Confitería Richmond

Confitería Richmond was a traditional establishment on Calle Florida in Buenos Aires, Argentina ^[1]. One source describes it as a tea room and literary café, giving the English name Richmond Tea Room ^[2]. It was also known as Richmond de Florida ^[1]. Its address was Calle Florida 468, in San Nicolás ^[1].

The venue operated from 1917 to 2011 ^[1]. One source summarises it as a literary and tango café that was declared a historic site shortly before it closed ^[1]. The sources do not describe any specific tango activity at the venue, such as orchestras, performers or dances.

The Richmond was founded by the brothers Juan and Julio Cazaban Barbè ^[1]. It became one of the preferred venues of the Buenos Aires upper class ^[1]. It was best known as the meeting place of the Florida group of writers ^[1][2]. Jorge Luis Borges was associated with the café as a patron ^[1]. The two sources differ on whether he belonged to the group that met there or was a separate regular visitor ^[1][2].

The café closed in mid-2011 ^[1]. In 2014 the premises reopened as a sports shop with a small café ^[1].

The confitería was founded on 17 November 1917 by the brothers Juan and Julio Cazaban Barbè ^[1]. The brothers also founded two other confiterías under the same name, one at Esmeralda 444 and the other at Suipacha 472 ^[1]. Juan Cazaban Barbè was also the founder of three confiterías called "36 Billares" ^[1].

The Richmond on Florida quickly became one of the favoured establishments of the Buenos Aires upper class ^[1].

In 1924 the magazine Martín Fierro began publication ^[1]. It was run by a group of intellectuals and writers known as the Grupo de Florida (Florida group) ^[1]. This group was ideologically opposed to the Grupo de Boedo, which met at another historic café, Café El Japonés, in Boedo ^[1]. The source places this rivalry in a period it calls a golden age of Argentine literature ^[1].

The Richmond was chosen as the meeting place for the Florida group as a whole ^[1]. Another source also describes it as notable as the meeting place of the Florida group of writers ^[2]. The two sources give different lists of members ^[1][2].

The second list includes Raúl González Tuñón, who is not named in the first ^[1][2]. The second source does not include Jorge Luis Borges among the group. Instead, it names Borges and Lawrence Durrell as other regular visitors to the café ^[2]. The first source counts Borges among the group's members ^[1]. The sources therefore differ on his role ^[1][2].

The confitería occupied the ground floor of a building on Florida 468 ^[1]. The building was designed by the Belgian architect Jules Dormal ^[1]. It stood next to the Residencia Peña, which the source identifies as the current headquarters of the Sociedad Rural Argentina ^[1].

The confitería had a covered area of 1,500 m² ^[1]. This space was divided between the main salon, the dining room, and an area for billiards and chess ^[1].

The façade followed an academic arrangement ^[1]. It had superimposed orders of pilasters ending in semicircular arches ^[1]. The façade was fully glazed and set slightly back from the building line ^[1]. It also had a marquee, above which several masts carried the flags of different countries ^[1].

The ground floor had rusticated walls ^[1]. The entrance hall was closed off by a glass enclosure that concealed two thick bronze-clad columns ^[1].

The confitería was a location for some scenes of the film La historia oficial ^[1]. The film was directed by Luis Puenzo and starred Norma Aleandro and Héctor Alterio ^[1].

The Buenos Aires city Legislature passed protective legislation for the Richmond ^[1]. The source gives two different accounts of what this law covered ^[1]. In one account, the Legislature acted because the confitería might be converted to another use ^[1]. That account says the law protected both the building and its gastronomic use ^[1]. In this account, the measure was welcomed by the group Basta de Demoler as the preservation of a non-renewable resource of the city's urban memory ^[1]. The same passage states that the protection of heritage bars should include the values that preserve the identity these spaces have formed ^[1].

A second statement in the same source says the law was passed a few days before the closure and declared the Richmond a "sitio histórico" (historic site) ^[1]. According to this statement, the law only prevented alterations to the building and did not prevent a change in the type of business ^[1]. The scope of the protection is therefore described inconsistently ^[1].

Despite these measures, the establishment closed in mid-2011 ^[1]. On Monday 15 August, employees found the premises closed without any notice ^[1]. They occupied it to press for payment of their severance ^[1]. The negotiations were later taken up by the Ministry of Labour ^[1]. Some months afterwards, the disappearance of the venue's original furniture was reported ^[1].

In August 2014 the premises reopened as a sports shop belonging to the Just For Sport chain ^[1]. The shop kept a small café ^[1]. The interior retained some of its old features, such as the bar that runs from the entrance almost to the back of the premises ^[1].