Viva la (coffee) revolucion! (continued)

THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

Louis Restaurant

286 Brook St., (401) 861-5225

Sure, it’s not the best or most successful revolution, but it’s damn cheap, and the music is fantastic. The coffee at this diner-like institution might give you a stomachache, and the food is sometimes questionable, but after a while you get used to it, and maybe even like it. The urge to go anywhere else soon dies, replaced by a comfortable apathy. You get used to the coffee, start to like the bad art on the walls, and don’t mind when your order is mangled — you’ve still got an endless cup of coffee, two eggs, toast, and hash browns for $3. And yeah, the tip of Florida (Brickway) isn’t too far away, but why wait 30 minutes to eat California omelets with a bunch of gringos when your federal government (Louis) will pump you full of grease for close to nothing? There’s nothing quite like walking into Louis at five in the morning, ordering a beer, and eating your No. 1 breakfast special while listening to NPR.

BOXER REBELLION

White Electric Coffee

711 Westminster St., (401) 453-3007

At the beginning of the 20th century, with Western nations claiming exclusive trading rights in various parts of China, thousands of "boxers" roamed the countryside, attacking Christian missions and other representatives of the "foreign devils." Near the beginning of the 21st century, with politicians and non-local artists claiming Providence’s art and music scene as their own, White Electric established itself in a small space on Broadway, and began serving coffee and baked goods to West Side denizens. Now ensconced on Broadway, White Electric will kindly serve "foreign devils." Still, the ample art and silk-screened posters on the walls, along with the long bulletin board that halves the room and overflows with flyers, hint at a firm, if subtle, identification with Providence’s subterranean nexus of art, music, and kickball. The seating here is fairly paltry, and the menu basic, but the coffee and baked goods are stellar, and the music always appealing.

THE NON-REVOLUTION

Olga’s Cup & Saucer

103 Point St., (401) 831-6666

It’s hard to imagine someone who frequents Olga’s being involved in any revolutionary behavior. This is not merely because the café’s clientele is largely middle to upper class, and bourgeois in appearance and, ostensibly, gastronomic sensibility. I, too, tend to forget most everything else, including political concerns, while sitting in Olga’s patio herb garden, eating ridiculously good food and rich coffee. Olga’s satiates the most particular gourmand with an array of expertly baked bread, pumpkin and bacon pizza, generously stuffed sandwiches, seasonal pies, fresh cookies, and other treats. The prices are relatively high, but it’s a small price for a little piece of utopia.

THE VELVET REVOLUTION

Reflections Cafe

468 Wickenden St., (401) 273-7278

At last, a revolution that is romantic, egalitarian, and successful. Though the 1968 Czech attempt to replace the Soviet system with "socialism with a human face" was suppressed after a few months by Soviet tanks, dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel, returning to domestic politics in 1989, rode a wave of mass protests to the presidency and autonomy from Russia. Reflections’ ascent has been less monumental, though similarly uplifting. The café has established a comfortable, open environment for the LGBT community, while also serving first-rate coffee and fresh-made pastries every morning.

SOVIET RUSSIA IN THE BREZHNEV YEARS

Starbucks

468 Angell St., (401) 831-9481

218 Thayer St., (401) 421-1677, www.starbucks.com

After the turbulence of Khrushchev’s reign, Brezhnev’s bland bureaucratic style and the ensuing period of relative stability was a welcome change for the USSR. Similarly, Starbucks can be credited with spreading the availability of high-quality coffee across America. With expansion, however, came corporate coffee and a difficult dilemma for consumers: have a good cup of joe at Starbucks and feel guilty about it, or go down the street to Ocean? For critics, the answer became clear when, after some signs of liberalization, the Soviets crushed the Prague Spring and later invaded Afghanistan, asserting the right to intervene in the affairs of other countries in its sphere of influence. As Starbucks has matured, it, too, has begun to plant the seeds of empire in every major American city, replacing independent cafés with bland service and faceless satellites that sell something close to a generic experience. The crowd is similarly derivative, tending toward students and aspiring monopolists on Thayer Street, and older robber barons in Wayland Square. Still, despite the party line, the caramel macchiato Frappuccino is delicious.

MAY 1968, AGAIN

Cable Car Cinema & Cafe

204 South Main St., (401) 272-3970, www.cablecarcinema.com

This art house cinema-coffee shop by the river near the bottom of College Hill embodies another side of the May 1968 Paris student revolts, the connection between student politics and film elucidated in Bertolucci’s recent The Dreamers. Bertolucci depicts the firing of preeminent film collector Henri Langlois from his position as head of the famous Cinematheque Francaise as a catalyst for that month’s student riots. The Cable Car keeps prospective rioters happy with a stellar palate of independent and classic films, a theater filled with couches, student discounts Monday through Wednesday, and a café that offers gargantuan grilled cheese sandwiches and a range of baked goods, from biscotti to banana bread.

Alexander Provan jangles even when he isn’t writing about coffee.