Coffee Shops in Literature

In the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, a coffee shop appears on page 15 of the novel, just five pages into chapter one. Journalist Mikael Blomkvist has just gotten out of the courtroom after being convicted of fifteen counts of libel against Hans-Eric Wennerström. He decides to go to Kafé Anna, and orders a caffe latte and a sandwich. While attempting to eat, he listens to news stories on the radio – two unrelated to him, then one that features his case. The report is mostly a neutral description of the case and the charges given to Blomkvist, although at the end it is said that Blomkvist is “satisfied with the judgement” (15). He doesn’t seem to be too satisfied, however – the following paragraphs narrate how nervous Blomkvist is about paying all of the fees, although the journalist admits to himself it could have been worse. As he reads the judgment papers he has brought from court, he “felt a growing heaviness and discomfort in his stomach.” He couldn’t even finish the sandwich (16).

The coffee shop seems to serve as an escape for Blomkvist – a place where he can be in the comforting anonymity of strangers, and in the comfort of food. He doesn’t stop to go home, stop to call a friend, but rushes to this coffee shop. He orders food, but cannot even eat it. Even though he tries to escape, he can’t – the news report is in his ear, reminding him of the very thing he was trying not to think about so much. The radio report jolts Blomkvist into his discomfort, and he pushes his plate of food aside and begins to feel uneasy (16). Coffee shops are a place of escape, but also “inescapability” – they fool one into thinking one can bask in anonymity, but since many include a TV or some form of media, the media reminds one that one is not really in some secluded land of comfort from the “real world.”

Coffee Shops & Their Relationship with Food

Coffee shops are not just a place where people go to get their daily or hourly coffee fix. They are equipped with an assortment of caffeinated drinks to keep them awake and carbohydrate-stuffed snacks to give one a blood sugar boost to the moon. Mainly you get what you'd expect – coffee and tea. At the Neutral Ground there is hot chocolate, Perrier, energy drinks, and so on and it defies the ‘normal’ idea of what a coffee shop is supposed to consist of on a base level.

                                      A cappucino made by one of the talented Neutral Ground baristas.

The food offered in coffee shops usually consists of baked goods like bagels and cookies. Some coffee shops offer full meals as well. The Neutral Ground has begun to offer several different food plates: French bread with vinaigrette, chicken paté, cheese -- heck, you can even ask for a single bowl full of assorted olives (I've had one of the musicians playing ask for that as the compensation they receive for playing a free gig).

Some coffee shops treat food as an aside to the real deal: a good shot of espresso. Others treat it is as a fine art, and they should. Because let's be honest: many people don't just want coffee, they want something to eat, too. Most coffee shops have the same pre-frozen, pre-packaged muffins and bagels, but there are cafés that go to the extreme to make sure their customers have everything they could possibly want. At the Neutral Ground, there are some pre-packaged foods like Goldfish, but there are also dishes of toasted French bread with cheese or meat and so on. I think it's important that when we consider a coffee shop, we don't just consider its coffee, but the food as well. It's a vital aspect to the success of a coffee shop because it determines whether people will stay for fifteen minutes or a few hours -- and whether they will come back.

Coffee in TV Shows, Films and Music Videos

In the TV show Friends, the fictional coffee shop Central Perk is used throughout the series as a hangout for the characters. The final scene for the series, in Central Perk, involves Ross' friends encouraging him to finally tell Rachel his true feelings for her. He finally builds up the courage to go up to her only to be beat by Gunther, who confesses his own love to Rachel. Ross stands by appalled, as Rachel rejects Gunther and walks out. Even more ironically, Ross probably would have gotten to Rachel first had not Joey stopped him and asked him for a muffin.

It's a comical scene, watching Ross fuming with jealousy and surprise. But it's funny because it twists the idea of what a coffee shop is "supposed" to be like. In pop culture coffee shops are typically a place that evokes romantic feelings. For example, in the film The Machinist, Trevor Reznik only eats when he sips coffee, but he isn't there for just caffeine. Trevor's there because in his head there is a beautiful barista flirting with him. When he arises from his state of sleep deprivation and starvation, he realizes that there is no woman flirting with him at this cafe.

In music videos like Landon Pigg's, coffee shops are places where people fall in love. But in this scene in Central Perk, this notion is turned around. Ross rushes to confess his love, only to be distracted by Joey, and then beat by Gunther. Worst of all, it's understood that Rachel and Ross love each other already, and you'd expect that things would fall into place. But life is not that simple, and Friends pokes fun at our typical idea of how love should be, and what is or is not romantic.

Coffee Shops and Creativity

In The New York Times online, Anahad O’Connor published an article entitled “How the Hum of a Coffee Shop Can Boost Creativity.” In the article, the author talks about "Coffitivity" – a website that plays background noise like that in a coffee shop. According to research, minor levels of noise in the background helps people think creatively. If there is no noise, your mind can concentrate better on things like Calculus. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientists had a group listen to various noise levels while they brainstormed. When the noise was at a ‘coffee shop level,’ performance improved. When the noise was higher (think blender) it was distracting. Although noise helps us in creative tasks, this doesn’t apply to tasks that require intense attention to detail. The Coffitivity website has become so popular that the owners are creating audio files in different languages to suit every niche of visitors.

This article resonated with me because I’ve always found it easier to study at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse -- an inviting place nestled uptown -- than at my own house. When it's silent and I'm at home, my thoughts wander and I can’t concentrate, or I move between different tasks. But the mild level of noise at the Neutral Ground – espresso machine grinding, guitar playing, soft talking – really helps me focus. This isn’t just for creative work like writing a story, though – it helps me focus on reading a textbook or whatever work I have to do, compared with utter silence.

The Origin of the Neutral Ground's Volunteer Community

It’s Sunday night -- the busiest night of the week. There are only a few people lingering, and Matt is working the bar donning a Theo’s bandana. The reason for this absence may be that half of the regulars at the Neutral Ground are working at Theo’s Pizza about five minutes away on Magazine. This connection of coffee shop and gourmet pizza place seems to have begun with Jordan, a previous regular. He recruited his roommate Patrick as well as Matt, and the meshing of places and people snowballed from there as the community formed at the Neutral Ground took their work to Theo's.

If I hadn't had a job at the time, I probably would be working at Theo's as well. It seems like half of the staff at the pizza place have known each other for years at this coffee shop -- as friends, as volunteers, as musicians, even as kids. Later on open mic night, when the wailing of guitars and tinkling of piano keys had long faded, many of them came into the Neutral Ground after work. They all wore shirts brandishing the restaurant's name and there was a faint smell of pizza dough throughout the coffee shop, which intersected with the smell of coffee already in the air.

They were all gregarious, like work hadn’t dampened their spirits, and their buoyancy surprised me. I've seen it when I applied there or visited friends there – they enjoy their jobs. Despite all these connections, the reason why all of these folks ended up working at the same place still eludes me. Is the fact that friends recruited each other the reason that they are all working together? Or is there something about the work or the place itself that draws them in? I think it's a combination. Either way it was nice to see all of them there, so content with themselves, all relaxing with a beer with their boss, at a coffee shop ironically, after getting out of work near midnight. At the Neutral Ground, standard conventions do not always apply, especially when the night is reaching its close. Hopefully I can enjoy my next job just as much as they do theirs.