Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Why Don’t We Have A Conversation Café?

“An hour of conversation is worth a volume of letters.”

–Thomas Jefferson to John Adams.

This is the starting point for a movement of cafes all over the world where people gather just to slurp, nibble their tapas, and yak even if they’ve never met before.

Conversation Cafés.

In election year, I can’t think of a better idea.

They started in Seattle back in 2001. Three friends, Susan Partnow, Habib Rose, and Vicki Robin – and here I’m quoting from their website – “believed that more spontaneous and drop-in public dialogue would serve democracy, critical thinking and neighborliness.”

So they did an experiment.

“Each sat in a different café once a week and invited whoever was there, plus friends, to dialogue about things that really mattered.”

At the end of that summer, 9/11 happened, and they realized that their idea could be important. Conversation Cafes have since spread to over 70 cities in the US, Canada, and around the world.

They have cafes that do this from New York to Belarus.

But not San Diego.

The nearest one is in Santa Monica.

Me, I love the idea. I’d much rather have a conversation with someone I don’t agree with than just go “yeah, right, I agree,” shake our heads sadly, and that’s it.

And I don’t go with the ‘”I keep my politics/religion/musical tastes/jokes to myself” attitude. Heck, didn’t our forefathers, from those argumentative Greeks onwards, fight for the right to talk openly about anything and everything without fear of Big Brother breathing down their necks?

Good argument-conversations are brain sharpeners. You’ve gotta back up your claims, listen to the other guy, be ready to even concede they’ve got a point if they score a logic body-blow. Sometimes you even actually learn stuff. If you keep in mind Conversation Café’s advice to argue “in the Socratic tradition of respectful dialogue.”

That’s what’s good about bars, I guess. Whoever’s next to you is next to you. And here’s the irony: Before the French Revolution, what “café/restaurants” they had in Paris were basically plank tables with bench seats, probably in the street, and you ate and drank with a bunch of strangers you pretty-much had to start talking to.

The irony? It was only after The People took over in 1789 that cafés and restaurants – run by out-of-work aristocrats’ cooks - set up individual tables where you could be “private” in public, or whisper sweet nothings to your mistress. Be more ex-clusive, rather than in-clusive.

So Conversation Cafes? First step in the other direction. That Jefferson quote is their starting point, and the rise of coffee culture is the launch pad.

“At a Conversation Café there is nothing to join,” says the website (www.conversationcafe.org, 804-784-2626), “no homework, no agenda, just a simple process that helps to shift us from small talk to BIG talk, conversations that matter.”

So, sans our own Conversation Café, where to go?

Some places, it just ain’t gonna happen. Places where people go to curl up with their laptop and be alone. But some places are loud. Specially ones with streetside patios. They almost beg you to come, sit down, and argue. Even if it’s just the presidential election.

Places like, oh:

-Rebecca’s (3015 Juniper Street, at 30th, South Park, 619-284-3663)

-Café Madrid (outside Bay Books, 1029 Orange Avenue, Coronado)

-Caesar’s Hotel restaurant patio (1059 Avenida Revolución, at 5th Street - Calle 5a - Tijuana, 011.52-664-685-5608)

-Sótano Suizo (Swiss Cellar, Centro Plaza Fiesta, Isla G. Local 1 y 8-12, Avenida Paseo de Los Heroes 9415, Zona Rio, Tijuana, 011 52.664-684-88-34)

-Potato Shack (120 West I Street, Encinitas, 760-436-1282)

-Neighborhood (777 G Street, at 8th, 619-446-0002)

So hey, where are yours…?

Because, as the website says, “When you put strangers, caffeine and ideas in the same room, brilliant things can happen.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county

“An hour of conversation is worth a volume of letters.”

–Thomas Jefferson to John Adams.

This is the starting point for a movement of cafes all over the world where people gather just to slurp, nibble their tapas, and yak even if they’ve never met before.

Conversation Cafés.

In election year, I can’t think of a better idea.

They started in Seattle back in 2001. Three friends, Susan Partnow, Habib Rose, and Vicki Robin – and here I’m quoting from their website – “believed that more spontaneous and drop-in public dialogue would serve democracy, critical thinking and neighborliness.”

So they did an experiment.

“Each sat in a different café once a week and invited whoever was there, plus friends, to dialogue about things that really mattered.”

At the end of that summer, 9/11 happened, and they realized that their idea could be important. Conversation Cafes have since spread to over 70 cities in the US, Canada, and around the world.

They have cafes that do this from New York to Belarus.

But not San Diego.

The nearest one is in Santa Monica.

Me, I love the idea. I’d much rather have a conversation with someone I don’t agree with than just go “yeah, right, I agree,” shake our heads sadly, and that’s it.

And I don’t go with the ‘”I keep my politics/religion/musical tastes/jokes to myself” attitude. Heck, didn’t our forefathers, from those argumentative Greeks onwards, fight for the right to talk openly about anything and everything without fear of Big Brother breathing down their necks?

Good argument-conversations are brain sharpeners. You’ve gotta back up your claims, listen to the other guy, be ready to even concede they’ve got a point if they score a logic body-blow. Sometimes you even actually learn stuff. If you keep in mind Conversation Café’s advice to argue “in the Socratic tradition of respectful dialogue.”

That’s what’s good about bars, I guess. Whoever’s next to you is next to you. And here’s the irony: Before the French Revolution, what “café/restaurants” they had in Paris were basically plank tables with bench seats, probably in the street, and you ate and drank with a bunch of strangers you pretty-much had to start talking to.

The irony? It was only after The People took over in 1789 that cafés and restaurants – run by out-of-work aristocrats’ cooks - set up individual tables where you could be “private” in public, or whisper sweet nothings to your mistress. Be more ex-clusive, rather than in-clusive.

So Conversation Cafes? First step in the other direction. That Jefferson quote is their starting point, and the rise of coffee culture is the launch pad.

“At a Conversation Café there is nothing to join,” says the website (www.conversationcafe.org, 804-784-2626), “no homework, no agenda, just a simple process that helps to shift us from small talk to BIG talk, conversations that matter.”

So, sans our own Conversation Café, where to go?

Some places, it just ain’t gonna happen. Places where people go to curl up with their laptop and be alone. But some places are loud. Specially ones with streetside patios. They almost beg you to come, sit down, and argue. Even if it’s just the presidential election.

Places like, oh:

-Rebecca’s (3015 Juniper Street, at 30th, South Park, 619-284-3663)

-Café Madrid (outside Bay Books, 1029 Orange Avenue, Coronado)

-Caesar’s Hotel restaurant patio (1059 Avenida Revolución, at 5th Street - Calle 5a - Tijuana, 011.52-664-685-5608)

-Sótano Suizo (Swiss Cellar, Centro Plaza Fiesta, Isla G. Local 1 y 8-12, Avenida Paseo de Los Heroes 9415, Zona Rio, Tijuana, 011 52.664-684-88-34)

-Potato Shack (120 West I Street, Encinitas, 760-436-1282)

-Neighborhood (777 G Street, at 8th, 619-446-0002)

So hey, where are yours…?

Because, as the website says, “When you put strangers, caffeine and ideas in the same room, brilliant things can happen.”

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.