A career begun in concert halls finds home in a coffee shop

PITTSBURGH – Nikolay Ivanov's life as a professional musician allowed him to see the world, playing viola for orchestras in his native Bulgaria and later Phoenix and Dallas.

Today, Ivanov's world is much more compact, his days often not extending beyond the walls of Big Dog Coffee, a cozy cafe he and wife Cortney opened in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood in 2008.

From globe-trotting musician to barista may not seem a likely career path, but Ivanov offered three good reasons for his decision: the Ivanovs' three sons, ages 7, 11 and 12, who at any given time can be seen running through the shop, soccer ball in hand.

"I love music, but you are playing every Friday, Saturday and Sunday," the 45-year-old Ivanov said. "You were never home, and raising the kids is getting harder and harder."

There was a time Ivanov could hardly have imagined loving anything more than his music.

Born into communist Bulgaria, Ivanov began playing viola at age 6, encouraged by his parents. The real turning point came later, as a teenager, when his older brother took him to Bulgaria Hall in Sofia to hear the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra perform Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony.

"I'd never heard anything like this before. This was the first time I was like, 'Wow!' "

He moved to Dallas in 1996 to study viola at Southern Methodist University, where he met Cortney, a Pittsburgh native. Early in their first conversation, she told him she intended to move back to her hometown someday.

That happened in 2008, after they'd started their family. Cortney's parents, who run a bed-and-breakfast in South Side, mentioned that a nearby bakery was for sale.

It turned out opening a coffee shop was not such a great emotional leap after all. During his European touring days, Ivanov recalled, their wages were not compatible with restaurant menu prices, so he and his fellow musicians would often hang out in local coffee shops. "I just like the coffee shop crowd."

The property that today houses Big Dog held both the charm and challenges of a 100-plus-year-old building. The Ivanovs entirely renovated the place, from the basement to the roof over their upstairs apartment, opening in late November 2008. A family friend and professional interior designer, Kim Barnes, took care to give the space the feel of a living room, with space for 30.

Ivanov still plays his viola once a month or so, he said, but not for an audience. "I was good enough to do what I was doing. I was not good enough to get into the big 10 symphonies."

But there are parts he's been happy to let go. "Eighty people working in the same room every day … it's a lot of pressure to be a musician," he said. Nor does he miss the necessary regimentation, being told what to play, how to play it, what to wear and where to sit.