Tunic

 

This morning I headed up this alleyway to Main Street, Northampton. 

 

 

I decided to check out the new coffee shop called Tunic.

 

About fifteen years ago a friend of mine ran a restaurant out of that space called Eclipse. 

 

 

All the coolest people went there. 

 

 

My friend Zakariah, the chef at Eclipse, was a pretty chill dude.

Alas, the joint ended up closing amidst some kind of scandal involving nudity and underage Smithies, as reported in the Springfield Republican:

As the incident was recounted by commission chairman Brad Shimel, chef Zachariah Gorham admitted to serving the four girls on a night when Eclipse was without electricity because of a snowstorm. When the girls returned to their dormitory that night, a resident adviser noticed they were intoxicated and saw one of them was vomiting in the dormitory bathroom. After the girls admitted that they had been drinking at Eclipse, the adviser notified police.

According to police reports, officers arrived at Eclipse shortly before 10 p.m. to find Gorham naked and in the company of a partially clad woman. Gorham told the officers he had thrown a Halloween party for friends, cooking food that would otherwise have gone bad because of the power outage.

I thought it was a fun place and was sorry to see it close. 

Anyway, the word on the street is that Tunic is evolving into the new Haymarket. In fact you can see the abandoned Haymarket through their front window. 

 

Eclipse had a beautiful wooden circle inlaid in the floor. 

 

 

It is the only remnant of Eclipse remaining, although it is now partially concealed by the coffee counter.  

Tunic is a cozy place with a back room with a big mirror and a view out the window where you can watch people going in and out of Herrell's Ice Cream. 

Make a plan to stop by soon and check it out for yourself. 

I took this picture at Smith College. 

 

 

 Big Green looking chilly at Amherst College. 

A baby snowman at UMass.

Mary Carey took this pic on Huntington Road in Hadley. The weird red lighting is from a nearby greenhouse.

1/1/2025 Sacred Heart Church in Springfield by b.t. kiddy

 

 

Massachusetts House Speaker Tom McKee with President Jimmy Carter, Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, and Massachusetts Governor Ed King with Springfield entrepreneur Tony Ravosa in 1978. 

 

Rare photo of a smiling Calvin Coolidge in the Forbes Library, where his historic chair is on display.