WHAT MAKES A PUB?
A few weeks back, a caller left me a message about pubs real and pubs fake, stating, with conviction backed by experience, that the places hereabouts calling themselves pubs really aren't pubs at all.
Pubs, particularly Irish pubs, are places of live music and intense conversation, he explained. Televisions are not the stuff of pubs. In fact, TV works against the soul and spirit of a pub. Can you really be engaged in conversation if you're engaged in a TV program?
My caller further noted that true Irish pubs sport low tables and low chairs … all the better, he posited, to allow pub patrons to lean over and talk to one another.
His words prompted me to ask folks what they thought of local "pubs"and if they were even fairly reasonable facsimiles of the quintessential publick house. Though names of certain taverns were mentioned, everyone I queried finally came to the conclusion that there's not a true pub in our midst. "We're a sports bar culture, not a conversation culture," one friend remarked.
So much for finding a bit of Dublin, world headquarters for conversation, here at the Jersey Shore. Suddenly, I found myself grabbing an old Peter McGarr mystery from a bookshelf. My favorite scenes in the series, set in Ireland and written by my old pal, the late Mark McGarrity (under the pseudonym Bartholomew Gill), always took place in pubs. Because that's where the conversation's the most interesting. (Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series, too.)
Pub, sports bar, neighborhood joint - what's what? And why? Is there a real-deal pub in these parts that I'm missing? If so, tell me about it.
Cheers,
Andy
8.14.07
Pubs, particularly Irish pubs, are places of live music and intense conversation, he explained. Televisions are not the stuff of pubs. In fact, TV works against the soul and spirit of a pub. Can you really be engaged in conversation if you're engaged in a TV program?
My caller further noted that true Irish pubs sport low tables and low chairs … all the better, he posited, to allow pub patrons to lean over and talk to one another.
His words prompted me to ask folks what they thought of local "pubs"and if they were even fairly reasonable facsimiles of the quintessential publick house. Though names of certain taverns were mentioned, everyone I queried finally came to the conclusion that there's not a true pub in our midst. "We're a sports bar culture, not a conversation culture," one friend remarked.
So much for finding a bit of Dublin, world headquarters for conversation, here at the Jersey Shore. Suddenly, I found myself grabbing an old Peter McGarr mystery from a bookshelf. My favorite scenes in the series, set in Ireland and written by my old pal, the late Mark McGarrity (under the pseudonym Bartholomew Gill), always took place in pubs. Because that's where the conversation's the most interesting. (Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series, too.)
Pub, sports bar, neighborhood joint - what's what? And why? Is there a real-deal pub in these parts that I'm missing? If so, tell me about it.
Cheers,
Andy
8.14.07
posted by Andrea Clurfeld at 1:01 PM
1 Comments:
The Plough and the Stars in Old City Philadelphia has the low chairs/tables next to the fireplace on the first floor and is phenomenal - great beers on tap and excellent good priced food.
As far as faux taverns, there are too many to list but sadly you are right - here, TVs rule the roost at most pubs of all types because the bookies and those that use them must always know the score!
Irish Pub in AC is the best, 24-7!
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