Introducing The Back Room Cigar Bar

You read internet food blogs. Don’t even try to deny it, because I’ve caught you red handed. You’ve learned to love food and flavor to the fullest, and that a good meal can be so much more than a chance to fill your belly. You’re the kind of person who values food as a full cultural experience. You scoff at those unenlightened fools who would shy away from a good streak tartare, a bowl of tripe-laden Phở, or decadent sweetbread over risotto. If you’re anything like me, you love food with a complexity of flavor, the experience of coming together with friends over a good meal, and you certainly aren’t afraid of a little hedonism, every now and again.

That said, I have a proposition for you. Listen carefully, and hear me out.

You should start smoking. I’m certainly not talking about cigarettes, narcotics, or even something that you should be doing with any regularity. I’m talking about pushing your palate’s horizons a bit further, and learning to occasionally enjoy a good cigar. Much like a meal, these masterfully blended stalks of hand-rolled tobacco and happiness can provide a unique opportunity to come together with friends, and a complexity of flavor to rival any cabernet. For me, cigars offer an hour to spend clearing my thoughts, a chance for great conversations with friends, and a way to relax on warm evenings. But all of these benefits, in one way or another, come from a specific aspect of the cigar smoking experience. They come from the act of contemplating the subtle and complex development of flavor in each cigar. Every smoke, when properly enjoyed, calls to mind flavors reminiscent of everything from leather to chocolate, and each cigar provides the opportunity to clear your mind entirely of the day’s concerns, and focus only on the taste’s development, and the company shared. If you’re anything like me, if you too are a reader of internet food blogs, you understand that complex flavors are, in and of themselves, a transcendent experience, and an excellent way to relax.

In the coming months, you might be hearing from me more often. I’ll post here, maybe every other week, and provide you with exciting tales of my own cigar-related exploits, with full reviews of any stogies enjoyed. Maybe I’ll even throw in a scotch pairing or cigar-friendly lounge critique, if the mood strikes me. Until then, please, continue appreciating food and flavor for everything they have to offer. The world is a crazy, backwards place, where nearly everyone takes themselves far too seriously, and food not seriously enough. In my opinion, you, and nearly everyone else, could probably benefit from a good cigar with close friends. Do me, the rest of the world, and yourself a favor. Have a smoke.