The lamentations of people like me who work mostly from home don’t tend to inspire much sympathy from 9-to-5ers. I can sleep in if I’ve had a late night. I can go to movie matinees and spare myself the most crushing crowds at museums. But there are things I miss. Benefits. A routine. That built-in reading time during a subway commute. And most of all, the distinct pleasure of packing it in after a day at the office and heading straight to the bar to wash the stress away, even if it’s only for an hour or two.
The deepest, most devoted period of my own bar patronage happened when I worked full time as a community organizer and later as a manager in homeless services. Those were stressful jobs, and it was usually impossible not to take my work, and worry, home with me. But I knew that for a short time, at the Fish Bar, or the Brooklyn Inn, or any of the other places where I knew the bartenders and they knew me, I could set the work and worry aside. Just knowing that there was a seat at the bar at day’s end was a relief. Sometimes it even felt like a reward.
Cooking for iPad After a long day, there’s no wrong drink. There’s the guy who has to have a martini (and then probably another). His tradition is a fine one, but most after-work drinkers stick to wine, beer or whiskey on the rocks. And boilermakers. I probably serve more beer-and-a-shot combos to the after-work crowd at my bar than anything else. (Not that they ever went away, but we’re in the midst of something of a boilermaker revival. Some bars, like San Francisco’s estimable Trick Dog, even have dedicated sections on their menus devoted to them.) I love a boilermaker, but I’m not crazy about the custom of dumping the shot into the pint of beer. I down the shot, then drink the beer. Less mess. Less noise. I’m trying to relax here.
From my experience, even the most “sophisticated” drinkers will forgo complicated cocktails at happy hour. But if you do want to take a day off from your glass of Malbec or bottle of Bud, I recommend a highball I recently tried at another excellent San Francisco bar, ABV. There, the bartenders combine a good single-malt whiskey with Génépy, a surprisingly delicate, herbaceous liqueur (it isn’t terribly sweet), and top it off with club soda. It’s got enough of a kick to take the edge off, but it’s so easy to drink — somehow cool and warm at once, gently floral and softly smoky. And this is a time to take it easy; when your labors are done, your drink shouldn’t make you work too hard.
Recipe: The High-Altitude Highball