25 July 2011

Not an office, not a restaurant.

Several months back my friend Maria posted the following on facebook:

Did you know that Fido [in Nashville's Hillsboro Village neighborhood] turns off its wireless internet if the cafe gets busy to get people to leave their tables? I told the manager that this does not seem to be in the spirit of Bongo Java and Fido. He said that this is a restaurant not an office. The wireless has been turned off and back on twice during the half-hour I've been here. Both times I lost data. Thanks a lot.

That post got me thinking.

There is a great coffee shop here in Memphis - Republic Coffee - I go there often to work (in fact, I am sitting in Republic as I type this). The internet is always on, and when it conks out I tell somebody and the staff apologizes and gets it up and running again.

As a result, I often sit for hours, which means I will likely eat a meal in addition to getting coffee, and sometimes a little nosh between meals as well. Because the staff is so cool about it, and because I feel very comfortable there, Kira and I often make a point to go there on days when I'm not writing, and grab a meal. I'm a good tipper anyway, but my tips are especially high at Republic.

In other words, because of their wireless policy, I have made it a habit both to work there and go out of my way to eat there. In addition, I feel strongly enough about their wireless policy to take up four or five minutes to write a comment in here about it.

I am thinking about these things because I see a stark contrast between the approach Republic is taking to the approach Fido is taking, and it is worth lingering over this difference for a moment or two.

I love taxonomy and definitions, and I think this is an interesting taxonomic problem. Despite the manager's adamant stance, I think he is committing a categorical error.

(First off, let me say that I will avoid the term "cafe" here, since in American culture that is a "gray area" term - it used to mean "coffee house," but now often means informal restaurant where light fare is served quickly, So, in what follows, the polarity is between "restaurant" and "coffee house" - adamantly)

If you serve an espresso at the end of a meal, with dessert, you're a restaurant. If you put coffee drinks at the end of a menu (and they are listed simply "coffee," "cappuccino," "espresso," etc.) , with the desserts, you're a restaurant.

If you put coffee drinks at the front of the menu, with a range of sizes for each, chances are you're a coffee house. If you have more varieties of coffee drinks offered than you have, say, varieties of sandwiches, chances are pretty good you're a coffee house.


A "coffee house" entails coffee house culture - which is a culture of lingering. This is a certain type of lingering, which leads to conversations, creativity, and thought (all of which are goods in themselves, and need no economic justification for their encouragement and flourishing). This type of lingering should not be confused with other types of lingering that are malicious in nature, such as loitering or lurking.

I will agree with the manager that Fido isn't an office, true. But I want to argue that Fido also isn't a restaurant. It is a coffee house, just like Republic Coffee (and my beloved San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company in Atlanta) are coffee houses. It is a third space: not an office, not a restaurant. And that third space is both necessary and important.

When I want to write, I don't go to write in a restaurant, because a restaurant does not convey or foster an atmosphere of lingering or creativity, even though a restaurant will serve me coffee (and, incidentally, I can also get coffee at my office). I write where the vibe is best for writing.

So, I will argue, a coffee house is not about the coffee, at the end of the day. It is about the type of atmosphere and interaction I can expect -- with other patrons and with staff -- when I go there. Furthermore, I don't feel I need to "justify" this expectation in economic terms, even though (as I pointed out above), it certainly seems to me that there is tremendous economic benefit to a coffee house from folks like me, since we tend to attract other folks of like mind (that's the point) to be around us, because that helps us do creative work. Fostering such an atmosphere is beneficial to the establishment itself, of course, because even though the crowd may be there for the atmosphere, as a byproduct we tend to eat and drink and tip.

Why go on about this? Because it matters - at least to me (and, I hope, to folks like me). There is so much pressure to justify the cash value of everything these days, which makes me distracted and sad.

I look at my lovely baby daughter -- no cash value, just unqualified good in her own right. Poetry? No cash value, but unqualified good, nonetheless. I don't want to live in a world where everything has a price, and whose price has been calculated and fractured over time increments.

So I am thankful for little pockets of culture (particularly coffee house culture) that still remain, because these, too, are unqualified goods in themselves. A place to sit, and think, and write, is too rare in the wasteland of strip malls and parking lots that America has become not to spend a few minutes writing praise when we find them.

So I say "amen" to coffee houses, which are neither restaurants nor offices, and I say "shame" to Fido, a sad, confused establishment that yearns to be something it is not, to the detriment of Hillsboro Village, to the detriment of us all.

What do you think?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it is absolutely bizarre that a place that does not want people to linger would have public internet access to begin with. If you don't want people to hang out, don't act like a hang out spot. If you provide me an electrical outlet and internet access, I'm going to assume you are okay with me sticking around and using it.

dault said...

I couldn't agree more, Jennifer.

Anonymous said...

Haha, if the manager were "smart", then he'd take the Chinese approach and surreptitiously disconnect the wire for several minutes or just employ some hidden scrambling device long enough to get some of the folks lingering to move on. If questioned, he would deny everything.

I've been suspicious of my fav place doing this, but I've learned how to be immune. Gooood. I don't see how anyone could lose data though.

However, if I've long finished my food or drink and I see the place filling up, I will move on for the sake of their biz. Maybe that's because I see this place as a restaurant first. So, if the owner of Fido says it's a restaurant, then I suppose it's a restaurant. Or he's delusional. In which case, there's not much you can do other than complain.

The manager would argue with you about putting a cash value on it, and being the open person that he is, he'd probably show you the books to prove it. :-p

dault said...

Interesting point about China (I am assuming this is Theron) - is there a such thing as "coffee house culture" in China? I had thought it was mainly a European phenomenon exported to America, and that the rest of the world did not have things like it. I could well be wrong in that assumption (and, in thinking about Latin American culture, I'm almost sure I am wrong). I'd love to hear more about your experiences...

Theron said...

Yeah, sorry, the Blogger UI confuses me sometimes. The coffee shop culture is getting more popular here, through companies like Starbucks (ain't) and Pacific Coffee, though it still feels different from what you find in the West. There are a few locally owned non-chain places that I frequent which are naturally decorated quite differently but are are the same concept as coffee shops. Some will serve reasonable cappuccino, but most just have excellent teas, no coffee.

Fitz D said...

1st: Thanks for the shout out. Republic is what it's patrons make it. It's not about me, I'm from California. Does it feel like California in here?

2nd: We are an even funnier catagory, how about Diner? Yes we do the quick food or fast casual, table service.

3rd: The patron has to be smart, if its between 11a and 2p, it's lunch, there is going to be pressure to not have a single at a 4 top. We are serving lunch, deal with us. We're here for you 18 hours a day, but if you think you can work during Sunday Brunch, good luck!

Last: We have to be smart. In the next couple of weeks you will see power taken off of a wall and 2 seat booths taken out in favor of 4 seat tables. In exchange lingering laptop bloggers, students and big business/little business folks will get a new room, with power at table level, fewer speakers, and an additional bathroom. A conference room with a door for quiet private meetings.

Because we love you, you're what we're here for. Republic Coffee, it's Neighborhood Coffee!