End of a cultural icon

[chris]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned the demise of the Richmond cafe on Florida in the micro center. This was one of the oldest and most traditional cafes in the city. It's mentioned in Graham Greene's Honourary Consul (the aunt makes herself fat on the cafe's sweets). When I first discovered the place well over a decade ago it was a charming remnant of another BA. Wood paneled, antique, populated mostly by the elderly. It later went through some restoration with a restaurant added in the back. It's going to be a Nike store with some of the furniture retained. A pity.

 

[Davidglen77]

Honestly, while the Richmond was a cultural icon, it's time has come to morph. Those old style cafés that are now few and few between are no longer what most people in Buenos Aires want. There are still a lot of them, and if you look inside they look like nursing home dining rooms and the menus, well, leave a lot to be desired. I mean how many of you are going to order Vitel Thone con papas noisette or Carré de cerdo con espinaca a la crema? These old places fade away because peoples tastes change and they don't change with the times. There is a really beautiful historic restaurant / café on the corner of Callao and Bartolomé Mitre called L'Aiglon. It's about 100 years old but they have updated the menus, serve salads, pastas, lunch and dinner specials and waiters are not all stuffy, and the inside is maintained impeccably. The Richmond is beautiful but faded and that is what happens if you don't keep up with the times, you fade OUT. I truly hope all of the employees get paid there indemnizations, it's the LAW and I hope they find other jobs that they are happy with.

 

[CarverFan]

Can anyone afford Nikes these days???

 

[chris]

I wouldn't say that the Richmond was faded. It underwent a major restoration about ten years ago or so. The only thing they did poorly was the floor. Everything else was impeccable. Traditional BA cafes served coffee, sandwiches, etc but not meals. The cafe that turns into a restaurant at lunch and dinner times is something more recent. I find them annoying as they want you out if you aren't ordering a full meal. Anyway, the Richmond changed its customs when they restored the place. They added a restaurant. I don't think the menu was old fashioned but I have no idea if it was a success or not.

In reality there are very few traditional cafes any more. The Tortoni (badly in need of restoration) is one of them but it seems highly successful. always packed with tourists. They also have tango shows and other entertainment that brings people in at night but during the day it is full of people, often lines of people waiting to be seated. I can think of a couple other traditional old cafes that have been restored but in somewhat inconvenient areas. The Ideal, the most spectacular architecturally, seems to be mostly tango these days. Haven't been there in ages. I assume it is still going but last I saw it, it was falling apart. LA BIELA is not as old as some but is a classic place that is always buzzing with people. I don't know if it is true that a traditional place can not survive. The classic cafe, coffee house, does well in Europe. Vienna in particular is full of them. I don't see why a city like BA, so focused on being European, should not be able to support the traditional cafe.

 

[fifs2]

In reality there are very few traditional cafes any more.

Las Violetas in Caballito (Rivadia) is delightful - you have to visit just to see the stain glass windows and enjoy the place and its packed full of locals every day of the week which is a heartening sigh of its potential longevity.

Thanks for this post Cris - it's good to know that someone else mourns the loss of icons like the Richmond, even if as David says their demise was their own doing.

 

[andrewjps]

I was under the impression that it was a cafe notable and protected, however I must be wrong on that.

And if as David suggests it is not 'keeping up the times' (whatever that is, hyper-capitalism?), and a huge Nike store is what people want, I don't want take part in that and keep up with the times.

This article seems to suggest that maybe there is a chance of survival, although I am not sure how reliable the source is.

http://www.cronista.com/negocios/Po...uncionando-como-confiteria-20110812-0057.html

 

[Davidglen77]

I knew I would get beat up for my answer but thanks for being gentile. However the Richmond passed into memory because as a cafe it's just not viable or desirable anymore. It's great to keep buildings and things for their historic value, however nobody should be able to dictate what functions there. A cafe is NOT a public service, it's a business, just like any other and once it does not serve the owner's needs anymore, he/she has every right to shut it down, if the building is historically protected well then fine, keep the building intact, no modifications to the facade and minimal to the interior if that's protected too. I come from New York City where for the 1st half of the 20th century there were all of these beautiful synagogues that served the large jewish population. After the war most of the jewish families prospered economically and many moved to the suburbs and the old synagogues in the city were mostly turned into Baptist and Pentecostal churches, because that is what the new demand was for the demographic changed. What were they going to do? Keep the synagogues running jewish services when there are no jews in the neighborhood. I mean maybe this isn't the best example but you all get my drift. Buenos Aires is FULL of cafés and confiterias and the Richmond while beautiful and historic was way past it's prime and faded into glory. Hopefully they don't modify it too much but if you like it that much when it's a NIKE store go in buy sneakers and reminisce about what a nice cup of Coffee and medialunas you ate there back "then".

 

[steveinbsas]

I guess the Chosen People are to be blamed here as well?

I'm not Jewish, but I fail to see the humor here.

Please read this to see why:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31576

 

[chris]

I understand that economics dictate decisions like selling the Richmond to Nike. I am not suggesting that the owner of the Richmond be forced to continue running a confiteria. I just wanted to call attention to the demise of a long standing cultural icon in a fast changing city. As I said, I am not sure that the Richmond is not economically viable as a cafe/restaurant (I have no idea of their finances) but it seems that the owner got an excellent offer from Nike and decided to sell. A simple question of economics. You are right that New York's cultural landmarks have changed over the years. Some were lost due to indifference and left a huge void in the city's architectural / cultural landscape. Sometimes it can't be avoided; other times there are solutions. When Pennsylvania Station was torn down people began to realize that what was arguably the city's finest piece of architecture had been forever lost. That was the beginning of an historic preservation movement. When the Penn Central wanted to tear down the other great station, Grand Central Terminal, a protest movement formed led by Jackie Kennedy. They succeeded in preserving a major national landmark. Based on the Clarin link someone posted, there are legislators in BA who would like to preserve the Richmond as a cafe / restaurant. Maybe with legislative support more suitable owners could be found than NIKE. One can always hope that the dollar, or peso in this case, is not always the bottom line and that history, aesthetics and culture can have some place in society.

 

[CarverFan]

andrewjps is right, the article in La Cronista confirms that the Richmond is one of the "bares notables" protected as part of the city's heritage and cannot change category to become another type of business.