New Deal Cafe

New Deal Cafe
Consumers' cooperative
Founded 1994 (1994)
Headquarters Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
Key people

  • General Manager

(Currently vacant)

  • Bar Manager

Amethyst Dwyer

  • Restaurant Manager

Karim Kmaiha

  • Board of Directors

Michael Hartman (President) [1]
Nancy Melandry (Secretary) [2]
Frank Gervasi (Treasurer) [1]
Tom LeaMond
Terri Acton

  • Audit Committee [3]

Dorian Winterfeld [4]
Mike Stark [3]
Tom Jones

  • Arts Coordinator

Meg Haney

  • Friends of New Deal Café Arts (FONDCA)

Board of Directors

Barbara Simon, President
Chris Logan, Treasurer
Michael Smallwood, member
Leeann Irwin, member
Peter May, member

Products Restaurant, coffee house and music venue
Website newdealcafe.com

The New Deal Cafe is a restaurant and community coffee house in the historic Roosevelt Center of Greenbelt, Maryland. It is a rare example of a restaurant operated as a consumers' cooperative,[5] as it is owned by over 200 member patrons.[6]

The Cafe, which has a small beer/wine bar in the back room, features almost daily performances by regional musicians,[7] and sponsors several outdoor music festivals each year, including the Crazy Quilt Festival and the Greenbelt Blues Festival. The Cafe walls are decorated with art by local artists which is changed bi-monthly. The arts and entertainment activities are supported by the Friends of New Deal Café Arts (FONDCA), a separate tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. The New Deal Cafe won WTOP's Top-10 2012 best music venue in the DC region.[8]

The Cafe menu focuses on Lebanese cuisine, and includes a variety of vegetarian and meat items.[9]

The Cafe is a commonly cited example of a "community living room" or "third place", part of the Third place movement.

Its name comes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, which was responsible for the Cafe's home in Roosevelt Center, and the founding of Greenbelt.[10]

History

The New Deal Cafe was founded by a group of Greenbelt residents in 1995.[11] In November 2004, over 600 people attended an open house to support the project.[12] From 1995 to 2000, the Cafe operated as a part-time coffeehouse in the Greenbelt Community Center. In April, 2000, the Cafe obtained a lease and opened its current full-time retail space, which was doubled its size in 2005 with expansion into an adjacent space.[13] For several years, it struggled without a kitchen on the premises, and debt increased.[14][15] However, in June 2008, the Cafe built a kitchen as part of a 4-month renovation using volunteer and professional contract labor,[16] and began a partnership with chef Karim Kmaiha and his wife, Maria Almeida to operate the restaurant.[17][18]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Deal Cafe.
  1. 1 2 "Board Meeting Minutes: April 25, 2011 (re-elected to Board May 20, 2012, and May 4, 2014)" (PDF). New Deal Cafe. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  2. ↑ "Annual Meeting Minutes (elected to Board May 4, 2014) Board of Directors Meeting (elected Secretary May 12, 2014)" (PDF). New Deal Cafe. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  3. 1 2 "Annual Meeting Minutes (elected to Audit Committee May 19, 2013)" (PDF). New Deal Cafe. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  4. ↑ "Annual Meeting Minutes (elected to Audit Committee May 4, 2014)" (PDF). New Deal Cafe. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  5. ↑ Knepper, Cathy D. (2001), Greenbelt, Maryland: A Living Legacy of the New Deal, Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press, p. 218, ISBN 0-8018-6490-9
  6. ↑ "New Deal Cafe Members Area". New Deal Cafe. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  7. ↑ Halpern, Sue (May–June 2002), "New Deal City", Mother Jones, retrieved 2007-07-07
  8. ↑ Basch, Michelle, New Deal Cafe wins WTOP's Top 10 for best music venue, retrieved 7 March 2013
  9. ↑ "New Deal Cafe Lunch and Dinner Menu". New Deal Cafe. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  10. ↑ Riley, Denise (2000-08-17), "GOOD EATS: The New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt", The Washington Post
  11. ↑ Holmes, Tamara E. (2003-11-27), "New Deal Cafe: a community affair", Maryland Gazette
  12. ↑ "A Short History of the New Deal Cafe". Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  13. ↑ "New Deal Cafe Business Plan". New Deal Cafe. October 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  14. ↑ Ngbea, Marcus (2007-11-01), "New Deal Café makes cuts to stay open", Maryland Gazette
  15. ↑ Hopkinson, Natalie (2001-06-14), "Co-op Cafe Is Struggling to Survive", The Washington Post
  16. ↑ McGill, Natalie (2008-04-10). "Renovations bring hope for new start at Greenbelt cafe". Maryland Gazette. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  17. ↑ Tousignant, Kristi (2008-06-19), "New Deal Café hires culinary expert", Maryland Gazette
  18. ↑ Woods, Bay (2008-06-26), "The New Chef, Karim Kmaiha, Is the New Deal's New Deal" (PDF), Greenbelt News Review, pp. 1, 10

External links

Coordinates: 39°0′10.12″N 76°52′35.51″W / 39.0028111°N 76.8765306°W / 39.0028111; -76.8765306

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