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From Emma Jane Taylor, Editor:

A lot of people around here joke that we don't have a life in Williamstown. It's not true — our life is just more concentrated. Take Mezze for example, my third home (after Tripod and my house). Mezze's a swank little bistro/bar and general congregation point for Williamstown swingers. As long as you're not bummed that you don't have ten Mezzes in a row, Mezze is a fine place to be.

The staff of Mezze understands the pressure of being The Bar in a small New England town. They change their menu once a month so it feels like it's a new bar. The owner, Nancy, even adopts a new accent for each menu. The strength of the gin and tonics, however, is consistent, and that's the way I like it.

Last weekend at Mezze, we were dreaming up an MTV segment on the Williamstown high tech scene. (We're not usually this navel-gazing, and we usually try not to talk about work there, but bear with me.) The segment would begin in Mezze, we decided. The camera would zoom in on the back of a Kleiser Walczak employee, because they have cool yellow construction jackets. (K.W. is a local digital special effects company.) The camera would pan to a perfect Martini sitting on the bar, and there we would all be, throwing back our heads and laughing, laughing, laughing...

Our lives are not really montages, of course. But I refuse to spoil the mystique of Mezze by giving the whole game away. Hell, in this town, it's about all we've got. But don't feel sorry for us. We like concentrated life. It's got zing. And we never need to go through that exhausting weekend ritual of deciding where to go, when to go, and is Dan's beeper working tonight? We just go out, and we know where to find each other.

I've used and abused that place, and they still welcome me back with open arms. Time and time again I've wandered out of there in a daze at 2:30 a.m. on a Saturday, and wandered back in sometime on Sunday to settle my tab. I once even bribed someone with Mezze. When Michelle interviewed at Tripod, she was fresh from the East Village and nervous about concentrated life. I took her to Mezze (it was 4:00 p.m., not even open) and swung my arms around the room and told tales of people dancing on tables and sipping gin on the deck. I told her we saw a beaver once, swimming down the Green River that's overlooked by the Mezze deck. Michelle took the job.

Months later, Michelle and I invented our first Mezze drink. It's pink and a little like a Cosmopolitan and we call it "Shit Day" — but if you're ever in the area, ask for an After Five and they'll know what you mean. I've also modified the Mezze gin and tonic. I like it tall, but I don't need to say that anymore.

Summer is fast approaching, and it's a good time to be in Mezze. The theatre crowd descends on the town and they are just wild about Mezze. Last summer Gwyneth Paltrow danced in black leather (she drinks vodka and cranberry, if you're interested), Paul Newman strutted his stuff, and Marisa Tomei hooked up with a waitress. But Rip the bartender didn't let us down. He let those fancy stars from the big city know that the regulars still got served first.

But enough from me. It's after five on a Friday. If you want to hear more, you know where to find me.

Emma (6/6/97)

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Read more "Letters from Tripod" in the archive.

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