Pousse Café depicts the complex, often hilarious relationship between Rex, a retired British-American game show baron and his estranged son Gerald, a gay performance artist from New York. Gerald's elegant, but aloof, mother Claire has left Rex to "live her bliss" with a shrimp boat captain. Unable to fathom her motives, Rex lures Gerald home to act as an intermediary, despite Gerald's approval of Claire's search for happiness. Between Gerald's unsuccessful forays to the shrimp docks, father and son settle in Rex's elegant penthouse to test and refine drinks for Rex's retirement project, a book on the history of cocktails. The two men verbally spar over old family bitterness, popular culture, money, love, and the correct ingredients of hundreds of cocktail recipes. To honor their new bond, Rex reveals his past to his son through sharing the secret of the many-layered cocktail, the Pousse Café.