It happened at least three times. The first, as I recall, on a late night market run when I was out of coffee beans and milk for the morning. Driving along an otherwise sleepy strip of storefronts along Park Blvd. near the old Parkway theater, I spotted a couple folks out in front of a some new space, both laughing and sipping drinks. It seemed a new neighborhood bar had opened and I made a mental note to check it out. I make a lot of mental notes, by the way, and many don't end up in a mental drawer or mental file cabinet and are regrettably lost. So I forgot about that curiosity until passing in a shared Lyft one night after meeting a friend downtown, there was somebody out front again with glass in one hand, cigarette in the other. A third time- a young man outside the space once again, texting. I must have been driving awkwardly slow as he took notice and gave a friendly wave as I passed.
A guy entered the shop the other day, and with the sunlight behind him, initially only a silhouette. It may sound strange- but in that moment, just seeing the silhouette, his stance, his shuffle - I knew it to be the same guy as more than just his face came into focus. I asked if he lived near Park and he confirmed what I was clumsily piecing together at that moment. It was him all of the times I passed. Solitary or with company, chatting, smoking, texting - with a glass in hand. There was no bar, just someone stepping out of his apartment and enjoying the night air occasionally.
I told him how I had mistaken the spot for a new lounge, or gallery space. I even confessed to secretly hoping there was some sort of speakeasy or something of the sort above the record store.
He laughed. "A speakeasy? Ha, no no, nothing like that. Just me stepping out for a smoke. "
But then, a propitious pause, he lights up and says in earnest: "I mean, you're welcome to come up for a drink next time you're passing by. So, I guess... that's a sort of a speakeasy. Right?"
I love this town.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights at OAKLAND YARD. SPANISH Whites (Albarino, Rioja Blanco, and an unsulfured Xarel-lo) or ITALIAN Reds (Barbera, Gaglioppo, and Nebbiolo). Flights $12 from 4-8 and new wines by the glass.
SATURDAY 2/9: Cabernet Franc Tasting. An earthy and elegant Chinon (Joguet), an intensely mineral Saumur (Fosse-Séche), and a bolder domestic expression from Bennet Valley (Phantomé Cellars). Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines b the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 2/10: Wines of PROVENCE. Both classic and natural expressions from Southeastern France. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
See you soon,
Daniel