Word: cafee
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Established in the late 1940s, Cafe Pamplona has been an arty haven for tortured souls of Cambridge for over 50 years. Offering authentic southern Spanish cuisine and potent coffee concoctions, the Pamp, as the regulars affectionately say, brings cultural flair to Cambridge. Flaunting a pastiche of old world southern Spanish design and industrial chic, the one-room subterranean establishment boasts cement walls accented by hot water pipes suspended from the ceiling. Small black lacquered tables clutter the single-roomed cafe as tortured writers sit enraptured in their favorite author's prose. In the back kitchen, two or three waify waiters...
...reasoning for the all-male crew may lie behind Spanish tradition and cultural constructs. "It is true that there has never been a female worker here--except for maybe a woman who washed the dishes and helped to cook in the kitchen. It is because when Josephina [Cafe Pamplona's owner] came to America in 1947 from Pamplona, Spain, there were no female waitresses in all of Pamplona. So it is strictly a cultural thing. Cafe Pamplona is somewhat of a theme restaurant, and Josephina wants to make it as authentic as possible...
...process of preserving cultural authenticity, the cafe's owner is offending the American spirit of equal opportunity. Amanda L. Burnham '01, a frequent patron of Cafe Pamplona (and a Crimson executive too), became privy to this bias first-hand while looking for a job last spring. Burnham attempted to apply for the serving position advertised in the cafe's window. Though she did not talk with the owner herself, the waiter that Burnham spoke with told her that she shouldn't even bother applying...
...really liked the atmosphere and thought it would be a cool place to work, but the waiter told me that the woman who owned the place wanted to preserve the atmosphere of a cafe in Spain and didn't accept applications from women," says Burnham. She says the waiter was apologetic regarding the bistro's rigid policy but, nevertheless, he neglected to give Burnham an application...
...removed from the Greenhouse Cafe...