Toscanini’s is no more?
Let’s hope that this extremely sad news fixes itself soon: Toscanini’s, the beloved Cambridge ice-cream shop, has been seized by the state for nonpayment of back taxes, to the tune of $167,000. Boston Magazine says that Gus Rancatore hopes to reopen it soon. I hope so, too.
Gus has had bad luck. He bought out the Someday Café and promptly lost it, either because of his own carelessness or because of a sleazy property owner, depending on how you view it. The Someday was a classic ratty coffeeshop, with (as that link describes it) Goodwill furniture. Gus bought it and promised to keep it ratty.
There was a Tosci in Harvard Square. I asked Gus a while back why it’s gone now; he said that the rent was just too high. The shop closed for a while for renovations, and never reopened; it’s possible that there was some sort of bait-and-switch in the meantime, or it could mean that Gus’s luck gave out on him again.
Finally, there was a “Toscanini and Sons” bakery where Panini used to be, near the Wine and Cheese Cask and Dali in Somerville. I’ve not been over that way in a while, so I don’t know if it’s still there.
The Central Square Toscanini’s is fundamental to the community. It needs to stick around. I wonder what we can do to make that happen.
P.S. (21 January 2007): It’s gotten kind of silly. There’s now a Save Toscanini’s website, where you can donate to help rescue them from the claws of the state. But … they’re a for-profit company. And this is pathetic. More to the point, I get the sense that Toscanini’s has failed to pay taxes because Gus isn’t a very good businessmen. (I’m not sure, but I do wonder.) So why would I want to donate money when it may well go down the tubes?
It’s not Tosci’s anymore. It’s now called “The Biscuit”. It seemed like Toscis was set to buy up all the coffeeshops in the area for a while there, and then they sort of imploded. I was wondering what was going on there.
It’s also too bad about the Someday. It’s a crepe shop now, which is fine and all, but the Someday was sort of the quintiscential Davis Square coffee shop. A little ratty, a little upscale, a little brooding, a little cool, and filled with students and people who didn’t mind sitting on furniture that was probably last seen sitting on the curb in the neighborhood.
Plus, how awesome were those posters that said something to the effect of “This is Lewis. Do you think some ‘barista’ can make a better espresso than Lewis?”
Comment by mrz — January 18, 2008 @ 12:30 pm