[482] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
Re: Sacrifice
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Carol Novitsky)
Wed Apr 5 12:31:04 1995
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
Cc: jxc@psu.edu
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 1995 12:29:36 EDT
From: Carol Novitsky <chaika@MIT.EDU>
Does anyone know the details of how Poppa & Goose (East Cambridge) started up?
The people who run this (ex-MIT, Tufts, etc. grad students--techies, not MBA
types, I think) have told their story in the past.
I am also from the bovine filled landscape of Pennsylvania and never cease to
be appalled about the refusal of people there to diversify their tastes in
food. The belief is that Chinese or Mexican food will get one sick, unless one
is actually Chinese or Mexican and has inherited the digestive characteristics
to handle the food. I had expected the Penn State area to be more tolerant than
this, but by how much, well--James Collins' email described things there exactly
as I had expected. Perhaps the demand for exotic food by Boston and Bay Area-cultured
grad students is simply not noticed by the locals. Something has to be done about
Pennsylvania.
In other words, there are probably students at Penn State (especially ones about
to graduate) with the energy, interest, and perhaps capital to start up a veggie or
even a Thai operation. Admittedly, this can be difficult. (The banker who started
up Pomme-Frite in Harvard Square was purportedly the only banker in Boston who had
felt comfortable with lending to restaurant startups, due to the failure rate; there
have been exceedingly bright people who have failed in this industry, note Maven's
Kosher deli.) Can someone find out what Poppa & Goose has done/is doing right?
That is--could James Collins search around Penn State for the potential founders of
a Poppa & Goose? (By the way, I think the ex-students running P & G also functioned
as cooks--one nice thing they had is cooking classes.)
