We walk into a dark bar on a dark night

Alchemy, Seattle, Washington (West Seattle)
“A place that’s quiet and dark; where you can drink whiskey in a cracked glass.” According to Scott, one of the bartenders at Alchemy, that’s something people look for in a bar. He’s right, of course. (It’s possible not everybody wants to drink out of a cracked glass. More research may be required.)

Dark is something many people appreciate in a bar. Alchemy keeps things dim, with artificial (and a few real) candles above and behind bottles behind the bar providing most of the light. When we ask people what they like in a bar, we have often hear “dark dives.” You’d think that in Seattle this time of year (with the sun up at half-past seven and down at half-past four) we’d have had enough of darkness, but it’s still appealing. Mindy said she liked the place just after we came in.

“Darkness” is fine when we’re talking literally. If someone says they’re “in a dark place,” you hope they’re talking literally rather than metaphorically. When the Bible talks about people “loving the darkness rather than the light,” I don’t think it’s condemning those who don’t have lots of lamps in the house. I talked with another of the bartenders, Dev, about how pleasant these rainy days are for those of us who need to sleep during the day, and I don’t think Scripture was condemning those of us who are vocationally nocturnal.

Both people we asked “What makes for a good bar” said “atmosphere.” And there does seem to be a strong correlation for many people between dim lighting and atmosphere. Alchemy has much more going for it than low wattage, though.

The hostess greeted us cheerily when we entered. She offered us a table but pointed the way to empty seats when we said we preferred the bar. Dev, the other bartender, poured us water before we even asked, which is a strong positive in our book. He gave us menus with a happy hour flyer on top, and he told us the food specials.

I ordered the “Death of the Hipster” cocktail, and Mindy chose “East of Eden.” We ordered the deviled eggs as well. Dev accidentally prepared “At Six and Sevens” for me and apologized that he was working a bit on autopilot. I was pleasantly surprised by the bits of bacon in the eggs (they were emphatically not Bac’n Bits).

The man sitting next to me at the bar asked about my drink, and I gave a favorable review. Mindy was soon chatting with the man sitting next to her. Even more than the proper aperture in a bar, we appreciate people feel free to talk to each other, often encouraged by bartenders. That was certainly true of Alchemy while we were there. We found it easy to ask our two questions, “What makes for a good bar?” and “Whether you go or not, what do you think would make for a good church?”

The guy next to Mindy asked to be referred to as “Travelin’ Man,” who said a good bar had atmosphere and a good bartender. He added that it should have a variety of choices for food and drink. When Mindy asked what he meant by atmosphere, he said, “distinctive character.” He said that sports bars are basically all the same, but “this bar, they have a theme going on.”

She asked him what he thought made for a good church. “Since I’m not a Christian anymore, I’d say a Buddhist church.” He added, “Religion is man-made in my opinion.” Organized religion has been “a mixed bag used for good and bad for centuries.”

Dev was able to take a moment for our questions, too. For the bar, he said, “Atmosphere is everything. If everyone is rushing and stressed, I’m not going to hang out there. Right when you go in, you can tell how the restaurant is ‘breathing.’” He noted that Scott has said, “How can everyone else (the guests) have a good time if you (the staff) aren’t having a good time?” As for what makes for a good church, he said, “Innovation, more embracing of modern times for a modern world, that would be an attractive church.”

We’d finished our eggs and our drinks, so it was time to go back home. As we left into dark Seattle, the hostess said, “See you again?”

Mindy said, “Hope so.”

She said, “That would be lovely!” And it would be.