Around his hometown of Santa Fe, NM, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin is known to spread his wealth around. He owns the Jean Cocteau Cinema, which has a really cool lineup of movies I would absolutely check out if I lived in the city. Next door, he owns the bookstore Beastly Books. He even went in on a railroad that he turned into a tourist joyride.
His latest investment is Milk of the Poppy, a bar that will have its grand opening on March 21 in Santa Fe’s Railyard District, in the same building those houses the Jean Cocteau and Beastly Books.
Specifically, creative director Al LaFleur described Milk of the Poppy as a “medieval apothecary meets craft cocktail bar,” which definitely sounds like something up Martin's alley. It's a relatively small space; it seats 55 with an outdoor patio that can accommodate 30 more. In dry, hot Santa Fe, I'm betting the patio will be in use pretty much year-round.
“It’s really cool to watch people walk in,” LaFleur told the Albuquerque Journal. “And the first thing that they do is kind of just stand at the door … This big medieval door that has these beautiful metal handles to knock (at) the door. So you really feel like you’re entering a different world and kind of escaping. The first thing people do is walk in, they stop, and they look around. So they don’t even fully walk in before they kind of take the space in because it’s unlike anything I’ve seen in New Mexico, and it’s fun to offer something that feels like a little bit of an escape.”
Apparently, real-life Milk of the Poppy is a "specialty concocted beverage known for both its medicinal properties and the remarkable ‘poppy dreams’ it induces.” But fans of the Song of Ice and Fire series, and of HBO's TV adaptation Game of Thrones, will recognize it as Westerosi morphine, something used to dull pain in Seven Kingdoms. With Martin involved, there's no doubt the name of the bar is a wink to that. The bar will have small bites as well as normal cocktails and drinks, but also specialty drinks that will incorporate “ancient techniques, flavors and ingredients.” Nothing with psychoactive properties will be involved. So no "real" milk of the poppy.
George R.R. Martin gives back to his community
Whenever a story like this breaks, there's a contingent of fans wondering why Martin is doing anything with his time other than working on The Winds of Winter, the extremely long-in-coming sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin is pleased with his progress on it, but wishes it were going "faster," showing off his talent for understatement.
I'd like to read The Winds of Winter as much as anyone, but there's no way I can frame Martin investing his money in local businesses as a bad thing. Frankly, I think this is exactly how someone who gets fabulously rich should behave; Martin isn't just sinking his Game of Thrones money into the stock market or buying up dozens of properties as investment opportunities. I'm sure he's taking care of himself, but he's also putting his money into bookstores, movie theaters, bars and railroads, things everyone in his city can enjoy. If we're going to have super-rich people, I wish more would spend their money on fun stuff like this. Sante Fe seems like a better city because George R.R. Martin is in it.
And he'll keep working away on The Winds of Winter in the background. When we have news on that score, you'll be the first to know.
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