05/29/2020
Synopsis: Details and copy of Paul’s post Below..... come see Jessica Horne and this big fool (Jeff Koch) at Blind Cat for the last time on Saturday from 1pm -7pm. Same happening at Thieves Tavern with Paul Bavaro and Jeremy Sheets. And there is no crying in beer pong! Would love to see you faces from the bridge of your nose up.
From Paul:
THIEVES AND BLIND CAT
Saturday May 30th
1-7
When I think of the bars and my 20 years I am reminded of the ship of Theseus thought experiment in which the nature of identity is explored. The basic premise of the experiment is that one by one a plank of a ship is replaced with a new one. In the end, the entire physical components of the ship have been replaced and the question then occurs: is it still the same ship
For me the answer is yes.
The Thieves bars have seen many changes over the years, yet remarkably at their core have stayed the same. I think it has to do with the collection of people the bars attracted, not necessarily the idea by any one person. For example I have watched popular bartenders I adore move on and new hires come in and blend immediately with the crowd. I have observed as new customers became regulars and regulars became less frequent patrons. Change of the environment proved inevitable, but what remained the same is the friendly ethos of the bar and that was not by accident.
I believe the bars attracted the best of San Francisco because they attracted the storytellers and the conversationalists. The bars gathered the poets and the plumbers alike, and both tended to be wordsmiths and raconteurs. Likewise, the bars found people who protected the bars, but who didn't feel entitled to the bars— not as easy as it sounds.
All of these folks, collectively and individually, have come to mean the world to me.
To that end, I have decided to reopen Thieves and Blind Cat this Saturday for one particular reason: I want to buy the Thieves and Blind Cat folks one last shot and beer before we close the doors.
Here is how it will work:
We will be open from 1-7
We will give you a free draft beer and shot.
We will mark areas six feet apart
We ask everyone to respect the boundaries.
We ask you wear a mask
We ask you take your free shot and beer and be respectful to our neighbors.
We would love to talk and banter, but we also don’t want our final day in SF to look like a bunch of obtuse bar patrons gathering for a good time without regard for public safety.
Jeremy Sheets kissing booth as always: free and priceless
We will also be selling 6paks to go for $10 or bottles off the wall for $20. All of this will be to go and absolutely cannot be drank in front of the bar.
We want this to be a respectful elegy for a time and place we shared, not some drunken sh*t show so please arrive with that in mind.
and remember, if you get hungry and are in the neighborhood, zeitgeist is serving food., check out their page for time and menu.
all our love
Thieves and Blind Cat
Don’t even ask to use the bathroom. Sorry we can’t have anyone inside the bar.
