We tend to think of cities as destinations defined by concrete slabs and street names. But to understand a city, you experience it, and the city becomes a map of memories: that park bench where you had your first kiss; that corner you wiped out on your rollerblades; that pizza joint you got locked in the bathroom of and broke down the door before getting chased down the street by the angry owners. The more time you spend in a city, the more memories you map on its streets, the more you become a part of the city and the more the city becomes a part of you. Bars and restaurants would be nothing without you in them and your life would be a lot less fun and tasty without them.
So a restaurant or bar is never just a restaurant or bar once you’ve snuggled into its vinyl booths and swapped dirty stories with your friends over rabbit and chocolate tacos ’til the sun came up. The restaurant or bar becomes a part of your history and you become a part of it. Walking by it on the street curls up the side of your lips – memories of dancing on tables and make-outs in dark corners.
So what happens when that great bar or restaurant you love becomes imbued with memories you’d rather forget? You can’t walk by or inside or taste their killer parmigiana without being reminded of your past love? Your favourite restaurant has a case of the Ex. This is how to reclaim your fave hangs without getting verklempt every time you walk by their windows or golden arches (don’t judge).
Let Go
You won’t get anywhere in life if you can’t leave the past out of your present. We all encounter crappy people and bad experiences in our lives. Sometimes we experience both in a great bar or restaurant. Don’t let that ruin your favourite hang. It’s not the food that put a bad taste in your mouth, it was the company. Whether you feel good or bad about the past doesn’t change the reality of it, so let it the eff go and stop talking about it. That’s like reliving the whole thing all over again. Look forward and love better. Your life will start sparkling like diamond vampires.
Throw A Party At Your Favourite Spot
Parties are not just for birthdays. Getting together a huge crew of your friends for a hot mess of a good time is what Saturday nights are made for. Do it at that restaurant or bar you love but can’t walk into without thinking of your ex or fearing you’ll run into him/her on a date with someone new. By the end of the 14th bottle of wine you’ll have so many new memories of your best friend wearing a steak as a hat and the babealicious maitre d’, the corners of your lips will be turning up for whole new reasons when you walk on by.
Do It Different
Restaurants and bars are so fancy and fan dangled with the times, you can experience them in whole new ways. You can eat at their food truck, order their delicious ribs to devour in Bellwoods, or go to the pop-up they’re doing at the Brickworks. Trust. After you wait 30 minutes in line at a dirty music festival, making fast friends in queue and dancing up a storm, that smoked meat poutine will taste like concerts and plaid-shirted babes, not memories you’d rather forget.
Go On More Dates
Some restaurants and bars are perfect for dating. Their tapas style and creative drink menu make ’em delicious fodder for even the most boring conversationalist. I won’t tell you which one I have gone on a billion dates to so that I can still go on a billion more there, but I will tell you that restaurant reminds me of good times and great people, not one person that I had one certain type of experience there with. Love is present and when you focus on the person in front of you rather than the one you left behind, your sex life goes through the roof and your favourite haunt becomes yours again. Restaurants and bars are your oyster, experience them so. Treat that tiki patio like the bamboo torches are all yours.