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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.

Neighborhoods: 
Cambridge


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Comments

By JerryKid on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 10:23am.

SWEET FANCY MOSES IS THIS MY WORLD?!

By Melissa on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 10:27am.

They say that people who lean too far to the right eventually meet the people leaning too far to the left.

By Pete X on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 11:52am.

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.

By BostonDog on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 10:57am.

Will restaurants also need to card patrons to ensure it's actually their birthday?

By Brent Jeffries on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 1:35pm.

No, but the city limits each resident to one birthday/calendar year.

By Matt on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 10:59am.

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?

By adamg on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 11:02am.

What a can of worms they've opened up across the river.

By Refugee on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 11:54am.

That should be criminal. Candles have no business being on perfectly good cheesecake.

By roadman on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 12:16pm.

for that matter.

By baustin on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 1:06pm.

Also, crab cakes?

By whyaduck on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 11:59am.

with candles on the tables, in general.

I don't think this is really such a big deal.

By Waquiot on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 2:17pm.

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.

By APB on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 12:02pm.

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?

By Charles Bahne on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 8:36pm.

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.

By baustin on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 1:07pm.

Can I still go to restaurants if I live my life like a candle in the wind?

By anon on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 1:33pm.

Guess penny candles at the church are covered by this edict, must be something Duey Suem and Howe can do about this.

By anon on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 3:23pm.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

By Kaz on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 4:38pm.

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!

By anon on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 5:04pm.

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.

By threedecker on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 5:25pm.

I pity the poor child who doesn't blow all the candles out at once. Felony arson charges?

By anon on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 5:49pm.

They’ll just have to explain themselves before the licensing board and maybe pay a small fine. No big deal

By SwirlyGrrl on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 10:42pm.

Would that appearance constitute an excused absence from school?