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Cambridge bans candles at local restaurants, except on birthday cakes
By adamg on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 10:12am
Cambridge Day reports the city continues its crackdown on mood-setting local restaurants even as Boston and Somerville continue to blithely ignore the public-safety menace of tea candles.
The fire department's latest regulation says that candles are allowed on birthday cakes - but woe be to anybody who tries sneaking one on a cupcake or pie.
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Comments
SWEET FANCY MOSES IS THIS MY
SWEET FANCY MOSES IS THIS MY WORLD?!
Ah, the people's republic
They say that people who lean too far to the right eventually meet the people leaning too far to the left.
Not What's Happening Here
You realize the people involved here aren't on the "left" or "right," yeah? This is part of a campaign of bullying and retaliation by the Cambridge Licensing Commission, including the Fire Chief, mad because the Upper West owners pointed out the rampant corruption in the commission when they were denied a license for shady reasons in mid-cambridge. The political leanings of these tinpot dictators are immaterial.
Unclear
Will restaurants also need to card patrons to ensure it's actually their birthday?
No, but the city limits each
No, but the city limits each resident to one birthday/calendar year.
What about cheesecake?
So candles are only allowed in cakes... where does that leave cheesecake?
If you had never seen one before, you would 100% call it a pie, but it's boldface lying right at us with the word "cake" in its name.
Has the city legally defined what a cake entails?
And what about Boston Cream Pie?
What a can of worms they've opened up across the river.
That should be criminal.
That should be criminal. Candles have no business being on perfectly good cheesecake.
Or on Boston Creme Pie
for that matter.
Also, crab cakes?
Also, crab cakes?
I don't see too many restaurants these days
with candles on the tables, in general.
I don't think this is really such a big deal.
Want to know why this is a big deal
Because the City of Cambridge has been sanctioning restaurants that have candles, even though there wasn't any actual ordinance against it.
At the end of the day, I feel safe going into restaurants in Boston that allow candles, but I guess it's good that Cambridge finally decided that the rule of law is better than making things up as they go along. Of course, if they published the stenographic record of their meetings, we could be certain, but no one seems to care that they don't do that.
I hate crappy fake votives . . .
But let's hope this will finally end all those tragic restaurant-table fires over in Cambridge.
Which apparently happened nowhere, ever.
Has anyone in the Fire Dept. ever seen restaurant kitchens, where tired people cook fast and furiously for long shifts over the open flames of a powerful gas range?
Eyewitness report
Having witnessed a paper restaurant menu that was lit afire by a tabletop candle -- a few years ago, in another New England state -- I'm sorry to be a party-pooper, but I support the Cambridge regulation. It was a bit scary and could have been worse if it hadn't been caught so quickly.
Restaurant patrons are not as attentive as the chefs, especially when they're perusing menus. And a candle at an unattended table could easily ignite something without being detected for a while.
Can I still go to restaurants
Can I still go to restaurants if I live my life like a candle in the wind?
Guess penny candles at the
Guess penny candles at the church are covered by this edict, must be something Duey Suem and Howe can do about this.
Do it for the children.
Won't somebody please think of the children?
I'm sorry, officer
We were all celebrating our un-birthdays. You only have 1 birthday each year, but you have 364 un-birthdays!
A very merry un-birthday to you! And you and you and you!
For dating
one of the top priorities for a restaurant is that it have candles.
Maybe Cambridge will require everything to be lit by those awful LED street lights.
I'm taking my dating business over the bridge.
B'Day candles OK as long as they are "immediately" put out
I pity the poor child who doesn't blow all the candles out at once. Felony arson charges?
Don’t be ridiculous
They’ll just have to explain themselves before the licensing board and maybe pay a small fine. No big deal
Question
Would that appearance constitute an excused absence from school?