Those who’ve walked through Roosevelt Center on a recent Tuesday or Saturday evening may have heard something vaguely familiar: the sounds of strumming guitars, clinking glasses and laughing people, all coming from the New Deal Café.
After nearly 19 months of pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions, the Café, a member-owned Greenbelt institution for 26 years, is coming back to life. With a freshly upgraded interior, a new food vendor and expanded hours, the Café is in many ways better than ever.
“We’ve survived one of the most challenging periods in our history, and we’re eager to welcome Greenbelters back to our beautiful, welcoming, community living room,” said Michael Hartman, president of the New Deal Café cooperative’s board of directors.
Earlier this year, the board decided to use the Covid-19 shutdown to undertake long-overdue upgrades to the Café’s interior. The pockmarked 1937-era terrazzo floors were restored, cracked and stained ceiling tiles were replaced, old lighting fixtures were upgraded, walls were patched and painted and the sound system was improved. In addition, virus-killing ultraviolet lights were added to the ventilation system and the facility received a deep clean.
In the summer, the Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket was brought onboard as the Café’s new food vendor, a historic collaboration of two local co-ops. The Co-op has gradually ramped up the Café’s food offerings and hours. Delicious menu items include breakfast sandwiches, pastries, smoothies and coffee drinks in the morning, soups in the afternoon and, in recent weeks, baked or fried chicken, ribs, vegan lasagna and a host of side dishes in the evening. The Café is now open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday – with later hours on Friday and Saturday nights when there is live music.
“We’re so delighted to be serving food and beverages to our neighbors in Greenbelt in a new and exciting way!” said Dan Gillotte, Co-op and New Deal Café general manager. “Opening a new café business in the pandemic era hasn’t been easy, but the support of the community has been overwhelming and encouraging. We’re very pleased to be heading back to an era with more art and music to complement the food and beverage at the New Deal.”
Gillotte plans to continue working on menu offerings over the coming months. “We’ve got a great crew operating the Café and are slowly adding new people to help us expand our capacity and offerings.” According to Gillotte, the Café is newly offering oats and overnight oats in the morning and a baked salmon and rosemary roasted chicken for dinner. “We’re also so happy to be expanding our positive local impact by featuring many local brewers (e.g., Denizens, DC Brau and Union Brewing) along with local baked vegan goods from our friends at Wilma Bakes,” said Gillotte.
With the interior restored, the new food vendor up and running and Covid-19 restrictions eased, the Café turned its attention to re-starting its award-winning music and arts programming. The board and music coordinator Amethyst Dwyer took a measured, careful approach to rolling out live music events, adopting an entry requirement of either proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative PCR test (within 48 hours) for patrons.
These entry requirements will continue until further notice. In addition, mask mandates will continue to be strictly enforced, as required by the Prince George’s County government.
The Café started offering music only once or twice a week in mid-October with a 50 percent capacity, but now that Prince George’s County has dropped its capacity requirement, so will the Café. The Café will offer music every Friday and Saturday night (excluding November 26 and 27) and music, or other programming, Tuesday through Sunday nights each week beginning January 1. The Café is also planning a New Year’s Eve party with one of Greenbelt’s favorite bands, 49 Cent Dress, who play a wide variety of danceable hits from the 1960s to today.
Along with the return of music to the venue, artwork has re-appeared on the Café’s walls. The Café’s new art coordinator, Shaymar Higgs, and the board of Friends of New Deal Café Arts (FONDCA) have been working with talented local artists to install shows in the Café’s front and back rooms in the past several weeks, adding further visual appeal to the venue.
That the Café has weathered the past year-and-a-half and is coming back to life is a testament to the support, patience, hard work and generosity of the community, Hartman noted. “We want to thank our members, supporters, staff, volunteers, city officials and many others who have lent us a hand during these difficult times.” Hartman added that many challenges remain, including labor and supply shortages, government loans that need to be repaid, volunteer positions that need to be filled and the unknown future trajectory of the pandemic. “As a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, we ask for the continuing support and patronage of the community as we get back on our feet,” said Hartman.
For further information on the Café’s hours, menu, music and arts events – and to find out how to join and volunteer – visit newdealcafe.com or Facebook at facebook.com/groups/newdealcafe.
