Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Café terraces: Bigger is better?

Jes’ thinking about the whole café awning issue (see Outdoor cafes: Gimme shelter!") I was complaining that café owners and the cities that regulate them don’t encourage enough shelter for us outside sitters in these sun-searing days.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31932/

They had outside awnings for Vincent back in 1888...

Then the beautiful Carla found an image of a Paris café that had roll-out awnings. See this pic of Café Beaubourg in Paris. (OK, the awnings don't go all the way, but this is cool Paris, not hot Arles, where Van Gough was painting.)

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31931/

But here’s what really hit me, looking at these pix: It’s just the sheer size of their sidewalk seating. I mean enough for hundreds, just about.

Why does this make you yearn to be there, be part of it?

And suddenly you get it.

Numbers.

The sociological question in this situation is: who are the animals in the zoo, and who are the spectators looking at them? Is it the café customers sitting watching the world go by, or the passing world looking at this clump of peeps on exhibit?

What it comes down to, I say, is critical mass. Like, if there’s just one little mean row of tables, and they’re fenced in by the regulation wrought-iron railing, then the customers are the zoo animals. We passers-by are looking at them as they sip and chew with a little embarrassment at having their chewing style put on display.

But if, like with Café Beaubourg, the numbers balance tips in favor of the cafeistas, suddenly, they are the majority. So hey, now it’s the passers-by who feel like they’re being scrutinized like models on a runway, animals in the zoo, to be watched by this crowd of sippers. I think that's the Grand Cafe secret: People come for this very reason, to watch the world go by, supported by fellow-sybarites/epicurians/bon vivants/lotus-eaters (heh heh, jes’ looked these up).

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31930/

Where would we have the space to do this in San Diego? No contest: Broadway is way broad enough. It has the potential to become our Champs Elysées. Just narrow the traffic lanes a bit, and widen the sidewalks.

And while we’re about it, let’s put the traffic underground where Horton Plaza is, and then it could become a true plaza, with big-terrace cafes sprouting on every side, specially in front of the US Grant Hotel. What a terrazza that would make!

We’ve got the weather. Have the planners got the guts?

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Next Article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights

Jes’ thinking about the whole café awning issue (see Outdoor cafes: Gimme shelter!") I was complaining that café owners and the cities that regulate them don’t encourage enough shelter for us outside sitters in these sun-searing days.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31932/

They had outside awnings for Vincent back in 1888...

Then the beautiful Carla found an image of a Paris café that had roll-out awnings. See this pic of Café Beaubourg in Paris. (OK, the awnings don't go all the way, but this is cool Paris, not hot Arles, where Van Gough was painting.)

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31931/

But here’s what really hit me, looking at these pix: It’s just the sheer size of their sidewalk seating. I mean enough for hundreds, just about.

Why does this make you yearn to be there, be part of it?

And suddenly you get it.

Numbers.

The sociological question in this situation is: who are the animals in the zoo, and who are the spectators looking at them? Is it the café customers sitting watching the world go by, or the passing world looking at this clump of peeps on exhibit?

What it comes down to, I say, is critical mass. Like, if there’s just one little mean row of tables, and they’re fenced in by the regulation wrought-iron railing, then the customers are the zoo animals. We passers-by are looking at them as they sip and chew with a little embarrassment at having their chewing style put on display.

But if, like with Café Beaubourg, the numbers balance tips in favor of the cafeistas, suddenly, they are the majority. So hey, now it’s the passers-by who feel like they’re being scrutinized like models on a runway, animals in the zoo, to be watched by this crowd of sippers. I think that's the Grand Cafe secret: People come for this very reason, to watch the world go by, supported by fellow-sybarites/epicurians/bon vivants/lotus-eaters (heh heh, jes’ looked these up).

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31930/

Where would we have the space to do this in San Diego? No contest: Broadway is way broad enough. It has the potential to become our Champs Elysées. Just narrow the traffic lanes a bit, and widen the sidewalks.

And while we’re about it, let’s put the traffic underground where Horton Plaza is, and then it could become a true plaza, with big-terrace cafes sprouting on every side, specially in front of the US Grant Hotel. What a terrazza that would make!

We’ve got the weather. Have the planners got the guts?

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.