Astor Wines & Spirits (399 Lafayette Street) has an incredible sale today for "Leap Day" - 20% off any bottle of wine in the store. Sale available in-store only today until 9pm and does not includes spirits or sake.
February 2012 Archives
Le Du's Wines (600 Washington Street) is holding an amazing crafts spirits tasting this Saturday 2/18 from 4pm - 7pm. Two dozen spirits will be available for sampling, from American whiskeys to scotch to gin and mezcal. Admission is $20. Click here for more information.
Every few weeks, a frenzied culinary hypestorm descends on
NYC like a Nor'easter - some newfangled spot materializes with just the right
pedigree, the media goes apeshit and you inevitably succumb to its awesome power.
In the case of the latest, "newfangled" proves an apt description indeed. Yes
folks, we're talking about Booker and Dax in the former Momofuku Milk Bar space
behind Ssam Bar.One week in, we slipped inside early and perched ourselves on open stools at one of the two bars. The somewhat awkward space doesn't lend itself to comfort, with the bars replacing the former service counter and mini-kitchen, which oddly still churns out buns, infecting the place with a sour pungency that does not mix well with cocktails.
The molecular gimmickry, courtesy of FCI whiz Dave Arnold, mainly consists of liquid nitrogen to chill glasses and a hot poker to warm drinks, while the drinks themselves lean heavily towards the bitter - from amaros to various aromatic bitters. The Laurel and Hardy (rye, cognac, maraschino, fernet, benedictine, mole bitters) was far too cold thanks to the aforementioned liquid nitro super chilldown and when it did warm up enough for the flavors to come through, they were mainly medicinal and not altogether pleasant. Jenny and Scott was a spicy mix of yamazaki, mole and hellfire bitters. Pretty good but the kick was surprising given the innocuous menu listing. Possibly the best drink was the Friend of the Devil, rye, campari, sweet vermouth, pernod & bitters, given the hot poker treatment. The result is a very warm drink with a nice caramelization, nearly too sweet but good for a cold winter's eve. Unfortunately, the less said about pistachio trainwreck Mustachi-ode, the better. Cocktails are $14 each.
Sometimes things live up to the hype and sometimes they don't. For a bar to attain staying power, it needs good drinks, not just a floorshow and fancy doo-dads. Booker & Dax may have the latter but in this town, that's just not enough.
