Archives: Media Room

After more than three decades serving the Cambridge community and visitors with its famously flamboyant flair, UpStairs on the Square is set to close its doors on Dec. 31, co-founders and co-owners Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes announced in an email to subscribers over the weekend.  In an interview with The Crimson Monday, Deibel and Hughes elaborated that the building was up for sale by the landlord. Deibel said that the sale of the building presented a logical time to end the long-running business, and she and Hughes decided not to sell it.

As much as every Harvard student loves the dining services, sometimes it’s nice—okay, necessary—to venture beyond the cafeterias and enjoy Cambridge’s culinary offerings. I certainly need breaks from my Annenberg meals and am always eager to go into the Square for food. Here are some of my recommendations and favorite spots for quick meals beyond HUDS:

Roughly 9,000 rowers will pour into Cambridge this weekend to compete in the 49th annual Head of the Charles Regatta. But the athletes will be far from the only visitors along the Charles this weekend, as upwards of 400,000 spectators are expected to be in attendance during the two-day event.  With so many individuals flocking to the river, the Regatta will require 1,400 volunteers alone, and the event has developed into an economic coup for the city of Cambridge.

An elderly Russian chess player who charges two dollars per game often sets up shop on the patio outside the Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square. A consistent crowd of tourists wanders in and out of the adjacent Holyoke Center, but this Mass. Ave. hotspot has recently developed a musical dimension: a public piano now graces the street corner, one of many pianos installed by Luke Jerram’s international “Play Me, I’m Yours” project. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Celebrity Series of Boston which features local performances by internationally recognized musicians, the project has installed 75 pianos on the streets of Boston from September 27 to October 14.

The restaurant and concert venue Beat Hôtel is now open at 13 Brattle St., bringing live music, colorful décor, and a taste of “la vie bohème” to Harvard Square.  Led by the same team that operates The Beehive in Boston’s South End, the Beat Hôtel draws inspiration from a rundown hotel in Paris that housed numerous writers and artists of the so-called Beat Generation during the 1950s and ’60s, according to Jack Bardy, Beat Hôtel’s operating partner.

It’s a problem that just about everyone who has walked through Cambridge shares:  finding a public bathroom around Harvard Square.  Now, a loose coalition of churches, homelessness organizations, and businesses have launched a campaign called Advocates for a Common Toilet, in an effort to get a public restroom for the Cambridge Common. 

The weathered plaque at the base of “Omphalos”, a towering statue in Harvard Square, is hard to spot behind the metal barriers.  A dirty pair of shorts and a discarded plastic bag sit at its concrete base.  A rusty bicycle has been chained to an adjacent pole and apparently abandoned.

Journelle, a Big Apple exemplar of underwear couture, has converted a … Journelle converts Airstream trailer into a roving showcase of … Journelle, a popular lingerie retailer in New York City, is starting its summer tour in Boston on Friday. … Staff, Aerial footage by Aram Boghosian for the Boston Globe).

Toscano opened in Harvard Square at the end of March, a second branch of the Beacon Hill restaurant with which it shares a name. The Brattle Street spot was for years scented with garlic naan and tandoori chicken as Cafe of India; now pasta and grilled meats take their place.

May/June 2013
The Square’s restaurant scene has welcomed more than six newcomers within the last year, with others set to open soon.