Food Retail

I’ve just finished posting the interview with Steven Darwin, the proprietor and — as he assiduously points out — the co-founder of Darwin’s Ltd in Cambridge.

Steven is a wonderful interviewee because he just goes with it. He has lots and lots of stories from the past, but he has lots and lots of thoughts about the present (and the future).

I found it quite wonderful to remember the world of 1993 when he first opened Darwin’s. It was the onset of the Era of the Cappucino, but only just. The Boston Globe still arrived in the morning on your doorstep in paper, not out of electrons, and the neighborhood along Mt. Auburn Street, while wealthy 28 years ago was nowhere near its modern-day lavish cousin.

And most importantly, Steven talks of the “reset” that Covid offered. In our talk, I quote David Luberoff when he said that this past year brought Dante to his mind because we’ve been through a hell unquestionably, but also a purgatory. And there’s been a bit of heaven in this year too. A time to pause. A time to reexamine and reevaluate who we are and what we’re doing.

It was a great conversation with Steven. Let’s see if we can begin to work on the issues of ground floor retail and property taxes that he raises.