Creating a Great Good Place

We are aiming to create a comfortable space where everyone feels welcome and part of a community, a “third place.” The term, third place, in contrast to the first and second places of home and work, is the premise of the book, The Great Good Place. The author, Ray Oldenburg, identifies third places, or "great good places," as the public places where people can gather and interact. Third places allow people to put aside their concerns and simply enjoy the company and conversation around them. Third places “host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.” The author states that beer gardens, main streets, pubs, cafés, coffeehouses, post offices, and other third places are the heart of a community's social vitality and the foundation of a functioning democracy. They promote social equality by leveling the status of guests, provide a setting for grassroots politics, create habits of public association, and offer psychological support to individuals and communities.

While I can’t say we will do all of the above, I hope we achieve a healthy dose!


Check out the book for yourself: The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community by Ray Oldenburg

Local Beer & Wine?

The other news from last week is that I met with the the good folks over at Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC). We will be serving beer and wine at Farley's East so naturally you need a permit to do so and naturally, permits cost money and take time. Right now they take even more time because state employees have a work furlough (thanks Arnold). In the end, I do expect to receive the permit before we open but if we don't, blame it on the economy.

As Farley’s East works to build community and support the local businesses, we will feature local wine makers and local brewers almost exclusively. If you have any recommendations, we'd love to hear from you so please post them in the comments section below.

Construction Begins!

The big news is that construction began today. This is a huge step in the process and we're very excited to finally be at this point. The crew began cutting into the floor and marking out the mezzanine which is now technically a second floor. The building department determined we have a second floor, not a mezzanine (this is based on square footage of the mezzanine/2nd floor relative to the size of the ground floor). Call it what you will, the building department signed-off on the plans last week so we're moving forward. If you're in the area, feel free to poke your head in the door to see what's going on inside.

PS. If you know anyone at PG&E that can light a fire under the folks there, let me know. Farley's East is taking over a space that was a former boutique and art gallery so needless to say, we are doing a service upgrade to bring more power to the building. PG&E is notorious for holding-up restaurant builds when service upgrades are needed.

The Health Department Stamp

Today was a good day. We received approval from our friends at the county health department. They put a nice big stamp saying we can move on to the next square. That means that tomorrow morning I'll shuttle the plans and a stack of reports over to the building department. Given the state of the economy, I'm guessing not a lot of people are applying for building permits so hopefully we'll get through this next step in a couple weeks. Then the fun begins. There will be something very satisfying about seeing the actual construction begin. Right now, we have a bunch of nice ideas on paper. I want to get in there and cut into the floor and pour concrete...fun stuff like that!

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about Farley's history (we're celebrating our 20th anniversary on St. Patrick's Day).

More on NYC

Well, Amy and I survived a two day whirl wind tour of a handful of New York's cafe hotspots. Of the places I visited, I would say that Ninth Street Espresso (10th Street location) was my favorite. Probably biased because an old favorite Farley's barista, AC, works there (pictured to the right). Anyway, they make great drinks and are well designed. Also went to their E. 9th Street location but not as cool b/c AC did not work there.

We also made our way to Mercury Dime which featured a slightly larger menu than the others we visited. The cafes we visited were along the lines of Ritual and Four Barrel, coffee only. Mercury Dime had a few sandwiches and other things which were nice. As mentioned in the earlier post, the barista was very cool as well. We hit a few others as well, but just check out the list on the walking tour for a a good overview of what's brewing in the NYC coffee scene these days. And of course, don't forget to visit Brooklyn for a much more West Coast style experience. Everything moves just a little slower over there.

On a Caffeine Tour

Amy and I are in NYC for "work" and researching coffee houses. A great barista, Cora at Mercury Dime, gave us some good insight on the intense New York coffee scene. It's New York, everything is intense! Anyway, more to follow on our visits in a later post, but for a quick overview of some hot spots, check out this great walking tour.

BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ,BUZZ

Window Coverings

The windows are covered. Does that mean something is happening? We made posters to display on the windows notifying the world that Farley's East is on the way. Check it out.

Quick update: The plans are still with are friends at the Alameda County Health Department. Hope to hear from them on Monday.