From half a block away you could hear the bagpipes. That meant just one thing - whiskey awaited. Over 100 of them in fact inside Chelsea Piers at the annual whiskey showcase "Whisky Live".
The good stuff was distributed over 38 stations while around the corner various Scottish bands played fast and furious. Already familiar with the Highland Park, Oban and Macallan, we headed straight to the lesser known brands. The focus of the show is Scotch but there were also Bourbons, Rye, Blended Scotches and more. A lot of good stuff was being poured and we wasted no time exploring. Our favorites after the jump.
If you are a member of Zipcar, then we've got a deal for you. Head over to Pianos (158 Ludlow Street) tomorrow night and get a free cocktail when you show your Zipcard.
Zipcar Happy Hour March 31 from 5:30 - 8pm.
A recent trip to Franny's in Brooklyn - still one of the the best pizza joints in NYC in our opinion - led to the discovery of an amaro (bitter) called Nardini. A bartender liked it enough to create an eponymous cocktail, which we thoroughly enjoyed as an aperitivo, and they were nice enough to provide us with the recipe.
One cold night we found ourselves far off the beaten path - in East Williamsburg, a formerly unknown section of town - and in need of a good cocktail. We'd read a lot about Huckleberry Bar (588 Grand Street) so we decided to check it out.
Perhaps too used to intimate Manhattan speakeasies, we found the amount of space in the bar a bit daunting. A long bar, two seating areas, a backyard and a DJ booth? We looked around and wondered if they could possibly pull this off. Happily, the DJ had the night off, the menu was long on classics and cocktails were just $10.
The Juanhattan (old overholt rye, amaro averna, lillet blanc and angostura bitters) was quite good while the Article 57 (citrus infused vodka, young ginger juice, Q tonic) was more on the medicinal side and not entirely pleasant to drink - too much ginger. Better was the Tina Modotti, made with tequila, del maguey mezcal, spiced pear, orange bitters and chili salt.
Next time we're in the neighborhood, we'll size up the classics. It will be interesting to see how the bar does over the long haul on the wrong side of the BQE.
Few things go as well together as pizza and beer. Unfortunately, few things are as ripe for extreme mark-up as those two items. In the case of Co., or Company as you like, don't expect the recession to mean customer-friendly pricing.
We'll come right out and say it - we were underwhelmed. The pizzas were small (about 11") and the edges of the ballyhooed crust were almost reminiscent of Pizza Hut. The crust itself was pretty good, but the toppings deserved to be seasoned properly though, with salt definitely missing in action. And the pizzas seemed overloaded with cheese and bechamel, guess to explain the pricing - the majority of pizzas are $16 to $18 and appetizer up-selling is heavy.
But this is a booze blog. And there is nothing more depressing than staring at a beer list where everything is $7. Really, $7 for Blue Moon, Sixpoint and Stella? While we're at it, could they come up with a more cliched list of beers? What possible justification can there be for marking up beer over 500% anyway?
We here at Boozy are getting real tired of being ripped off for the privilege of drinking designer beers - not to mention the Belgian equivalent of Bud. If restaurateurs have so little respect for beer drinkers that they view them merely as a profit center, maybe they should just stop serving beer. On this particular day, we silently drank water. That is not our preferred dining mode.
Chambers Street Wines is welcoming 10 winemakers tomorrow for part one of "the Louis/Dressner Selections Real Wine Assault 2009." Several dozen natural wines will be available for tasting during the event - and it's so big that it will be held in the store's former digs at 160 Chambers Street. Sounds like a must hit event to us.
Chambers Street Wines
"10 Winemakers" Tasting
Saturday 3/21 4pm - 7:30pm.
No name on display, long narrow room, buzzer for admission, classic cocktails, yup, it's another speakeasy. But the Raines Law Room seems to be a speakeasy that's a little bit different - and the odd absence of an actual bar is only part of it.
Part of it is the people involved - the mixologist and owners are not "big" names, though they have solid backgrounds in the industry. Thus, a cocktail list that is more classically-inspired than the more mixologist-driven places like PDT and Tailor. And then there Paul - a doorman, manager and chocolatier, who elevates the place all by himself. He is unfailingly polite, extremely gracious and...nice. When he apologizes that there will be a wait and takes your number, you know he is sincere and will call you as soon as he can. Even better, he makes his own chocolates by hand and sells them on site ($12 for a box of 6). They are creative, unusual and delicious - and most of them are vegan. But you wouldn't know it as even the vegan ones taste rich and decadent.
But we digress - a cocktail bar is first and foremost about the cocktails. And on that front, they are doing well, though list is shorter than we had expected.
Last year, the Denton brothers, owners of downtown favorites 'ino and 'inoteca, took their show to Gramercy with the opening of Bar Milano. The buzz was deafening but the result underwhelming, headscratching Frank Bruni two-star review notwithstanding, and within months the struggling spot was closing to be transformed into what it should have been from the get go: 'inoteca north.
Regardless of history, we're here now and 'inoteca is a marked improvement in several ways - the room is less fussy, the menu downscaled and the drinks cheaper - the terrific cocktails are just $10 each. The winelist is thankfully still extensive, interesting and well priced as well.
Already carousing nearby, we decided to pop in for a few drinks and nibbles. We were intrigued to see a category devoted to egg white fizzes. The Apple Blow (lairds applejack, fresh lemon juice, sugar, egg white, chilled seltzer water) was very good but the Dubonnet was even better (dubonnet, cherry heering, fresh lemon and orange juice, egg whites). Another delicious option was the Cotillion (old forrester bourbon, appleton estate rum, fresh lemon, orange juice, cointreau and lucid absinthe), a nicely balanced and eminently quaffable drink. A much better showing than last year when the hyped cocktail program struck us as both too precious and too expensive, not to mention too reliant on pricey sweet pink drinks that seemed to be aimed at the fairer sex.
The dishes we sampled were a bit spotty but we are happy to report the delicious truffed egg toast has made the trip uptown unscathed. With a bit more work on the food, we can see 'inoteca 2 hitting its stride. The crowds are already there.
'inoteca Liquori Bar
323 Third Avenue, 212-683-3035
Bouley is jumping on the cut-price deals with a happy hour at Upstairs at Bouley (130 West Broadway). Drinks are half price Monday to Friday from 5pm to 7pm.
The much praised Death & Co. took some time to win us over. The cocktails were good but the doormen annoying, and so were the crowds. There was the constant impending doom of potential closing surrounding the place. And it was just too uneven on the bartender front. Yet over time, we were drawn back again and again until we couldn't deny it - it's become a favorite cocktail spot.
Today, Death & Co. is as close to a classic NYC bar as has opened in the new millennium. The drink list is impressively vast yet smartly broken down by category of booze. The bartenders are sure of their craft. And the room is as comfortable as it gets, save the cold blast of air near the door in wintertime.
It's all about the drinks, of course. And on that account, D&Co excels, with top-notch ingredients, creativity and highly balanced recipes, some with close to 10 ingredients.
Courtesy of Eater, here are the latest cocktail deals around town:
Little Giant (85 Orchard Street) has buy one, get one free house cocktails Sun - Weds from 6pm to 8pm for the month of March
Elettaria (33 West 8th Street) has half-price cocktails every day from 5pm to 7pm.
And of course tonight is half-price cocktails at the bar at Allen & Delancey (115 Allen Street).
Seems the city is turning into a drinker's paradise. Party on NYC!
Stone Street quietly got a new drinking establishment on St. Patrick's Day - The Dubliner (45 Stone Street). This pub has taken over for the late Brouwers of Stone Street and comes to us from the same owners as Beckett's across the way. Early verdicts on Yelp are not proving too kind so far but it is early folks. Question is, do NYC need yet another faux Irish pub and does that particular street need yet another place that serves $7 beers? The jury is out but we just might know the verdict.
