Milford Needs more Cafes and a Performance Venue

Milford has a beautiful, ever-expanding downtown, and a lot of small town charm. It has some unique and vital dining experiences, from Cafe Atlantique, delicious Liquid Lunch, the fantastic Rainbow Gardens, beautiful Bistro Basque, among others. I think we need more like them. 

For the most part, the dominant trait of places to go out to dine at, in Milford, seem to be either All-American fried food, pizza, or sea-food. Now I love those types of food, don't get me wrong, but every young hearted person needs a little variety from time to time. I wish we had more light, eclectic, small and unique eateries, with a little more something eccentric going on inside them.

Along with the need for a cafe culture, ever since the live music venue on Daniel Street closed, there is a lack of something more adventurous for younger crowds to entertain themselves with. Sure, Stonebridge Restaurant has wonderful summer crowds, SBC does the DJ thing, and sometimes the Art Council has some live shows. I just wish there was something that brought in a little bit more of the world at large downtown in small.

For Walnut Beach and the Green, the city council has some nice ideas for future development in the works, and they should be encouraged. Some new zoning rules would help the council achieve those ambitions: They should stop putting up large retailers and start bringing in smaller shops, encouraging entrepreneurs with grants- to create locations that are not an existing chain. We need noteworthy places that are not franchising out, but instead belonging solely to the city, creating a tourist destination in its own right.

For example: Take the old CVS retail lot, just sitting there wasting away with the seasons. Now imagine it as an ethnic eatery or live performance venue- it has parking space for a change. The 4 lane road between the beach and Walnut Businesses? Turn that into a Festival Marketplace for pedestrians, or a permanent residence for the Farmers Market. Give first floors of Downtown buildings to adorable and peculiar retailers, and only upper levels to office space/ medical research/ or apartments. What would you like to see happening in these two locations? Write down your dream eatery or whimsical ideas- sound out and be heard.

examples of a few neat ideas, to get the visionaries going:

How about a Steam-Punk themed Coffee and Soda-Cream Shop, with wild decor, and coffee beans pumping up tubes like fresh made popcorn- think Willy Wonka meets Jules Verne. Perhaps this could be where the Milford Diner stands in a derelict state while awaiting repairs?

Or a small sushi place known as "Pajama Sushi's," where, yes, the servers are wearing "yummy sushi" pajamas, and the place feels like you've walked into an Anime bedroom. Picture pillows for seats and comforters for picnic-tables. Leave your shoes at the door and get fuzzy slippers for starters.

How about a small cafe known as “Stage.” Performance Art meets Reality meets Food (and everyone, cross culturally, can talk about food.)

Details on the latter: A small stage exists in the center of the cafe, and the interest here is that a random family or couple is seated at that stage (as opposed to any other seating or table), and for a free meal, they become the center of attention and their conversation is enhanced by hidden microphones. I mean, everyone occasionally eavesdrops on their neighboring table, and reality TV is a never ending fad, so why not put free eaters or naturally interesting people on display, as a centerpiece of conversation from indulging in conversation? The restaurant could hire or volunteer struggling actors or off Broadway performers, to act out a theme at their dinner table; a world of humorous characters with an endless choice of improvisational pieces. 

Let's hear some unique, intriguing ideas.

Who knows- perhaps a Kickstarter project will progress from here, or a modest investor will be intrigued?