As students return to a near-normal college scene this fall, many will scramble to immerse themselves in Harvard activities and classes. But they will also have the opportunity to experience one of the most defining aspects of leaving home for college: the chance to live in a different city, state or country. In the midst of the noise on campus this fall, enjoy the place you now get to experience in-person: Cambridge!
The city of Cambridge is a wonder. Artists, musicians and scholars thrive. Quirky, eclectic shops line the streets, and each observant student will likely collect their own list of favorites.
This fall, entrepreneurs who have hibernated during the pandemic will emerge with renewed stamina. While pandemic-induced financial strain has forced many Cambridge businesses to keep their doors shut, the number of new businesses has grown. The end of 2020 saw an all-time high of business openings across the United States, and quarterly rates are set to hit an all-time high in the coming months, with over half a million applications filled just this past June.
So, you may ask: What’s new in the area? Where do I need to be? Fear not, there is much to explore for first-time Cambridge-wanderers and the senior class alike.
Starlight Square
The designers of Starlight Square wanted to create “to create a square in the Square, a civic commons in the heart of the city,” the website reads. They turned a physical parking lot into an outdoor space for the arts suitable for social distancing. This “Cultural District” offers performances, art shows, film screenings, yoga, dance, farmers markets, among other seasonal events. The atmosphere of the Square is young and hip with printed mesh murals comprising the exterior.
Perhaps their most exciting feature is “Popportunity.” On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Starlight Square welcomes a variety of entrepreneurs to set up farmers market-style stands around the Square. The initiative is an opportunity for budding businesses to share their products, such as Ninawaze Zero-Waste clothing, the garden store Wesleaf Plants, and MadebyCarola home decor. Stop by to purchase a one-of-a-kind up-cycled bedside table or a dorm-friendly succulent.
84 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge, MA
Popportunity: Sat-Sun 12-6pm
Summer Shack
On August 5th, Summer Shack, a well-known local seafood restaurant, opened their Harvard Square pop-up in front of the Charles Hotel. If you are looking to enjoy the warm summer evenings in Cambridge with some fresh New England lobster, take a seat at one of their tables. Summer Shack will be sharing the open-air space with the Charles Hotel and the Harvard Square Farmers Market until late October.
One Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA
Wed-Fri 10-4pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-10pm
Cicada Coffee Bar
This past spring, Vietnamese chef Vinh Le opened Cicada Coffee bar. Besides sweet Vietnamese coffee drinks, the cafe also offers specialty noodle dishes and bahn-mi sandwiches. While the food and drink is impeccable and unique, the star of the small joint is the decor and intentional use of space. Cicada offers a place for visitors to engage with each other and the kitchen at the same time. With only a bar to separate the two, the atmosphere is lively and communal. Vihn is almost always there whipping up some concoction such as the Caphe Trung, a creamy yolk froth with traditional Vietnamese coffee or espresso. Visit Cicada to enjoy the company of both the Cambridge community and Vihn himself, a fantastic conversation partner. And stay tuned—Vinh is rumored to be starting an “evening program” featuring neon lights and a recently renovated back garden.
106 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA
Tues-Sun 8-3pm
Cleenland
Concerned about society’s cumulative waste? Want to reduce your carbon footprint? Cleenland is a personal and home-care supplies store filled with non-toxic potions for everything from moisturizing skin to bleaching clothes. This shop sells body products for every skin and hair type, committed to their goal of inclusivity. While they offer products like bar shampoos and conditioners, Cleenland also provides refillable containers for liquid products such as dish soap. Their beeswax food-wraps in particular would appeal to a college student lacking plastic bags. Visit the store to learn about how your individual efforts can make a difference.
89A Norfolk Street, Cambridge, MA
Mon 3-7pm, Thurs-Fri 3-7pm, Sat-Sun 12-7pm
Menya Jiro Boston
This renowned New York ramen chain debuted in Harvard Square on July 14th. One of three planned spots in the Boston area, Menya Jiro in the Square promises to serve authentic Japanese noodles to college students and Cambridge locals. The restaurant started in Japan, and only expanded to the US in 2016. Menya Jiro has stirred excitement in various restaurant guides and is sure to be a hotspot during the fall semester.
57 John F Kennedy St, Cambridge, MA 02138
11am-10pm
Other notable openings:
Zuzu’s Petals for wine and cheese
204 Hampshire St, Cambridge
Nu Do Society forUdon noodles
125 River St., Cambridge
A bustling art scene is also reawakening as Massachusetts has relaxed its social distancing regulations. Those eager to venture across the river can enjoy Boston’s major art museums and galleries, which offer several new and notable exhibitions this fall.
Harvard Art Museums
More than a year after closing due to the pandemic, the Harvard Art Museums will reopen on September 4th, offering “Free Sundays,” where visitors who book advance reservations are offered free admission. The Museums’ three galleries offer significant shows. Notably, the University Research Gallery’s States of Play: Prints from Rembrandt to Delsarte unveils how artists move through the art of printmaking as they rework and refine their images. In addition to Rembrandt and Louis Delsarte, this show features Pablo Picasso, Paul Signac, and Edvard Munch, among other artists.
In addition, the University Teaching Gallery will show A Colloquium in the Visual Arts, whose works will be studied by the class Humanities 20. Each week, the students will participate in an intensive lecture on the history and content of one of the pieces, followed by “looking labs” in the gallery, where they learn to engage deeply with the artwork while using it to ask questions about human culture.
32 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner is a pillar of the Boston art scene, known for its significant works of American, European, and Asian art and its unsolved 1990 heist. The museum recently opened Titian: Women, Myth and Power, which explores Renaissance painter Titian’s six “painted poetries,” works which are now reunited for the first time in over four centuries. The exhibition also features responses to these paintings by contemporary artists. Barbara Kruger’s Body Language probes the onlooker to reflect on the historical concept of a gaze and its relevance in the present day; meanwhile, Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelly’s short film response to Titian’s Rape of Europa gives voice to the character Europa.
25 Evans Way, Boston, MA
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)
The ICA Boston is another must-see museum with a plethora of interesting exhibitions. Virgil Abloh: ‘Figures of Speech’ is the first museum exhibition devoted to the work of Off-White Clothing founder Virgil Abloh. Open until September 26th, the show highlights Abloh’s career and his many collaborative projects with other artists. Another noteworthy exhibition is the ICA’s newest addition, The Worlds We Make: Selections from the ICA Collection, which explores how artists have dreamed new visions of the world.
Lastly, make sure to visit the ICA Watershed before it closes on September 6th. Located within the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina, this summer space features Boston-based artist Stephen Hamilton’s project on the West African tradition of indigo dyeing, along with Dominican artist Firelei Báez’s largest sculptural installation to date.
25 Harbor Shore Dr, Boston, MA
Krakow Witkin Gallery & Robert Klein Gallery
Both of these galleries offer compelling art shows this fall. The minimalist gallery Krakow Witkin showcases minimalist and conceptual art. On September 18th, the gallery will unveil a solo show for painter Kay Rosen, whose contemporary text-based art is world-renowned.
Robert Klein Gallery, one of the world’s most prestigious fine photography galleries, has two exhibitions open now until October 10th. The first showcases the work of Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli and runs concurrently with a retrospective of Giacomelli at Los Angeles’s Getty Museum. The second exhibition highlights the work of acclaimed Swedish wildlife photographer and activist Björn Persson.
10 Newbury St & 38 Newbury St, Boston, MA
Now with just a taste of what’s new in Cambridge and Boston, you have the opportunity to add to the provided list. Email the Independent writers below with findings that the whole Harvard community deserves to know. Happy discovering!
Gogo Taubman ’24 (gtaubman@college.harvard.edu) is an art aficionado and a staff writer for the Independent.
Kate Tunnell ’24 (katetunnell@college.harvard.edu) is a small business enthusiast and the Media Director of the Independent.
Wondering what you missed while you were away from campus? Curious to explore beyond the gates of Harvard Yard? Cambridge just got interesting…
BY KATE TUNNELL ’24 & GOGO TAUBMAN ’24
As students return to a near-normal college scene this fall, many will scramble to immerse themselves in Harvard activities and classes. But they will also have the opportunity to experience one of the most defining aspects of leaving home for college: the chance to live in a different city, state or country. In the midst of the noise on campus this fall, enjoy the place you now get to experience in-person: Cambridge!
The city of Cambridge is a wonder. Artists, musicians and scholars thrive. Quirky, eclectic shops line the streets, and each observant student will likely collect their own list of favorites.
This fall, entrepreneurs who have hibernated during the pandemic will emerge with renewed stamina. While pandemic-induced financial strain has forced many Cambridge businesses to keep their doors shut, the number of new businesses has grown. The end of 2020 saw an all-time high of business openings across the United States, and quarterly rates are set to hit an all-time high in the coming months, with over half a million applications filled just this past June.
So, you may ask: What’s new in the area? Where do I need to be? Fear not, there is much to explore for first-time Cambridge-wanderers and the senior class alike.
————————————————————————————————————————————
Starlight Square—84 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge, MA
The designers of Starlight Square wanted to create “to create a square in the Square, a civic commons in the heart of the city,” the website reads. They turned a physical parking lot into an outdoor space for the arts suitable for social distancing. This “Cultural District” offers performances, art shows, film screenings, yoga, dance, farmers markets, among other seasonal events. The atmosphere of the Square is young and hip with printed mesh murals comprising the exterior.
Perhaps their most exciting feature is “Popportunity.” On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Starlight Square welcomes a variety of entrepreneurs to set up farmers market-style stands around the Square. The initiative is an opportunity for budding businesses to share their products, such as Ninawaze Zero-Waste clothing, the garden store Wesleaf Plants, and MadebyCarola home decor. Stop by to purchase a one-of-a-kind up-cycled bedside table or a dorm-friendly succulent.
Starlight
84 Bishop Allen Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139
Popportunity
Sat-Sun 12-6pm
Summer Shack—One Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA
On August 5th, Summer Shack, a well-known local seafood restaurant, opened their Harvard Square pop-up in front of the Charles Hotel. If you are looking to enjoy the warm summer evenings in Cambridge with some fresh New England lobster, take a seat at one of their tables. Summer Shack will be sharing the open-air space with the Charles Hotel and the Harvard Square Farmers Market until late October.
Summer Shack
One Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA
Wed-Fri 10-4pm, Sat-Sun 12pm – 10pm
Cicada Coffee Bar—106 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA
This past spring, Vietnamese chef Vinh Le opened Cicada Coffee bar. Besides sweet Vietnamese coffee drinks, the cafe also offers specialty noodle dishes and bahn-mi sandwiches. While the food and drink is impeccable and unique, the star of the small joint is the decor and intentional use of space. Cicada offers a place for visitors to engage with each other and the kitchen at the same time. With only a bar to separate the two, the atmosphere is lively and communal. Vihn is almost always there whipping up some concoction such as the Caphe Trung, a creamy yolk froth with traditional Vietnamese coffee or espresso. Visit Cicada to enjoy the company of both the Cambridge community and Vihn himself, a fantastic conversation partner. And stay tuned—Vinh is rumored to be starting an “evening program” featuring neon lights and a recently renovated back garden.
Cicada Coffee Bar
106 Prospect Street,
Cambridge, MA
Tues-Sun 8-3pm
Cleenland—89A Norfolk Street
Concerned about society’s cumulative waste? Want to reduce your carbon footprint? Cleenland is a personal and home-care supplies store filled with non-toxic potions for everything from moisturizing skin to bleaching clothes. This shop sells body products for every skin and hair type, committed to their goal of inclusivity. While they offer products like bar shampoos and conditioners, Cleenland also provides refillable containers for liquid products such as dish soap. Their beeswax food-wraps in particular would appeal to a college student lacking plastic bags. Visit the store to learn about how your individual efforts can make a difference.
Cleenland
89A Norfolk Street
Cambridge, MA
Mon 3-7pm, Thurs-Fri 3-7pm, Sat-Sun 12-7pm
Menya Jiro Boston—57 John F Kennedy St, Cambridge, MA
This renowned New York ramen chain debuted in Harvard Square on July 14th. One of three planned spots in the Boston area, Menya Jiro in the Square promises to serve authentic Japanese noodles to college students and Cambridge locals. The restaurant started in Japan, and only expanded to the US in 2016. Menya Jiro has stirred excitement in various restaurant guides and is sure to be a hotspot during the fall semester.
Menya Jiro
57 John F Kennedy St
Cambridge, MA 02138
11am-10pm
(617) 945-1002
Other notable openings:
Zuzu’s Petals – Wine and cheese
204 Hampshire St, Cambridge
Nu Do Society – Udon noodles
125 River St., Cambridge
————————————————————————————————————————————
A bustling art scene is also reawakening as Massachusetts has relaxed its social distancing regulations. Those eager to venture across the river can enjoy Boston’s major art museums and galleries, which offer several new and notable exhibitions this fall.
————————————————————————————————————————————
Harvard Art Museums—32 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA
More than a year after closing due to the pandemic, the Harvard Art Museums will reopen on September 4th, offering “Free Sundays,” where visitors who book advance reservations are offered free admission. The Museums’ three galleries offer significant shows. Notably, the University Research Gallery’s States of Play: Prints from Rembrandt to Delsarte unveils how artists move through the art of printmaking as they rework and refine their images. In addition to Rembrandt and Louis Delsarte, this show features Pablo Picasso, Paul Signac, and Edvard Munch, among other artists.
In addition, the University Teaching Gallery will show A Colloquium in the Visual Arts, whose works will be studied by the class Humanities 20. Each week, the students will participate in an intensive lecture on the history and content of one of the pieces, followed by “looking labs” in the gallery, where they learn to engage deeply with the artwork while using it to ask questions about human culture.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—25 Evans Way, Boston, MA
Isabella Stewart Gardner is a pillar of the Boston art scene, known for its significant works of American, European, and Asian art and its unsolved 1990 heist. The museum recently opened Titian: Women, Myth and Power, which explores Renaissance painter Titian’s six “painted poetries,” works which are now reunited for the first time in over four centuries. The exhibition also features responses to these paintings by contemporary artists. Barbara Kruger’s Body Language probes the onlooker to reflect on the historical concept of a gaze and its relevance in the present day; meanwhile, Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelly’s short film response to Titian’s Rape of Europa gives voice to the character Europa.
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)—25 Harbor Shore Dr, Boston, MA
The ICA Boston is another must-see museum with a plethora of interesting exhibitions. Virgil Abloh: ‘Figures of Speech’ is the first museum exhibition devoted to the work of Off-White Clothing founder Virgil Abloh. Open until September 26th, the show highlights Abloh’s career and his many collaborative projects with other artists. Another noteworthy exhibition is the ICA’s newest addition, The Worlds We Make: Selections from the ICA Collection, which explores how artists have dreamed new visions of the world.
Lastly, make sure to visit the ICA Watershed before it closes on September 6th. Located within the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina, this summer space features Boston-based artist Stephen Hamilton’s project on the West African tradition of indigo dyeing, along with Dominican artist Firelei Báez’s largest sculptural installation to date.
Krakow Witkin Gallery & Robert Klein Gallery—10 Newbury St & 38 Newbury St, Boston, MA
Both of these galleries offer compelling art shows this fall. The minimalist gallery Krakow Witkin showcases minimalist and conceptual art. On September 18th, the gallery will unveil a solo show for painter Kay Rosen, whose contemporary text-based art is world-renowned.
Robert Klein Gallery, one of the world’s most prestigious fine photography galleries, has two exhibitions open now until October 10th. The first showcases the work of Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli and runs concurrently with a retrospective of Giacomelli at Los Angeles’s Getty Museum. The second exhibition highlights the work of acclaimed Swedish wildlife photographer and activist Björn Persson.
————————————————————————————————————————————
Now with just a taste of what’s new in Cambridge and Boston, you have the opportunity to add to the provided list. Email the Independent writers below with findings that the whole Harvard community deserves to know. Happy discovering!
Gogo Taubman ’24 (gtaubman@college.harvard.edu) is an art aficionado and a staff writer for the Independent.
Kate Tunnell ’24 (katetunnell@college.harvard.edu) is a small business enthusiast and the Media Director of the Independent.