Moderniste

Tonight I’d like to pause the moment… no wait, hell with it; let’s just leave the film running, as I doubt I’ll miss anything that isn’t dreadful – and leave my chair for a few days in favor of the one I pulled up at Café Moderniste in Seville, where the orange mojitos are famously (and rightfully) touted as tonic for anyone weary of the scorching midday sun.
Though it’s been a couple of years now, I remember Moderniste in exquisite detail because when you travel alone that is often the case. There is no conversation (not any conversation of yours, anyway) to distract you from the surroundings. As I was nearly always dining solo through Spain (not always – clinks glass in the general direction of Antonio, the unsubtle Italian from the painted hill town… oh, never mind), my tendency was to fixate on what was served to me, and to draw it in detail. My «orange mojito» composition can be found in the photos. The thing was delicious, with celestial orange juice and a bit of pulp, generous shoots and muddles of mint, and the perfect icy boozy buzz to quench the swelter. Spain, my friends, can get some hot going. I think it was nearly 105 the day I was in there.
The place had little indoor lighting; they just let the light filter where it could into the long narrow space, cooled with dark wood and Amon Tobin.
I’d gotten in there in the blaring heat of 3:00 or so, and when I arrived it was very quiet and felt like a coffeeshop. About an hour afterward it began really picking up (again, all locals) with the post-​work crowd and it most assuredly transformed into a bar.
I can’t be there right now, but go. One of us deserves to.

Beautiful modernist design inside, with chill music playing. It was a great escape from the heat! I just had a beer, but the menu had a large selection of teas and mojitos. I will be coming back soon to try one!