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Many lesser-known area restaurants offer
different atmospheres and great food
By Meredith Henslee
the battalion
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A popular television commercial lor Trident
gum snows college students sitting on a couch out
ride a fraternirv house eating cold pizza for break
fast. Sound ridiculous? Think again. According to
a press release by Pizza Hut, on average, echo
boomers (children of baby boomers, a group
encompassing most current A&M students) actu
ally will consume $350 billion worth of pizza in
their lifetime.
It does not have to be this way. Bryan-College
Station provides ample opportunities for fine din
ing at restaurants that virtually are unknown to
most echo boomers.
To start looking for these hole-in-the-wall eateries,
students can begin with historic downtown Bryan.
Square One is a one-room cafe that seats about 85
people. With concrete floors, dim lighting and mis
matched tables and chairs, the atmosphere is quiet
and private.
Menu selections vary from a fresh fruit plate,
complete with raspberry cream cheese dip to shrimp
alfredo and ribs.
Jesse Guerrero, part owner and manager of Square
One, said his restaurant appeals to everyone.
“We have made-from-scratch meals at a college
price,” he said.
Guerrero can be taken at his word — nothing on
the lunch menu is more than $8, and dinner menu
items do not exceed $15.
Down the street from Square One is another small
restaurant slightly better known to students. Caffe’
Caffe? Capri
the place to eat
for more info, ask a friend
Lapn is another comp....
atmosphere and good food.
In Bryan since Sept. 1995, Caffe’ Capri has
attracted a variety of customers, from adolescents to
the elderly.
Owner-manager Rami Cerone, Class of 1995,
said he looked around Bryan-College Station and
saw the need for a quality Italian restaurant.
Cerones recipes are all family secrets or original
recipes formed by his own trial-and-error process.
The kitchen is open because, as the menu reads, “We
have nothing to hide.”
Caffe’ Capri offers an extensive wine list and a
wide variety of pastas. Voted best Italian restaurant
for Summer 2001, the cafe is complete with dim
lights, tall ceilings, soft blues music and friendly serv
ice.
Another restaurant is Clementine’s Cafe in
downtown Bryan. This tucked-away eatery pro
vides diners with a gentle atmosphere to enjoy a
fine meal.
Surrounded by lamps, greenery, a fireplace and
partial brick walls, customers enjoy selections such
as quesadillas, shrimp, crepes and pasta prices no
more than $8.95.
Appearing on the menu, a letter from owner Kay
Conlee calls the cafe “rustic, with a touch of simple
elegance.”
Manager Shay Melendez said that not too many
college students were customers, but she hopes to
appeal to them more. Clementine’s is available for
private parties, bridal showers and rehearsal din
ners as well.
“Dinner parties here are such a blast and so beau
tiful.” Melendez said. “And if you make the drive out
here, you should try the blackberry bread cobbler,
that’s what we re known tor."
Kiss those pizza boxes and coupons goodbye. At
affordable prices, dinner at a nice restaurant does not
have to be an ordeal.
FREE APPETIZER
with meal purchase and this coupon
1
222 n. main in historic domiom bryan 979.822.267S
A Little Bit of
SUnkntsgeutaste of the finer things B-CS offers
By John Salerno
THE BATTALION
Many organizations host musical and artistic programs
students can attend, and several of these events are com
ing soon to the Bryan-College Station area. Among them
are the six regular concert events sponsored by the Brazos
Valley Symphony Orchestra (BVSO).
"Having an orchestra of high quality is attractive
to those who love good, symphonic music,” said
Charles Samson, president or the Brazos Valley
Symphony Society.
The first of six concens will be in October and fea
ture pieces by J.S. Bach and Tchaikovsky. In November,
Tchaikovsky once again will be on display when the
orchestra performs the “Nutcracker" as an addition to
their regular concert series.
“The orchestra makes a significant contribution to
the quality of life in this area,” Samson said. “We feel it
is one of those things in the arts that is an attraction to
companies, professionals, faculty and students to come
here and live.”
If a month is too long to wait to see the orchestra, the
“Celebration of 20 Years” program will be held this
Saturday where attendees can hear the orchestra and the
Pete Rodriguez band for a few hours.
BVSO will perform with the Century Singers and the
Brazos Valley Chorale. The chorale hosts four programs
each year, including the joint concert, a Christmas concert,
a dinner concert and a spring concert.
The chorale is “the outlet for choral music in the
Bryan-College Station area,” said Jess Wade, artistic
director and conductor of the chorale. “It fills the niche
of providing performances of the choral art. There really
isn't any other avenue for it in this
community."
jHU Wade said the chorale
V helps fulfill the desire of the
,|, ® performers to sing and also
allows the audience “to experi-
luence good quality performances of
111 choral music.”
Ill As a complement to the often
111 large orchestral and choral produc-
i! tions, one can attend a more inti
mate performance of cham-
u l-
ber music, sponsored by
the Friends of Chamber
Music organization.
The Community
Chamber Concert series
holds six free events
during the year.
“We try to make it as
easy as possible to let
people experience
chamber music of
high quality and to
bring music to people
and entice them to
make music part of their
' lives,” said William
Rogers, president of Friends of Chamber Music.
As a part of the outreach goal, the first program will be
held Sept. Z 7 at First Presbyterian Church and will feature
the Cavani String Quartet. One week later, on Oct. 5, Da
Camera of Houston will perform an all-Mozart concert at
the Bush Conference Center, with a special appearance by
the world famous dannefist Richard Stoltzman. The
weeks following will bring other programs, including the
New Zealand String Quartet on Oct. 16.
Rogers said these programs provide “the opportunity
to experience the arts through a live creation of music —
something you cant get from a recording. This is accom
plished most effectively if the performers bring the audi
ence into the creation process.”
If classical music is not exactly one’s strongest inter
est, there are other events that can provide a cultural
education.
The Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History hosts a
permanent exhibit called “Brazos Valley in the Ice Age”
and a 40-feet by 11-feet mural titled “Brazos Spring,” a
depiction of the Brazos Valley as it was 12,500 years ago.
The exhibits contain statues and carvings of animals that
lived in the area at that time, as well as remaining skeletal
material of some animals. The museum also features
smaller, temporary exhibits such as “Cotton Farming in
the Brazos Valley” and “The Piney Woods Habitat of East
Texas,” both designed to increase the patrons under
standing of the history and culture of the Brazos Valley.
“We try to concentrate on the area and
the people that live in that area,” said Nivia
Maldonado, operations manager for the
museum. “We try to have something for
everybody so that it appeals to them and
gives them a little more background on
where they are from, so that it informs and
clarifies the history of how everything has
changed m order to understand yourself and
other people.”
These tempo ran' exhibits often remain
during the semester and then are changed.
There are several art exhibits on display this
semester, many of them sponsored by the
Brazos Valley Art League. On display now is
“Contrast in Color” in the Benz Gallery of the
Horticulture-Forest Science Building. It fea
tures 25 to 30 pieces with artifacts placed
around them to enhance the paintings. The
Art League will sponsor many other exhibits
during the semester, as well as judged shows
and demonstrations.
“We have workshops either in watercolor
or oils, ceramics, clay and woodworking and
anything anvone would like to display or
enter as their specific dimension, we’ll be
glad to put it on display,” said Olive Black,
member of the Art League. “ The benefit of
the organization is to let the general public
know what is really an education in art, and
1 think that there are so many beautiful areas
in the world of art that people can gain a lot
from and learn a lot about.”
For high-culture connoisseurs who want a
complete experience, it may not be necessary
to leave campus. The
Memorial Student Center
Opera and Performing Arts
Society (OPAS) sponsors
events that appeal to a wide
range of artistic tastes. Among
them are the “Woven Harmony” program, a part of the
Intimate Gathering series that features classical guitarist
Robert Bluestone among a small audience with aciuestion
and answer session afterwards. Shortly after this concert,
OPAS will present the Broadway musical “Ragtime” Oct.
23 and 24, and the Boston Metamorphosen Chamber
Orchestra will perform Nov. 3.
“The goal of OPAS is to inspire and entertain the
community of A&M and the Brazos Valley by bringing
high quality musical groups and culturally diverse experi
ences to them,” said Chris Duke, student chair for OPAS
and a senior history major.
With a combination of orchestras, musicals and
gospel choirs, OPAS provides a wide array of per
formances for the students and residents of Bryan-
College Station.'
“In a big city, there’s a lot of these different programs
out there and a big chance to be exposed to it,” Duke said.
“But in a small city, we need a group like OPAS to give
exposure to what you wouldn’t normally see on your own.
Attending these types of programs really broadens the
persons education.”
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