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Showing results for tags 'Cocktails'.
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I just got the following email from "Team Firefly" (this should include complementary ibuprofen): -
"Second State To Charge $1 Extra For Artisanal Ice" by Jessica Sidman on washingtoncitypaper.com What is there to say? -
Quill: Very good. It's been here forever apparently but I hadn't even heard of it. -
Last night saw me stop in to the Butterfly, a relatively new restaurant on West Broadway in Tribeca, about five steps from Batard, yet a complete world away. I would never have picked this spot as a member of the AltaMarea group, but it is. Kind of strange to go to two restaurants from the same group within a week. The Butterfly aims to be a cocktail bar/ supper club, and seems to specialize in 50s "“ 60s era cocktails, along with a brief menu of American Standards from that era (beef stroganoff, etc etc). This is small, narrow space, decorated sparsely and primarily in white. The most prominent design feature is a vaguely bow-tie shaped mirror behind the bar. I arrived in time for happy hour, where all cocktails are $10 and draft beers are $5. I debated ordering a Tom Collins, but instead opted for a beer. Service at the bar was very friendly and efficient, although the bartender mentioned that although they opened about ten months ago, things haven't been that busy. Scanning the menu, I noticed Fried Chicken. If Fried Chicken is on the menu, I'm pretty much incapable of resisting it "“ to the point that I head over to the Dutch every Monday to enjoy their chicken special. So, I ordered the chicken and three good sized pieces of chicken appeared in short order, along with a small salad. One quibble "“ the chicken came in a shallow rectangular basket, along with a side salad in a large ramekin. The size and depth of the basket made eating the chicken pretty difficult. That said, the chicken was fairly tasty, well-seasoned and not at all greasy. All in all a generous portion for $20. I added a side order of French fries for an additional $5, which got me a large bowl of hand cut fries with salt and rosemary. The fries were excellent "“ some of the best I have had recently. The chicken was not as good as The Dutch, but then again that is also twice as expensive. The Butterfly's concept strikes me as odd, kind of a cross between a cocktail bar and an upscale diner. I don't get any sort of "supper club" vibe, and that is just fine for me as I prefer the Buterfly's décor to that of the former Posh in DC, for example. Hopefully the place survives, as it is flying well under the radar in the neighborhood at the moment. I'll return for more of the menu when I need an inexpensive meal and a cheap drink during happy hour, and think that the Butterfly is a solid neighborhood option. -
This is a fun little read "Mario Batali Is The World's Worst Drinks Writer" by Troy Patterson on slate.com The author seems to take a lot of offense at the ingredients Batali chooses as well as his insistence to shake cocktails that should be stirred. Can't say that he's wrong on either count, though some people on this board make their mint juleps with 15-year Van Winkle, right? -
The just opened restaurant, Vino Rosina, located in the Harbor East area of town is helmed by former Top Chef contestant Jesse Scandlin, formerly of Abacrombie. The concept is supposed to be a wine bar with tapas dishes. 507 S. Exeter (Bagby bldg) (410) 528-8600 -
The other night, a friend and I paid our first visit to the recently opened ECC, another branch of the cocktail lounge that first took Paris by storm in 2007 (following that with an ECC in London). ECC is in the old Kush space, a lounge that I was never fortunate enough to (or, fortunate enough to never) set foot in. What's interesting is that the Paris ECC was modeled after the new wave of cocktail lounges that were opening in NYC and now NYC's ECC kind of looks like the type of lounge you might find in Paris. If you think this is confusing, it's not - our ECC is absolutely gorgeous inside, designed by the wife of one of the owner's; lots of French flea market finds, and I wish my living room looked like this. My pictures do not do it justice... The back bar is nice too... And the glassware, at least for now (because we all know what happens when the stems start breaking) is great... That was my first cocktail, called Black Heart, from Joseph Akhavan at La Conserverie in Paris, and it's made of Buffalo Trace bourbon, Cynar, Luxardo Maraschino, a touch of French Roast Coffee, Bitterman's Boston Bittahs, a Laphroaig rinse and orange oils. A real winner, balanced as can be. My drinking companion started with the L'Américain: artichoke infused NP Sweet Vermouth, toasted walnut infused Campari, thyme water, orange oils - all of which is carbonated and bottled and served like this... Which will be perfect for when the kids pour in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and can't hold a glass. The drink is damn good, though it probably can use, and probably will get, some more carbonation. I followed up with a classic Manhattan, and it was nice to be asked by my bartender (Aaron, iirc) whether I wanted a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio - I'm a classicist, so my 2:1 Rittenhouse Manhattan was just how I like it. My buddy moved on to a drink called The Artist: Drouin Calvados, verjus, pear and apple cider shrub, Peychaud's, Didier Meuzard Ratafia, Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe and Billecart-Salmon Champagne to top it all off - wowser. Many of the drinks are creations of the bar manager Nicolas de Soto, a Frenchman who now lives most of the time just off of Avenue B. Some of you may have seen him behind the stick occasionally at Dram - I know I had. Nicolas' drinks are pretty complex, lots of infusions, but as I said above, balanced and delicious. He'll be working the bar here some nights, and overseeing the show all the time - a true gentleman who is as nice as can be. Okay, okay - we did have a third round; after all, we were checking the place out. By this point, the place was filling up, and Xavier was working our end of one of two bars. He's a 7-year alumnus of Daniel, and quite the pro. So, the appropriately named The Last One: Cardinal Mendoza Brandy, Bonal Gentiane, Cocchi Barolo Chinato and Akanono carrot Shochu. Simple, and practically an aperitif, no? And the Curious Prescription, a tequila/mezcal lover's dream: Pueblo Viejo Reposado, Pukhart Pear Eau-de-Vie, La Cigarerra Manzanilla Sherry, housemade salted mezcal caramel syrup, lime juice and Bittermen's Habanero bitters. Food will be soon to come; bar snacks, and they will be supplied by The Fat Radish, another one of my neighborhood faves. I expect, and have heard from Nicolas, that ECC was already packed on the weekends...and will continue to be so. Doesn't matter to me, though - I rarely go out for drinks on Friday or Saturday nights - and if we do, it'll be earlier than the throngs. Disregarding my own advice, and because I was literally around the corner at a gallery opening, I returned with a friend last night (a Friday) to try a bit more of the menu. I might've found a new favorite cocktail, as the Noblesse Oblige was the first drink I tried on this second visit. Cognac based, with both Pedro Ximenez and Del Maguey as sidekicks, it's another one of Nicolas' fine, fine cocktails. It'll probably stay on the menu, though he did say that he finds people here shying away from Cognac cocktails, which is a big mistake, in my opinion. My friend started off with the Black Heart and immediately pronounced it his "new favorite drink." He also tried the L'Américain, the drink served in the bottle and pictured in my first post, and they've got the carbonation level up to where it should be and making the drink that much tastier. They're not heading off-menu much at this point, though Aaron was kind enough to mix me up a boozy Vieux Carré. Finally, here's a tip to all the kiddies - if you want cranberry juice in your drinks, go soon. From what I've heard, it won't be available for long and if it stays on the menu, you may be paying a pretty premium for it. Have a real cocktail. Comp Disclosure: A round or two over the two visits.
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Here's the Story And here's the cocktail: 1 part Campari 1 part sweet vermouth 1 part bourbon or rye (I tend to err on the side of rye) -
I'm putting this on here as a single topic, not as a series of individual posts because that's what made the most sense to me. Feel free to change that, obviously. First, a few caveats. I have not been to all, or even most cocktail bars in New York (most notably I have not been to Angel's Share, or Milk and Honey, etc, and I'm very curious to hear people's takes on the spots I'm missing). Others know far more about this topic than me, and certainly have more to offer. In some cases I have only visited the bars listed below a single time, although in most cases I've been at least a few times, and in a heroic effort to crystallize my thoughts on the matter I hit five of the six over one 48 hour period this past weekend. Second, if you visit any of these places I'm pretty confident that you'll have a good experience, and that you'll get a good cocktail. My main takeaway from this weekend was that, at least of the first five bars, I'd go to whichever is closer and/or has the shortest wait time. Anyhow, here goes: 1. Death and Company This is my favorite cocktail bar in New York, and perhaps my favorite that I've ever been to. The staff is friendly and courteous, they only allow as many people in as they have seats, which means that you can actually have a conversation and don't have to box people out to preserve precious bar space, and the cocktails are exceptional. I also just love the feel of the place, they play music, and it is loud enough that it doesn't feel stuffy and dead. Finally, although I'll speculate that this has just been dumb luck, I've yet to have exceptionally long wait times to get in when I've stopped by. 2. PDT For those who don't know, this is the "speakeasy" attached to Crif Dogs, a hot dog place in the East Village. To get in you can either make a reservation, which required repeatedly calling right at 3 pm on the day you're hoping to drink there, or showing up and trying to secure one of the small number of seats actually at the bar. When you arrive at Crif Dogs, you enter a phone booth, pick up the phone, and wait for the panel to pop open to talk to the hostess. In my experience you'll then likely have to hang out in the hot dog joint for a few minutes even if you have a reservation. Anyhow, I'm of two minds on all of that. On the one hand, the whole exercise is kind of fun. On the other hand, sometimes I just want a drink without going through all of those steps. Phone booth aside, the bar itself feels rather secretive when you're inside, it's small, has low ceilings, and has many taxidermied animals hanging on the wall. Again, service was fantastic, the cocktail list was extremely interesting, and I thought all of the drinks were great. 3. Booker and Dax This is the bar attached to Momofuku Ssam Bar. I'd been here a number of times under its previous name, Momofuku Ssam Bar Bar, and went this weekend for the first time under this new moniker. The place looks exactly the same, but still has a different feel than before. Before it served essentially as a waiting area for the Ssam Bar, but now they only allow folks in if they have a seat. Also, while before they made excellent drinks, they now are doing all sorts of crazy stuff as well. This includes using liquid nitrogen to chill their glasses, and centrifuges to clarify the grapefruit juice for one cocktail. Whether or not you care about these touches (I enjoyed them on the whole), this is a cool spot for an extremely well made and inventive cocktail. 4. Mayhuel Mayahuel is different than the rest of these spots. Owned by the same folks as Death and Company, they focus on tequila and Mezcal drinks. I really like this place. It feels kind of divey, and has a menu roughly the length of a Russian novel. Even if you don't like tequila I'm confident that there's a drink on here that you'll enjoy, and the staff is knowledgeable enough to walk you through the ridiculously long list of selections. 5. Pegu Club The Pegu Club felt much more staid, quiet and reserved than any of the rest of these spots. I've only been here once, however, and it was on the early side (although no earlier than my trip the next day to PDT), which might explain that impression. The bar is much larger (or at least feels much more spacious) than any of the others, and is just "fancier" in the way that it is laid out. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, cocktail menu is extensive and interesting, service is great and knowledgeable, and the drinks are killer. If I were trying to have a quiet conversation, and wanted to do so over an extremely well made cocktail, this is probably where I would go. 6. Employees Only It probably isn't fair to include Employees Only in with the rest of these bars, as there are a number of key differences. All of the places above will only allow folks in if they have seats available. At Employees Only they'll pack the place to the gills. When visiting on a Saturday night, as I did this past weekend, you have to fight your way to the bar to place your order, and work hard to carve out space to sit our stand to enjoy your drinks. I left quite impressed, however. Despite my initial concern at any bartender who doesn't measure when mixing a drink (free pouring is apparently one of their core beliefs here), our drinks were very good. And everybody in the bar was drinking cocktails, and you didn't have to wait long to get them. The guys behind the bar were really moving. Of the six spots this is probably the one I'm least likely to return to, but that doesn't mean it's bad. If I had a larger group and hadn't planned in advance this is probably where I'd go. --- [The following posts have been split into separate threads: PKNY (Gadarene) Dead Rabbit (SeanMike) Amor y Amago (cheezepowder)]
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Thanks! Had a lovely set of drinks at Franklin Mortgage. I would have had more but they didn't have much food available. Very nice set up. -
I lived near Rye and its companion Bar Below Rye for two years before making it inside. Mistake! Bar Below Rye has all of the makings of a Local. The bartender makes a terrific Manhattan and the drunken grilled cheese (with caramelized onion jam and short ribs) is great drinking food. Confession: I had 1.5 drunken grilled cheese sandwiches during a recent visit. I don't do brussels sprouts but my friend gave BBR's Best Ever status. -
Just want to put in a good word for this joint, brought to you by the same folks as SunDeVich and Seasonal Pantry. Cheap artisanal drinks and amazing (but very limited) food menu. The bar in front was packed on Saturday night, but the back room was quite empty. If you're in the neighborhood after 5 PM and looking for addictively tasty bar grub, you need to make your way to this place. -
If dark, loud mediocre cocktail bars filled with the not-so-bright and vaguely generic looking citizens of the Upper East Side is your thing, then by all means go to JBird. If it's not, then I just save you a cab ride to East 75th Street (between 1st and 2nd). The bowl of cilantro lime popcorn was pretty good ($7). -
Any more on this speakeasy? Is it attached to Suna or Acqua al Due? I'm not familiar with it. -
I've only been to Sova to grab coffee/espresso, but apparently they are introducing a serious wine and cocktails program with help from Derek Brown and Dan Searing. Portland-import & Oregon Bartenders Guild alum, Jamie MacBain is the new Bar Manager and will oversee a cocktail menu that features on grape-based spirits. This sounds like a potentially huge addition to the neighborhood! http://frozentropics.blogspot.com/2009/04/...-from-sova.html -
Looking for a place to lazily enjoy some late afternoon drinks outside in the shade. Cocktails, wine, beer, all good. Unhurried and delicious. A view of something (the river? historic buildings?) is nice, but not required. Arlingxandria is best, but DC will do in a pinch!
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So I want a bearded and/or mustached plaid-wearing mixologist to make me some fancy cocktails tomorrow night. Food or snacks is a bonus. And I want to do this with anywhere from 2 to 7 friends. Yeah, I know. So where do we go? I am sadly kind of behind on the bar scene these days. I really wanted to check out Whiskey Bar, but I can't seem to figure out if the bar is open tomorrow (they do appear to have a show going on on the other level). I've been to Hogo and would happily go there again, but I've never been to The Passenger so think that might be a great option but for the insane numbers of people (do you need rez for that place? do they take them?). Maybe The Gibson is worth trying if their patio is open? Anywhere else? I'd like to stick to DC (VA is too far), green line accessible is a super bonus since I am coming from MD.
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A. I'm cheap B. As much as I've enjoyed alcohol, tasty drinks, mixed drinks etc and understand the costs...I'm still cheap C. I recall reading the thread here from this past Dec about $14 cocktails in DC and this article came out by Jessica Sidman in City Paper 2 weeks ago...describing cocktails at $20 and up. Not knowing all of the ingredients with regard to ever more expensive cocktails, these prices simply blow my mind. At some point ignore all the commentary about pricing the ingredients and "market" mark ups As some establishments find they can charge ever higher prices..competing establishments will price similarly and ever higher should the market bear it. ....and evidently the market is willing to bear it. -
Hi all, Check out two featured cocktails in honor of DC’s spring celebration! The bar at the Daily Grill on 18th and M Street will offer the following specials available through April 14th. Cherry Limeade House Infused Cherry Vodka, Fresh Squeezed Lemon and Lime Juice on the Rocks 8.50 Cherry ‘N’ Oats Original Sin Cherry Cider paired with Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout 6.50 Daily Grill Location and Phone Numbers 18th and M Street 1200 18th Street NW | (202) 822-5285 Hope you all can make it! -
I had dinner here yesterday evening, and I'm strongly initiating coverage of Chef Harper McClure's "The Federalist" in Italic in the DC Dining Guide (members only). I had a wonderful shaken traditional Gimlet, the restorative (if a touch salty) old-school Turtle Soup, and a simply lovely Stuffed Pork Chop with a glass of Côtes Du Rhône. There is fine, old-school work going on in this kitchen, with fully reduced sauces rooted solidly in French technique. A wonderful addition to our city's dining scene, both for a potentially vibrant bar area, and also for a romantic or business dinner. Well done, Chef McClure, well done. Cheers, Rocks -
Just opened, delicious concoctions, both with and without alcohol. A few doors down from Trusty's. Black sign with white lettering, a little hard to see. They have a menu of hand crafted drinks that will change monthly, a couple of great beers on tap, beers in bottles and some wines. Nicely balanced drinks and a key to let you know which might appeal to you. Bacon infused bourbon! Fun space, good music, Eric and Safia at the front bar will take good care of you. -
You just said what 90% of the dining public has been thinking for a long time now. It is the rarest of cocktails that is worth $14; yet they're all over the place now. BourbonSteak really set a high bar with this price a few years ago, but it has become the norm for upscale cocktails in DC. With tax and tip, you're talking $18.50 per drink. Want to take your date out for a couple of drinks after the movie? That'll set you back 75 bucks. Yes, a part of me is very happy for my bartender friends, but not happy enough ... I'm pretty much on the verge of saying, "Gimme your shittiest Gimlet" every time I walk into a bar these days, and if it's Rose's lime juice (yuck), then so be it. The price of cocktails has become downright painful, every bit as much as paying $12 for a lousy glass of mass-produced Muscadet or Sancerre. And there's no relief in sight.
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I periodically hear that Peter Smith will be opening a new place near the Verizon Center. Anyone know any more about it? -
PoP reports of location-incarnation as Ba Bay Vietnamese restaurant.
