Tuesdays at HBT and the Holy Grounds Café

Tuesdays at HBT and the Holy Grounds Café

by Susan Mogil, Archives Committee 

Are you old enough to remember the TV show Cheers, which played from 1982 to 1993 with a well-known cast of regulars?  It took place in a Boston bar with the theme song “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.”

I spend a good part of every Tuesday at Holy Blossom, and the Holy Grounds Café is a big part of the day.

Every Tuesday morning, the Archives Committee meets in our new home on the 3rd floor next to the teen lounge. But first, someone brings coffee and scones from the cafe.

About noon, I go down to the atrium for lunch at the cafe. Usually, I’m joined by my son Ben and/or my brother Michael. Every week, the conversation starts with “Whose turn is it to pay? No, it’s my turn. You don’t remember, you paid last week.”  There are delicious vegetarian options: grilled cheese sandwiches,  vegetarian chilli, and vegetable soup. This, in addition to pastries, soda. juices, specialty coffees, hot chocolate and tea. The latest addition to their offerings is challah that they bake themselves and is available on Friday mornings.

On Tuesday afternoons, there are the Dorot games, and there may be as many as 40 or 50 card and mahjong players in the atrium. The cafe stays open and sets up coffee on a table against the stairwell. Coffee is free, and there’s a tzedakah box in which you can put a donation

But the highlight of my day in the atrium is the very friendly baristas who run the cafe. They are enthusiastic young people. They greet me by name. And I think of the TV show Cheers, where everyone knows your name.