Random Collisions

At the Third Place

Before adding more stories, I’d like to share some thoughts regarding coffeehouses as “The Third Place.” I’ve added some images and a Cantata for you to enjoy.

Growing up in New Haven, I loved meeting friends downtown to share French fries and a Coke at Kresge’s. But many afternoons, I would prefer to walk three blocks up Chapel Street to eat small Italian pastries with all the colors of the rainbow and drink a flavorful dark espresso at La Macchinetta.

The only eighteen-year-old there, I could observe the waiters and how they slithered between tables, deft at keeping their small trays with espressos balanced in the process. It amazed me how Baristas pulled perfect shots, each with an inch of crema from the stunning copper and brass espresso machine dominating one corner of the space. 

I would order an espresso with a miniature pastry. A Napoleon beautifully layered with creamy, pale-yellow custard and glazed with fondant, or when they were available, I'd ask for a slim, boat-shaped Barquette Tart with French custard and fresh berries perched on top. I'm drooling as I write this.

Music filled the air… always jazz or Italian classics, gently laying sound as a background to the never-ending hum of people talking. Men and women in French berets gave a European flavor to the cafe. They would discuss politics in thundering voices or maybe the works of new artists or music. Still, whatever direction their discussions took, they became much more animated as their caffeine levels rose.

It wasn't just the strong coffee and pastries that drew me there. What I loved was the ambiance and the layers of conversation. Before laptops intruded into the coffeehouse scene, discussion, stories, connection, and the ability to discuss issues passionately drew people to coffeehouses throughout the centuries. It's what drew me to this coffeehouse.

Nearly 300 years ago, Bach recognized the joy of Coffeehouses. A frequenter of a place called Zimmerman's in Leipzig, still operating until WW11, it was there he composed his kaffeekantate, The Coffee Cantata.

Coffeehouses made some members of the upper class uneasy because they allowed opportunities for people of different classes to talk and share ideas. This was a scary prospect if you wanted to keep your place in the power structure as it was.

Today, the coffeehouse's accidental encounters happen often.

Google's term "random collisions." 

Many random collisions happened often at La Macchinetta. Men and women would sit for hours at vintage oak tables, softly worn with age and smelling of wax.

“In a tiny place like Lulu’s, accidental encounters like that happen more often than not. In fact, scholars of innovation at business schools have tried to bottle this pleasure. (Google ​“random collisions.”) Silicon Valley architects pour over the schematics of cafeterias and pocket parks, trying to figure out the best way to get strangers to bump into one another and converse.” Jack Hitt

That, it turns out, is one of the best paths to novel ideas, and it is the genius of a great coffee shop. Lulu preferred awkward conversations to the moody silence of a screen

Because of my love for La Maccinetta I opened my own coffeehouse many years later with the same vibe and many random collisions.

As always, thank you for stopping by