There’s something uniquely Promethean about opening an elegant wine bar in the heart of Port of Spain’s Red Light District. And in case you couldn’t tell, we’re thrilled – we’ve been waiting to bust out the ‘titillating…tippling’ alliteration…

 

Normally we wouldn’t advocate avoiding the 2009 Carnival festivities, unless of course you’re heading to Drink! Wine Bar, the newest vino-guzzling addition to the suburb-cum-night-life of Woodbrook.

 

Breeze into Drink! and cosy up on one of its low, ornate settees – we like the nook behind the bar – while you sample the rotating wine selection. Photos adorn the walls with a monochromatic display of old Port of Spain, but the pièce de résistance has to be the chandelier made out of wine glasses. Add the soft lighting and ambient music, and suddenly you don’t feel so uneasy about the uneasy associations the area brings with it. In fact, you’ll feel either very cool or very… sexy.

 

Lounge-y and sophisticated, Drink! isn’t necessarily a wine purist’s wet dream – but its hipster appeal means it comes pretty close. The bar, with its almost-ritzy wooden décor – replete with pillared, backless stools surrounding matching cocktail tables – draws an artsy crowd every Friday and Saturday night. Better yet, boasting an ‘easy evening’, it’s tucked quietly away from the crowded, action-packed milieu of Ariapita Avenue, perfect for that pre-fête rendezvous or if you just wanted a quieter spot to nurse your escapist tendencies over a glass of rose. There are cocktails too if you don’t feel like showing off (you connoisseur, you), and tapas-style hors d’œuvres served fresh from the gourmet kitchen; or drop in on a Saturday for Drink!’s Sangria-La specials.

 

Now, about those hookers…

 

 

Drink! Wine Bar, Corner Rosalino, Roberts and Warren Streets, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad | 868-622-2895 | E-mail:  drinkwinebar@gmail.com