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Somerville's new dyke mecca

by Dorie Clark

NEIGHBORHOOD NOOK: Panini is ground zero of Somerville's burgeoning dyke mecca. Owner Debbie Merriam says some couples have met and fallen in love at the cafe.

The cool cafés of Davis Square -- the beachhead of Somerville chic -- have earned the neighborhood a lesbian-friendly reputation. But judging from the scone-scarfing crowds at Panini, a bakery in the nameless neighborhood around Washington and Beacon Streets, there seems to be a new dyke mecca in Somerville.

Audrey Beth Stein, a queer-identified writer and Web designer who lives off Washington Street, is sure of it. "There are three [queer women] in my house," she says. "You've got rainbows across the street, rainbows next door. You know how women who are particularly butch are sometimes mistaken for men? Around here, I actually mistake men for women. The assumption is that they're dykes."

Washington-Beacon's popularity may stem from its uncanny ability to meet the needs of almost any lesbian lifestyle. Want to meet babes? You're within walking distance of both Healthworks, a women's gym featuring the young and buff, and Ryles, site of the monthly Amazon Poetry Slam. Activist types take comfort in the presence of Political Research Associates, a nonprofit watchdog group that monitors right-wing extremists. Animal lovers enjoy a dog park less than a block away. Queer culinary connoisseurs get their Italian fix at the City Girl Caffè down the street, and sapphic bibliophiles frequent New Words, the Boston area's only women's bookstore. Even lesbian theologians have a place to call their own: the notoriously gay-friendly Harvard Divinity School is a mere five-minute walk away. But right at the intersection of Washington and Beacon lies ground zero of the neighborhood's lesbian life: Panini.

Susan Gershwin, a 34-year-old staffer at the Unitarian Universalist Association, is among a cadre of ardent fans. She has cut back slightly since she started dating her new cross-town girlfriend, but for most of the four years since she moved into the area, she's stopped in "every morning for a bran muffin and coffee." On weekends she'd get a scone; most evenings she'd pick up a loaf of bread.

Owner Debbie Merriam was inspired by a women-owned pastry shop in her native Philadelphia when she opened Panini 10 years ago. Harvard Square was out of her price range, so the Olives-and-L'Espalier-trained baker turned to the Washington-Beacon vicinity. "It wasn't a desirable location then like it is now," she says of the area, which also boasts the Spanish restaurant Dalí and the Wine and Cheese Cask. She agrees that a lot of her customers are lesbians, and attributes their loyalty to the fact that "lesbians are very supportive of women-owned businesses." She also cites the bakery's charitable work, such as collecting money for AIDS organizations and hosting an upcoming poetry reading to benefit breast-cancer research. In addition, Gershwin praises the progressive atmosphere: "They have people of color working there, and people of un-obvious genders or sexual orientations. And the guys that work there don't look at you funny."

Majel Peters is partly responsible for the atmosphere of laissez-faire acceptance. "I don't really think in terms of sexuality," says the 21-year-old bisexual art student, who works behind the counter. She makes it a point not to flirt with customers: "I live around here and would see them a lot, so I mind my business." Others, however, see the light-filled bakery as a romantic haven. Gershwin has brought love interests in, and Merriam has heard about lesbian couples who have met and fallen in love at Panini. She wouldn't characterize it as a pick-up spot, however. "Is there such a thing as a lesbian pick-up spot?" she asks, laughing.

In the end, unless (like this reporter) you brazenly ask women whether they "identify as anything other than heterosexual," you'll never know for sure. But Paige Bowelle, a local resident and Panini fan, takes it in stride: "They look like they're lesbians to me. I mean, I didn't ask them out. I can't verify it. But I like to think they're all lesbians. It makes me happy."