Best place to enjoy the smoking ban

Boston's bars are hotbeds of schadenfreude right now, full of nonsmokers prancing about inhaling noisily through their nostrils and exhaling with self-satisfied aaahhhs. The rest of us, meanwhile, huddle in grim little clusters outside, wondering what we'll do when the sub-zero temperatures arrive. In the interest of making the best of a bad situation, some of us smokers expound at great length about how the smoking ban has invigorated Boston's outdoor culture. We talk of the unexpected friendships we've established, of romantic interludes forged in the haze of smoke that hangs over the city's sidewalks. When we get truly desperate, we rhapsodize about being able to watch life's great parade pass by. Nowhere is this more true than at the Model Café, where, as 99 percent of the clientele seem to be smokers anyway, you'll always find someone to share a sadly deluded it's-not-as-bad-as-it-seems conversation. On a purely practical level, when the weather does eventually turn life-threatening, the sheer number of smokers standing around outside will mean we'll be able to afford each other at least some measure of warmth. And, unlike at many bars, there really is a human parade to be seen outside the Model -- the shabby locals, the pierced trendies, the staggering drunks. Or maybe that's just us.

Model Café, 7 North Beacon Street, Allston, (617) 254-9365.