Never Enough Cool Pubs

Many of you have been to and raved about the Victory Bar. For those of you who haven't--or, God forbid can't--let me paint a quick picture. It's a neighborhood place on the never-quite-as-cool-as-it's-neighboring-streets Division St. Obama's HQ used to be down the road--evidence that the property value to coolness ratio was just right. It's about the size of a big Starbucks, dark, and cozy. The music playlist oscillates between funk and late Motown to avant retro white, like Joy Division and the Velvet Underground. You can imagine how they manage therefore to swing catering simutaneously to old beerhounds like me and young, svelte people drinking cocktails. (Perhaps by dint of habit, the bartender carded me. First time in a decade.)

It will not uniformly delight the masses. They've gone for a very specific (and to me, pleasurable) vibe. But that's what's great about independent, corrner bars. I only wish there were about a hundred more.

(I'm here now, writing this on my iPhone, drinking a Russian River Salvation. Perfect.)