I will always have a soft spot for this story (the first I edited for the site). Besha did such a masterful job of weaving personal narrative with excellent reporting. It won a James Beard Award that year, which felt like a real coup for a scrappy, infant site. (Case in point: We shot the lead image on a McCarren Park bocce court on a digital camera I got for my college graduation and hadn’t ever used.) —Talia Baiocchi, editor-in-chief

When Sarah Baird sent us her first pitch from New Orleans nearly 10 years ago, Talia and I knew she was the kind of writer and this was the kind of story we’d been seeking. A decade on, Baird’s observant eye and vesper hour ruminations still capture for me the kind of quiet, thoughtful missives for which I imagined Punch a home. Now, I happen to live in New Orleans, and think of Baird’s story each time I roll past Brothers Three on Magazine Street, imagining the tableaux she documented playing out in 24-hour rhythms on repeat. —Leslie Pariseau, founding deputy editor

A deep dive on an obscure early-aughts club trend that references “fortune-telling penis ‘readers,’” ancient Roman interior design and Fat Joe within a few paragraphs. It’s classic Punch in all my favorite ways. —Bianca Prum, former director of partnerships

I return to this combo of Michael Snyder’s words and Andrea Tejeda Korkowski’s somber, contemplative photos often as an example of great, heartfelt narrative feature reporting on place and people that I always hoped we’d provide a home for. —TB

As the cocktail renaissance marches on, breeding a degree of high-caliber sameness across the globe, Robert Simonson’s review of the iconic Venice bar reminds us that standing the test of time is less about fame, awards and even the cocktails themselves than it is about personality, principles and a point of view. —Chloe Frechette, deputy editor

Music is the heartbeat of my life, a lifeline that’s pulled me from the depths. For me, there’s nothing quite like the harmony of good music, a perfectly crafted cocktail and an atmosphere that oozes cool. This story delves into that magical trio, weaving a beautiful narrative that celebrates these life-enhancing experiences and so much more. —Keila Gonzalez, designer

As someone who has covered the explosion of craft beer over the past 15 years, this piece perfectly encapsulates how men have always been given the freedom to drink whatever they want, whereas women’s choices are under a microscope. This conversation was coming to a head especially around 2017/2018, following the #MeToo reckoning in Hollywood that then trickled into every industry. —Jess Mayhugh, managing editor

In his profile of a long-dead Parisian bar so bizarre (grizzled men playing chess on a log?), so unlikely that it’d have made more sense in a dream, Toby Cecchini manages to perfectly answer the question: What makes a great bar? The answer, of course, has nothing to do with great drinks, and everything to do with a sense that just about anything might happen. —Lizzie Munro, art director

On an unexpected trip to Honolulu last spring, I was struck by just how generically “tropical” everything seemed in tourism-dominant Waikiki. But steps beyond that strip, Kanoe Miller’s hula introduces visitors like me to Hawaiian history across eras, and reminds us that the islands’ culture holds so much more than Mai Tais. —Catherine Sweet, copy editor

Jon Bonné’s profile of New York’s punk-rock sake bar institution, Decibel, is proof of one of the theses we had when we launched Punch: that a single bar can be a whole world unto itself. —TB

Miguel de Leon’s raw and personal account of being Filipino in wine is a powerful invitation to eradicate the white supremacist somm in your head—and in the industry. —Irina Groushevaia, senior social media manager

From my home 2,500 miles away, this elegy from Brad Thomas Parsons made me feel—viscerally, heart-achingly—how the neighborhood bars of the City That Never Sleeps were holding their breath, closing up and hoping for the best as the COVID-19 pandemic crept into New York. —CS

If you’re not well-acquainted with Nick Caruso’s archive on Punch, please stop scrolling and go read this piece immediately. In this satirical eulogy, he charts the diminutive clothespin’s rise from a craft-store staple to the “it” cocktail accessory, before snapping and fading back into obscurity. As one Instagram commenter memorably wrote, “Goodnight sweet prince.” RIP. —Kaitlin Bray, director of audience development

As a queer person, this piece reminded me I’m worth more than canned Busch. It sparks pride over how our community continues to shape bartending and nightlife culture. —IG

Danny Chau’s Drink Your Words column is one of my favorites in the history of Punch. Here he spins off, using language to help us understand the trouble with the drink world finding the same sort of mainstream shorthand, and audience, as food. —TB

Natural wine is a lot of things today: a roving party, an evolving category, goth. But I love that before natural wine had wine jockeys and its own secret language, there was just Vineyard Gate, a humble shop that first opened its doors in 1998 with a goal not unlike the original movement itself: a group of passionate people spreading the word about wine. —Mary Anne Porto, associate editor

A favorite of mine from Punch’s queer bars package, I can’t help but idolize Wayne Smith’s enthusiasm and vibrancy as he transforms into Cher to perform at his beloved Texas dive bar. —Liina Paavonpera, former visual producer

Intersectionality is alive and well at the bar, and as we grapple with the inherently personal (and often controversial) mission of naming these spaces, it’s also a great reminder of the power of queer hospitality and the promise of queer joy. —Allison Hamlin, director of network development