By Courtney Wright
Welcome to February everyone, the month of love and Black History, we made it…barely…
The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. That September, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent. This group sponsored the first Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures. President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” As we kick off Black History Month, I wanted to acknowledge the history of how it came to be. “Let us never forget that Black history continues to define American history.” — Yvette D. Clarke
January was a long (too long) and very cold month and while we didn’t see as many people out and about, there has been plenty of movement in the local business landscape. Yellow Door Taqueria has unfortunately decided to close its doors and while it is a sad loss for Mission Hill- we can still support their other locations when one has a craving for their brand of fare and margs as their other locations remain open. Atlas Barbershop has opened (go say hi!) in the former Sofia’s Alterations space at 824 Huntington Avenue and NAMU Distilling is steadily clearing any hurdles through the City permitting and zoning processes so that they may open soon as well. Flour Bakery has opened its newest location in Brigham Circle, in the former JP Licks space, and it is beautiful. It has been abuzz with activity since their soft opening two weeks ago. Penguin Pizza has added a “Boozy Brunch” to their repertoire which means they open an hour earlier on Saturdays and Sundays- with brunch lasting until 3 p.m. Speaking of Penguin, they will be having a Superbowl watch party on Sunday and have deals on $10 pitchers, medium cheese pizza with two toppings- also for $10, and other fun specials. The Superbowl will also be playing at Puddingstone, the Mission- and anywhere else with a t.v. I imagine. If you want to get out of your house for the game- stay local and take advantage of the many great deals. Boston Building Resources also runs their mending corner throughout the month of February. You can bring in worn textiles and clothing materials and get help mending and bringing them back to life by volunteers with the skill set to do so. The BBR Mending Corner hours are Feb. 18: 12-3 pm, and February 12 and 26: 5-7pm.
In November and December, we talked a lot about the various holiday community initiatives that were taking place in the neighborhood that our local businesses helped support through partnership and donations. I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge another fundraiser that took place locally by Solid Ground Café, who sold sweatshirts with the proceeds going to MHNHS (they raised $550!), and then thought- why don’t I take half an article.
Two weeks ago, on Jan. 23, Solid Ground Café and its owners, Keith and Lucia Patrick celebrated 7 years since their Café opened at 742 Huntington Ave. Community minded as ever, they celebrated the day by giving out free coffee to people who came by and chatting with their many regulars who have patronized enthusiastically since they began. To say Happy Birthday to Solid Ground (and Lucia! another Aquarius), I wanted to put some focus on their business and use the opportunity of this column to thank them.
Keith and Lucia met while studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Cambridge, where their shared love of food first brought them together. After culinary school, they made the decision to move to Mission Hill, a neighborhood Keith was already familiar with given his position as a bartender and then manager at Penguin Pizza. For the next 12 years, they lived on the corner of Hillside and Calumet St. Prior to opening Solid Ground, Lucia began her career as a line cook at The Gallows in the South End, honing her skills in a fast-paced kitchen. She later transitioned into food manufacturing, joining Taza Chocolate in Somerville, where she quickly moved into a management role.
As fate would have it, an opportunity soon arose for Lucia to help manage a restaurant directly across the street from The Penguin called Grub. She helped manage the space and played a key role in developing both the menu and the design. When Grub eventually closed, another opportunity appeared just a couple of doors down. Keith and Lucia weren’t sure if Mission Hill needed a coffee shop, but after living in the neighborhood for ten years, they felt strongly about creating something special for the community and did just that.
On January 23rd, 2019 they opened a specialty coffee shop focused on quality and connection, Solid Ground Café, that quickly became a neighborhood staple. Lucia has said that their idea and menu is based on their desire to stay true to themselves, and to serve food that they would want to eat. Luckily, it’s food we all want to eat as well. Their specialty coffee is sourced locally from Plymouth, MA- Speedwell, and has been since day 1. Speedwell also visits the café to train their baristas on the qualities and techniques to make the delicious coffee drinks we enjoy daily. Since opening, Solid Ground has been featured in many Boston publications such as Eater, Boston Magazine, etc and has been awarded by Main Streets in both 2019 and 2022 for the Golden Broom and Business of the Year. Somewhere in between all of this, they managed to get married and have two beautiful children- Millie and Roman. Solid Ground being, as Lucia joked to me last week, “their first baby”.
As much as Solid Ground is a conduit for Keith and Lucia to share their culinary passions with us, it has also become a place that helps to promote their love of community. Over the years I am always impressed by their ingenuity and the ways they find to spotlight other local chefs, artists, florists, and entrepreneurs. From a wildly successful pop-up with Filipino Chef Ashley Lujares, to special flower bouquets for valentine’s day and graduations with Emily’s Flower Kitchen. They have used their interior space as a canvas for local artists who help design their merchandise and aesthetics. As Lucia rightly pointed out- there is a lot of young, creative talent that hasn’t been fully tapped in to- I’m grateful to have her to lead me in that direction as Main Streets considers new merch designs, etc. Their commitment to and love of this community isn’t limited to within their café walls- on any given day you are likely to see Keith running back and forth from the trunk of his car to inside Solid Ground as he gets together another catering order- likely to a meeting you or I have been to and treated with their sandwiches for lunch. If you are attending a community event, or meeting or gathering in Mission Hill- I would be willing to bet you have seen Keith coming or going, dropping off and picking up from a donation or contribution made via Solid Ground.
In such a complex time and environment- it is more important than ever that we are supporting our local communities and businesses. Businesses like Solid Ground Café are the type of places where you feel like you can kill two birds with one stone- supporting a local business who themselves, support the local community- Investing in businesses that invest in us. Thank you, Solid Ground Café, thank you Keith and Lucia for laying down your roots in Mission Hill and for being not just a wonderful business, but a wonderful catalyst and neighbor that fosters and facilitates pride and investment in our business district and City. We’re so lucky to have you and look forward to celebrating another 7 years AT LEAST.