Archives: Media Room

Repairs and renovations are complete at a Painted Burro location in Cambridge’s Harvard Square. (Photo: Tom Meek)

Two of Cambridge’s longest-awaited eateries showed signs of life Thursday, winning approvals from the city’s License Commission: The Painted Burro, an upscale Mexican restaurant that said in January 2022 it was coming to Harvard Square; and a Jaho Coffee Roaster & Wine Bar expected in Central Square since March 2020.

The Painted Burro replaces the Border Cafe at a 32 Church St. site empty since a fire on Dec. 1, 2019 – an incident prompting the main concern of the three-member commission board.

It’s great that the “Car Talk” gang’s Dewey, Cheetham & Howe window is being preserved in Harvard Square (“Preserved: One window into a madcap past,” Page A1, Sept. 12). But the name is more than a gag, and to illustrate this, I have a check for 2 cents from “Car Talk” that bears the name of that fictional law firm.

When “Car Talk” could be heard on Swedish radio some years ago, I wrote a story in a Swedish technical weekly, Ny Teknik, in April 1999 under the headline “Car Talk drabbar Sverige” (Car Talk strikes Sweden). Without my permission, “Car Talk” ran my story on the show’s website. I wrote to them, saying that although my accountant insisted anything on the “Car Talk” website wasn’t worth 2 cents, I disagreed, and I enclosed an invoice for 2 cents.

A few days later, I received the attached BankBoston check for 2 cents, from Dewey, Cheetham & Howe, covering “Reprint Permission.”

As you can see, I never cashed the check, which probably threw Dewey, Cheetham & Howe’s financial statements into confusion for years.

Robert Skole

Boston

The autumn months bring with them a treasure trove of cultural events in the Greater Boston area. Though it’s not an exhaustive list, here are some that we think should be top of mind if you’re visiting in September, October, or November: Indigenous People’s Day celebrations; Harvard Square Oktoberfest; Cambridge Science Festival; Boston Ballet Fall Experience; and Boston Public Market Harvest Party. They’re a mix of free and ticketed events, some family friendly and some better for adults. But whatever the celebration, we’re confident your time in Boston will be well-spent.

Back Bay actors, Joy Clark, Eva Colliou, Ana Viveros, Alan Cid, and Klara LaGuardia, star in Moonbox Productions’ upcoming production of the Tony-Award-winning musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler.  Directed and co-produced by Ryan Mardesich with musical direction by Dan Ryan and choreography by Joy Clark, Sweeney Todd opens October 13th and runs through November 5th at the new Arrow Street Arts performance venue located at 2 Arrow Street in Cambridge.  Tickets are $65 with Pay-What-You-Wish options available at www.arrowstarts.org. 

Moonbox Productions’ Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a Brechtian take on this Sondheim classic. After being wrongfully imprisoned by the corrupt justice system, Sweeney Todd returns home to London to seek his revenge and save his daughter, Johanna. Aided by his meat-pie baking neighbor Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney comes to a much darker conclusion – we all deserve to die. Together, they wreak havoc on Fleet Street and serve up the hottest – and most unsettling – pies in London.  Witness Moonbox’s new take on the modern myth, the parable of power, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. 

The cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street includes Davron Monroe* (Sweeney Todd), Joy Clark* (Mrs. Lovett), Caitlin Zerra Rose (Beggar Woman), Todd Yard (Judge), Meagan Lewis-Michelson (Beadle), Ethan DePuy (Pirelli/Fogg), Eli Douglas (Toby), Dallas Austin Jimmar (Anthony), Eva Colliou (Johanna), Ana Viveros (Ensemble), Ciaran D’Hondt (Ensemble), Abigail Whitney Smith (Ensemble), Alexander Lyons (Ensemble), Tim Lawton (Ensemble), Todd McNeel Jr. (Ensemble), Alan Cid (Swing), Brandon Lee (Swing), and Klara La Guardia (Swing). (*Member of Actors’ Equity Association)

Sweeney Todd will be the first presentation at Arrow Street Arts’ renovated and expanded venue in Harvard Square.  The venue is in the midst of a major renovation, and Moonbox, a resident company at ASA, will produce the musical during a break in the construction schedule.  The facility’s full opening is planned for Spring 2024.

“What an exciting way to kick off our thirteenth season!” says Producer Sharman Altshuler.  “Sweeney Todd is such an exceptional piece of musical theater, and to be able to present it during the Halloween season is especially thrilling!  Deepest thanks to Arrow Street Arts for pausing their renovations to let us present this show in their fabulous black box space – a perfect spot for this production, and a great opportunity for the community to get a sneak peek into this renovated venue, which will be an incredible asset to the arts community in and around Cambridge,” said Altshuler.

Regattabar, where giants such as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock have all played, has been closed for more than three years. That changes Friday, when the iconic jazz club reopens after a years-long hiatus due to COVID-19.

The venue, which is located in the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, first opened in 1985. Alex Attia, general manager of the Charles Hotel, said he is excited for the 220-seat capacity space to reopen its doors — and so are longtime patrons.

“We’ve gotten a minimum of a dozen emails a month from regulars, both artists and customers, that are looking forward to getting back to the Regattabar,” he said. “That’s what I’m really excited about.”

The Boston-area jazz scene has had a gap in recent years: Ryles Jazz Club shuttered in 2018, and Wally’s Cafe and Jazz Club in the South End didn’t reopen after the pandemic until late last year.

“Unfortunately we lost a lot of jazz venues,” Attia said. “It’s important for us to continue with the jazz concept. We were able to cultivate a really great list of artists and a great community of jazz lovers.”

The grand reopening event on Sept. 15 will feature a performance by saxophonist and Blue Note recording artist Walter Smith III.

Smith, who is also chair of woodwinds at Berklee College of Music, said Regattabar was his favorite place to attend shows when he was a student in Boston — and that Boston has been missing the club’s unique programming.

Rodney’s reopens in Harvard Square

Rodney’s occupied a central spot in Central Square for over two decades, a singular shop for used books, vintage posters, and sturdy bookshelves for sale, but the end of a lease just as the pandemic began forced the place to close, and a bank took over the space. Owner Shaw Taylor said at the time that he’d be keeping his eye out for another good home for the bookstore, and he found one recently in Cambridge. Rodney’s reopened earlier this month in Harvard Square, taking over the space previously occupied by Raven Used Books at 23 Church St. (Raven, which had occupied the space since 2015, recently moved to Shelburne Falls in Western Mass.) The new Rodney’s is smaller than the Central Square location, about a third of the size, which will mean a tighter focus on books, with a basement area for keeping stock. Rodney’s got its start in Hyannis in 1996 before Shaw moved the business to Cambridge in 2000. Shaw named the store after his dog, who died the same year the Hyannis shop opened. On the day of its opening, a handwritten sign in the window read “Welcome! Open today while still working hard to organize and alphabetize.” Rodney’s is open Monday-Saturday noon-9 p.m. and Sunday noon-8 p.m.

For many Boston jazz fans, the question of whether the Regattabar would ever present music again seemed open and shut. Like every other music venue in the area, it was closed by the pandemic in March 2020. But as, one by one, entertainment venues started booking shows, it remained shuttered. A full year after crosstown rival Scullers Jazz Club had reopened, and jazz artists were showing up at City Winery and the Crystal Ballroom, the Regattabar remained dark.

“Like most businesses that closed during the pandemic, there were phases where we thought: Maybe it’s time,” says Alex Attia. As general manager of the Charles Hotel and Charles Square complex in Harvard Square, Attia was responsible not only for the Regattabar, but also the hotel and three restaurants — loosely categorized in business parlance under the moniker “hospitality industry,” one of the hardest-hit sectors during the pandemic.

Rodney’s Bookstore opened in Harvard Square at 23 Church St. on Sept. 1. By Tracy Jiang

Nearly three years after closing in Central Square in 2020, Rodney’s Bookstore has found its new home in Harvard Square.

Located on 23 Church St., Rodney’s replaces Raven Used Books as the only used bookstore in Harvard Square.

After shuttering the Central Square location, Shaw Taylor, owner of Rodney’s Bookstore, spent the last few years collecting “tens of thousands” of books before settling on Harvard Square as the bookstore’s next home.

Named after Taylor’s dog, Rodney’s Bookstore first opened in Cape Cod in 1996 before branching out to Central Square — and briefly to Brookline. Now, the Harvard Square storefront remains the sole location, and the focus is “to keep fresh books in the store,” according to Taylor.

“I just have to be good about replacing what sells, so there’s always new things to look at,” Taylor added.

The store opened on Sept. 1 and is still in “its early stages,” according to Ethan Gaffney, an employee of the bookstore and Taylor’s nephew.

“It just needs to be a little more organized,” Gaffney added.

While the Central Square branch was larger and allowed for more variety of books to be displayed, Gaffney said “the foot traffic is a lot better” in the new location.

“Everyone in the community has really welcomed us with open arms,” Gaffney added. “We just hope we’re here for a long time.”

The sign survived a recent renovation, and will continue to overlook the square indefinitely — living on as one of the area’s most beloved landmarks.

By the early 1990s, big things were happening for the Magliozzis’ little radio show.

“Car Talk,” the call-in program the Cambridge brothers launched on WBUR in 1977, had gone national, and their blend of good-natured humor and expert advice on car troubles was garnering attention far beyond Boston.

So they wanted to look the part — sort of.

“My brother and [producer Doug Berman] thought we needed a pricey office in Harvard Square to show that we were a real, serious entity,” said Ray Magliozzi, who co-hosted the show with his brother, Tom, for 35 years. “We knew we weren’t, but we wanted to at least make people think we were.”

In 1992, the same year they won a prestigious Peabody Award, they leased space on the third floor of 5 John F. Kennedy Street, overlooking the square; set up a table and a handful of folding chairs; and established the “Car Talk” global headquarters.

Among the first orders of business, of course, was cracking a good joke. For itswindow, they hired someone to install authenticgold-leaf lettering like you’d find outsidea respectable law firm. But instead of using their own names, or that of their popular program, they had a lawyer pun spelled out: “Dewey, Cheetham & Howe.”

It’s been there ever since.

In its many years watching over the eclectic neighborhood, the sign has become one of the city’s most treasured, if unusual, landmarks. In case there was any doubt about its historic significance, the sign most recently survived extensive renovations in the building where it’s long held court, after city officials mandated that it be preserved.

Work on the property finished last year, and retail tenants have moved in, including a soon-to-open Union Square Donuts outpost. As Harvard Square continues to rapidly change, the sign — perhaps the world’s most famous joke written in hand-laid gold letters — will remain there indefinitely.

“Car Talk” fans will recognize the wordplay on the window as part of a long-running bit on the show, whenlisteners were told to submit answers to weekly “Puzzler” questions via letters addressed to the fictional law firm. It was one of countless other groan-inducing and name-based puns the brothers would rattle off at the end of each show.

While they can’t take credit for the jokeon the sign — Magliozzi admits they lifted it from “The Three Stooges” — the brothers may have gotten more mileage from it than the comedic trio ever did.

Magliozzi and Berman still remember the day the sign was put up. While the installer, an older man, worked quietly at the window, the Magliozzis and Berman were putting together a newspaper column responding to a reader who’d been swindled by a car insurance salesmen. They were loudly ranting about the insurance industry when they heard the man clear his throat.

“This old guy got off his little stepladder and he turned to us and with a quavering voice said, ‘You know, my brother was an insurance agent,’” Magliozzi recalled. “And I thought, ‘Oh, my God, we’ve insulted this guy and his family!’ And in the next breath, he said, ‘And he screwed everybody!’”

They had no ideajust how long the man’s handiwork would remain in its perch atop the square.

“We didn’t even know how long the show was going to last on NPR,” Magliozzi said. “But they foolishly kept renewing our contract.”

They did have an inkling that the sign would make an impression on people who spotted it from the street, whether they knew about the show or not.

“We did hope it would be a landmark of sorts,” said Berman. “Not like the Widener Library, but something fun. A reminder not to take life too seriously.”

It certainly generated laughs along the way.

Magliozzi said a man and his girlfriend knocked on the office door once to inquire about the name of the supposed firm, and whether they knew that when spoken out loud it made them sound like crooks.

The Magliozzi brothers and Berman played along, pretending they were actually attorneys, and insisting that the combination of surnames “had a nice flow to it.”

The man “had a bewildered look on his face, Magliozzi said, and as he was closing the door, “I could hear him say to his girlfriend, ‘What a bunch of dopes!’ And he was right!”

The office was never anything fancy. A small staff worked there at a couple of desks editing, receiving mail, and sending out demo tapes.

The brothers recorded the show at Boston’s WBUR radio station, but would swing by to write their syndicatedcolumn — or host late-night poker games while puffingcigars.

To “Car Talk” fans, meanwhile, the sign became part of the lore of the show, which at its height played on more than 600 public radio stations. Some would even pop in to say hello.

“They’d all ask the same thing: ‘Is this really Car Talk Plaza?’,” Berman said. “And we’d apologize and say, ‘Yeah, this is it. Pretty shabby, huh?’”

Things are a lot less shabby now. In the recent renovation of the building, the cigar smoke-inflected office and the floor it sat on were removed. The window now sits in the second-story wall above a sparkling new yoga studio in a rock climbing gym.

“I’ll have to visit them someday,” said Magliozzi, when told about the current tenant. “Maybe I’ll get a free class.”

It wasn’t always a sure thing it would remain in its place. There were rumors — never confirmed — that a prior owner had planned to remove the sign, and put it on display in a New York office.

But the city would never allow such a thing, said Charles Sullivan, executive director of the Cambridge Historical Commission.

The sign was preserved as part of a years-long approval process that included around 25 hours of public commentary. While plenty of specifics were weighed, Sullivan said, the sign’s status was never up for debate.

“It’s a character-defining feature of that building,” he said.

Many touristscome specifically to see it, said Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association.

Recently, she met two women from North Carolina who told her it was on their “bucket list” to have their photo taken in front of the sign.

Itssurvival sends an important message that the city is capable of preserving its cultural touchstones, Jillson said — even, or perhaps especially, the quirkiest ones.

“While there’s a lot of change going on in Harvard Square, the thoughtful discussion with input from the public, particularly around what that window means to people, is all part of a much bigger discussion,” she said.

It isn’t the only “Car Talk” landmark in Harvard Square. A plaque honoring Tom Magliozzi, who died in 2014, was installed in Brattle Square in 2019.

Magliozzi and Berman, meanwhile, are just pleased, and maybe a little surprised, that people can still get a kick out oftheir tongue-in-cheek signage.

“We didn’t think we were building our legacy or anything like that. That was the farthest thing from our minds,” Magliozzi said. “We were just really having some laughs.”

Friendly Toast, an all-day brunch restaurant and bar, unveiled its new home in Harvard Square in late July.

The newly opened restaurant at 1230 Massachusetts Ave. is the sole Friendly Toast in Cambridge after the chain closed its Kendall Square location amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Harvard Square is the 11th location for the Friendly Toast chain, which was founded in 1994 and has since expanded to four states in New England.

The restaurant first announced its opening via a sign on its storefront in March 2022, but supply chain issues and city permit licensing caused delays, according to Harvard Square location manager Ryan Ford.

Friendly Toast officially opened on July 24, but the restaurant welcomed customers for a soft opening two days prior. According to Ford, Friendly Toast typically avoids heavily promoting openings in the hopes of giving staff a “fighting chance” against crowds of restaurant-goers.

The menu boasts standard brunch fare, such as breakfast burritos, omelets, pancakes, and waffles, as well as an array of alcoholic beverages and flights.

Still, various menu items have their own twist — including the “Bulgogi Steak & Cheese” sandwich, which combines Korean and American cuisine, and the “Doughnut Stop Believin,” a breakfast sandwich that uses donuts as bread.

“We’re just excited to play off different flavors and, you know, make it unexpected for people,” Ford said.

Harvard College students offered positive reviews of the restaurant, citing a variety of menu offerings and a welcoming ambiance.

“The menu was really extensive,” Jeslyn Y. Liu ’26 said. “A lot of creative things on there.”