SETTINGS
(or, drinks that pair well with...)

 

any museum café in which
one may compare and contrast
recently viewed Vermeers (plural)

any restaurant with a wine list
longer than a hardbound edition of Gibbon’s
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

any bar in which one or more
of the following is clearly visiable:
1) more than three types of bitters,
2) any high-end vermouth,
or 3) a bartender in suspenders

any bar in which it is possible
to win or lose a sporiting wager
without leaving one’s seat

any drinking establishment where
it is possible to receive a decent sunburn
in one (admittedly longish) sitting

any bistro where one is not in the least surprised
to learn that Manet was a regular

top deck, First Class, aboard the Titanic

any room in which one may stretch one's legs by a fireplace
and smoke a cigar while listening to a gentleman recall
what this place was like before they started letting in broads

the local