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Title: Red Emma's Cafe: More Than Just Food Author: Mariah Lamm Language: en Topics: anarchism, communism, worker-collective, solidarity, local, food
What makes Red Emma’s great is not just its food: it’s the thought
behind it. Red Emma’s is a worker cooperative that identifies as both
anarchist and communist. They focus on spreading radical information to
the community of Baltimore or any open-minded person that walks in,
attracted by the promise of grilled cheese or a hot cup of coffee. A
large part of this project is to show that anarchism can function in the
real world. All the people that work at Red Emma’s also own an equal
share of the business, with no one as ‘the boss’. Their values extend
further to be sustainable, animal friendly (they are 100% vegetarian),
are a safe space, and support independent publishing.
They opened up in 2004 on North Avenue in Baltimore, combining both a
café and a bookstore. The bookstore is a distribution place for all the
“viewpoints and information that could never get a hearing in mainstream
media and bookstores”. This includes not just radical books, but radical
newspapers, periodicals, and zines. The café of Red Emma’s is delicious,
to say the least. The menu is chock-full of savory, comfort food. My
favorite that I’ve had the pleasure of eating was the vegan spinach and
artichoke dip with sliced baguette on the side, drizzled with olive oil.
I’m pretty sure I have never in my life enjoyed a dip as much as this
one. It’s served warm, with the savory spinach/artichoke mix ready to
have a slice of crispy, fresh baguette to dip into it. If you need a
drink to wash all that down, they’ve got you covered with that as well.
They get their coffee from Thread Coffee: also a collectively run
business based in Baltimore. If coffee’s not your thing, they also have
teas, sodas, hot chocolate, and even a vegan root beer float.
Even the atmosphere at Red Emma’s is great. There are bookshelves lining
the walls with those cool ladders that glide along the walls. The space
has an open layout, with different sized tables strewn about. The
employees are super friendly and cool. Overall Red Emma’s is a really
great café with values and ethics that, if you agree with them, can’t be
beat.