table scarred by years of tea cups and chess matches, and a cluster of framed black-and-white photographs that catch the eye and keep it. The proprietor—Eva, who may be part historian, part storyteller—moves through the space like someone tending an intimate museum. Her presence is both unobtrusive and generous: she knows when to offer directions and when to leave you with the silence of a book-lined corner.