Science Center cafe now open for business

A new AVI/Wellesley Fresh café opened in the Science Center on Feb. 3. The College decided to build the café in response to requests from the Science Center community, according to Cathy Summa, the building's director.

The café features six round tables and an island bar. Six coffee canisters and a cappuccino machine top the island bar, which sits in the middle of the building's focus. The island is decorated with blue metal, sharp-edged bars and nuts and bolts of different sizes.

Students cannot currently use their Flex points at the new café, but they can use dining dollars, cash or credit cards instead. This week the café is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the hours will be extended to 11 p.m. starting next week. The café will be closed on weekends.

"It's very busy in the morning and around lunch time," said AVI employee Rosi Alfaro.

Lunch options include two types of hot soup that change daily, and the cold sandwich and salad options

that AVI also provides at the Emporium Café in the Campus Center. These options include roasted vegetables on a multigrain baguette, chicken Cesar salad and cups of yogurt. Packaged foods, including

cereal, potato chips, cookies and Clif Bars, are also available. The café sells cold beverages such as

Naked juice and bottled Starbucks frappuccinos. The café serves Pura Vida Coffee, which is Fair Trade

Certified™, organic and shade-grown. Customers can chose from House Blend, Hawaiian Hazelnut or French Roast in a to-go cup.

The café also features a counter with a microwave and toaster for customers' use.

Students will soon have the opportunity to determine the café's name in a naming contest. Summa expressed her hope to "find something that is uniquely Wellesley science and that fits this space."

Summa hopes the new café will highlight the science that goes on inside the Science Center through new

installations. According to Summa, the Science Center community "wants science students doing their science in a very visible way." It also wants to attract non-science majors. "It's important to know something about science and technology in this day and age, so we want to help facilitate that," she added.

"People hang out over a cup of coffee or have lunch together," Summa said. "Research groups are meeting, for instance, to talk about their research projects here, now that we've created a space for them to do that."

Frequent Science Center visitors enjoy the café's visitors enjoy the café's convenience.  In the past, when Professor of Chemistry Nolan Flynn forgot to bring his lunch to work, he had to go out to a dining hall or the Ville to find something to eat. The new café has "made life much more convenient," he said.  It also provides a more "collegial atmosphere" that faculty members can't experience if they eat alone in their office.  

"It's wonderful," Professor of Psychology Robin Akert said. "I can get coffee in the morning and a sandwich at lunch. Walking to [the Lulu Chow] Wang [Campus Center] caused me to lose a lot of work time."

Lesley Thulin '14 contributed reporting.