Coffee: Business as Usual

with Daryl F. Mallett

The coffeehouses had a habit of metamorphosing into professional or business institutions. The coffeehouse became an ambiguous site for production and reproduction of civil society and of business professionals such as stockbroking, insurance, and banking, and for a brief time both discursive exchange networks overlapped in the same channels.

--P. Stallybrass & A. White, The Politics & Poetics of Transgression, 1986, p. 99-100.

The above statement reveals more about British business than we were really aware of. Many businesses, indeed, came out of the coffeehouse.

The English Stock Exchange started in one, having originally met at Jonathan's Coffee-House in "Change Alley," it moved to a room in Sweetings Alley, which subsequently became known as Stock Exchange Coffeehouse.

It was to Garraway's Coffee-House that the Sun Fire office, one of the earliest insurance companies, transferred to in 1711.

Lloyd's of London began as a coffeehouse for shipping owners and traders some time around 1688 and gradually moved into marine insurance over the next few decades.

The Phoenix Assurance Company was established following meetings at the Langbourne Ward Coffeehouse . And it is still going on today.

Avatar Travel Agency was started at See's Coffee House just this year. Watch the Riverside coffeehouses and see what else develops from them.

At See's Coffee House (located in the Canyon Crest Towne Centre here in Riverside), I ran into Riverside writers Harry W. Lawton and Arthur Loy Holcomb, and writer/actor Clint Zehner. Harry is working on a new poetry collection, and has over 80 pages written already (much of it done at See's). Art is busy with several projects (also mostly written at See's). Clint recently appeared in an episode of The Torkelsons and in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Kay Englehart's work is currently on display. She does very lifelike portrait art, which catches the eye with its photographic quality. She can be reached at 714/672-3442 for commissions.

Also, I apologize to Lydia See...it was not Colombian Antigua...it was Guatemalan Antigua. Whatever it is, it's delicious!

Another Riverside coffeehouse, Lorraine's, is located at 3787 7th Street (at Market). Normally they are open every day from 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. However, while their remodeling takes place, they will only be open every day from 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. They offer a wide variety of breakfasts, covering everything from Eggs Benedict to waffles to toast and bacon. During the Riverside Film Festival, they were open at 6 p.m. for dinner. Every other Thursday, the Riverside Storytellers Guild will appear at 8 p.m. for stories and fun. Check it out.

Also, for more coffeehouse history, see:

The English Alehouse: A Social History, 1200-1830, by P. Clark. London: Longman, 1983, which includes A Dissertation upon Drunkeness (originally 1727) reprinted in part.

If you're doing something at a coffeehouse and want to let me know, drop me a line c/o The Riverside Review Magazine, or catch me at See's.

(Originally published in The Riverside Review Magazine, Vol. 1:7, June 1992.)

Coffee: Sifting Through the Grounds of Time

with Daryl F. Mallett

It is a merit of the coffeehouse that you can sit there the whole day and half the night amongst people of all classes. The coffeehouse is the only place where conversation may be made to come true, where extravagant plans, utopian dreams and political plots are hatched without anyone even leaving their seats.

--H. Kesten, Dichter im Cafe, p. 129.

Coffeehouses have never been merely places to hang out and drink coffee and hobnob with artists and writers and philosophers. They have always seemed to have more intrigue and depth to them. Indeed, many coffeehouses also serve as a springboard where young artists and musicians showcase their talent.

See's Coffeehouse (located in the Canyon Crest Towne Centre here in Riverside) hosts artists each month to hang their artwork on the walls...serving the double purpose of advertising the artist and decorating See's walls.

Richard James Montoya just finished his show as I write this, but he can be reached for commissions at 714/354-7151. His card reads "I love to draw."

Previous artists have included Rhue, a fantastic artist whose work is very striking...it really makes you stop and think about it. She too is available for commissions at 714/274-9319. If you're looking for something to decorate those bare walls, call them! Next up on the walls at See's will be Kay Englehart. Go take a look...and grab some of the Colombian Antigua brew...it's delicious.

The quote from Kesten, above, is a small part of what has been written about coffeehouses. If you are interested in the history of coffeehouses (and it is a very interesting history), check these books out:

The Penny Universities: A History of the Coffee-Houses, by A. Ellis. London: Secker & Warburg, 1956.

Dichter im Cafe, by H. Kesten. Vienna: K. Desch, 1959 (in German).

There are a few other books about the subject, but I don't have them handy at the moment. There are also a ton of passing references to the coffeehouse in various criticisms of literature (remember The Spectator, by Addison and Steele?).

A bit of historical coffeehouse trivia:

According to Ellis' book, the first coffeehouse in England was opened in 1652 "at the Angel in the parish of St. Peter in the East," according to Samuel Pepys' diary. The location is still home to a cafe called The Grand Cafe.

According to Kersten, the first coffeehouse in Europe was Caffe Florian in St. Mark's Square in Venice in 1647 (other sources say 1720).

Either way, coffeehouses have been around for a very long time. So, even though they're probably not going away in the near future, go experience one as soon as possible. You'll get hooked...they're fun places to be.

Imagine what coffee would taste like if the grounds you used were 350 years old... Hmm...

About the Author
Daryl F. Mallett is an editor with The Borgo Press and a professional freelance writer who spends copious amounts of his spare time at See's Coffee House...but at least he claims to get some writing done while sipping java...

(Originally published in The Riverside Review Magazine, Vol. 1:6, May 1992.)