café societies

Noun

café society (countable and uncountable, plural café societies)

1. Especially from the late-19th century through the mid-20th century in Europe and America, a culture characterized by continual socializing in bistros, coffee shops, and nightclubs, sometimes extravagantly frivolous and sometimes intensely intellectual in nature but always high-spirited.
   • Manhattan café society provokes a lot of writing, most of it about as enduring as a café socialite's hangover.1938 Sept. 19, "Books: Caf" (book review of The Happy Island by Dawn Powell), Time (retrieved 26 May 2014)