f you ever find yourself in a place that is referred to as an “industry” spot, where the people who serve like to be served, you’ll know they’re into doing it right. Cat’s Meow, tucked away by a babbling brook on Granville Island, is a mainstay for area waiter’s and waitress types who like to drink heavily on the off nights, enjoy solid music in a jukebox environment, and play out the late night inter-staff romances that will grease the rumour mill gears for the weeks to come.

For the purists, this place sports a beauty patio. And packed she be from lunch till the wee hours, filling the UBC types full of cheap martinis, and jugs o’ draught. It is a patio to be seen on, not seen at, for gawking at human traffic is difficult from its tucked away vantage. But the wanna-be-checked-out posses of twenty-one year old singles flock in droves to stare at each other. It plays out a bit like a petting zoo, with all the caged critters sequestered in homogenous groups, but the mood is light. For anyone with a creative style and some balls, the Cat’s Meow can be their romantic oyster.

The interior is lively, in a rough and tumble way, with dynamite leather couches perched in the romantic corners. Although I never got over the bloody great projection television in the center of the room, there was some solace in my daydreams of heaving a pint glass into it. Doing it up with a mediocre wine list (but very affordable), some groove, and some pick plates (the crab cakes are killer), is very easy. Bring a friend that you don’t want to share, because as first dates, frat meetings, and cutsie teenie-boppers squeezed into Le Chateau tops abound, you won’t feel like mingling until the booze really grabs hold.

The industry folks who serve there also booze there, and generate a playfulness that manifests itself in rainbow arrays of shooters and assorted sundries. If you don’t feel like sporting the game face needed to brave the downtown, Cat’s Meow has a naivetÈ that is far from threatening. It is a creeper vibe that can coerce a good mood from an ambitionless night. It’s like making love out of nothing at all. – C.L.

Patio Noise _________________________