One day about ten years ago my brother called me up and said they had opened a new bar on the corner of Sackett and Smith. I couldn't believe it. One block from my house. Cool. We went there on the second night that Quench opened
It was the first of the "liberal" or what you would call "yuppie" bars in the neighborhood. What was really funny was their symbol was a big Q that they had embossed on the window. One day I was walking by when they first opened and I heard this guy talking to his wife. She says "Oh look here is that new bar they are talking about." The husband goes "Yeah it's a gay bar. That's why they have a Q. It stands for queer."
Now one of the owners was gay and a couple of the bartenders were lesbians but it wasn't a gay bar. It was what you called cosmopolitan. Cause they served a lot of cosmopolitans and mixed drinks as well as some good beers on tap. No food though and no credit cards if you know what I mean.
Anyway it became my last call. I would toddle home around three in the morning or so and they would still be open. I would sit at the bar till closing or till well after closing just bullshitting. It became the place for a lot of the guys who owned restaurants to come to for a nightcap. Especially on a Saturday night. So I got to know all the owners of the local restaurants which was pretty cool. I mean it didn't save me any money but at least I could always get a table and stuff.
When the competition heated up and more and more bars opened up it started to lose it's edge. Kathryn the owner got married and got tired of the bar scene and wanted to have kids and move to the island. So she sold out to the guys who own Stinky Cheese and they opened Jake Walk which is a wine and cheese joint and let me tell you that is full blown yuppie scumville now.
The funniest part of this whole story is when I googled imaged the bar, I found a photo that I think I am in. Kathryn is pouring a drink and I think that is me chatting with Julie one of the waitresses. At least that's what it looks like. From about 1998 or so. I think. You never know what you will find on the internets.
4 comments:
Huh. I always pictured you as bigger.
You got that right, Troop. I found a video on line of a friend and me dancing front and center at a show we went to in the early eighties! I haven't seen her since nearly that time, so I recognized her right away, and then I thought OMG, that's me right next to her!
I was never into home movies or even pictures back then, so I really got quite the thrill from seeing this and recalling all the great times we had together before our paths headed in different directions.
When I finally opened up a Facebook account, it took about 15 minutes before pictures and videos started appearing on my page from my relatives. Sorta scary. I'm very reluctant to post pictures w/o consent.
This was my slimmed down style when I was working out four times a week and not eating as much.
Before I met the wife.
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