When I moved to London in the winter of 1979, I was quickly beaten down by the cold. Shivering inside my furry winter jacket, wind cutting through every crevice of open space—the opening in my high-top shoes, the slight gap of my thermal cuff—I dreamt of the sunny climes of Spain, regretting ever having left. I was twenty-two.
The one thing London had—on every corner of every busy street—were pubs. Whether day or night, rain or fog, the lights inside the pubs were flickering and the bartenders' taking orders and making drinks. Upon entering one such smoky interior, I let out an audible sigh. Heat rose from the embers of the crackling fireplace and cloaked the pub in warmth. I scooted to a barstool and asked for a classic London drink: Black & Tan.
The bartender filled the bottom-half of the glass with pale ale, waited, then filled the top-half with a dark beer. The combination I loved most was Guiness and IPA Lagunita. When she slid the coaster across the table and placed the glass on top—drops of foam dripping down the rim—I took one long, slow gulp. It steadied my icy fingers, and, after a moment, warmed my insides. All I needed were a few Black & Tans to realize the secret beauty of London, immortalized by so many great authors over the centuries.
Fast forward three and a half decades. Over those decades, I moved across the Atlantic to the United States, settled in Manhattan, and opened my baby, Caravan of Dreams. The restaurant has been through ups and downs, periods of flourishing and struggle, but we've never shut our doors, even temporarily. Over the years, we’ve updated and re-updated our menu, revised the interior and re-revised it again, renovated the storefront at least 3 times. As we enter the year 2025, 33 years into this surprising and fulfilling journey, we’re still innovating and improving.
Recently, we’ve installed two draft beer dispensers by the bar, something I’ve eagerly dreamt of doing since the early 2000s. It got me thinking about my time in London, shivering away my early twenties in pubs, drinking Black & Tans, my whole life stretching ahead of me like an open country road. Installing those beer dispensers fulfilled a desire to serve delicious beer, but it also fulfilled a promise: despite advancing age and rapidly changing times, we at Caravan of Dreams are committed to romance, and we still see an expanse of open road ahead. In the words of Bob Dylan, we are forever young.
On tap this winter are Guiness and IPA Lagunita. Enjoy each separately or combine them both for my favorite Black & Tan. You won’t regret it.