Methods of Organizing a Modern Metropolitan Cafe as a Socially Significant "Third Place"

The paper explores possible methods of transforming a modern metropolitan café into the format of an ideal "third place". The main historical prerequisites for the formation of various formats of public catering establishments in Russia are considered. The main stages of their development are highlighted, and the regulation of their activities by the public authorities, which affects the social function of the institutions, is briefly described. Modern trends in the development of cafes as a leisure and working space are studied. The emphasis is placed on the introduction of communication technologies and the virtual world in the catering space. In addition, the synthesis of the American theory of the "third place" and domestic features, as well as the historical and modern conditions of its existence in the capital, is carried out. Based on the results of the study, the main directions of the possible transformation of an ordinary cafe into a real public space that competently performs socially important functions are derived.