Boozy NYC

Great Drinks Around Town: Rubirosa

2012-05-18T17:51:31Z

Fairly unassuming NoLita pizza spot Rubirosa may be best known for its pies but don't overlook the booze selection. The all-Italian wine list is varied with some unusual choices - Movia Sauvignon Blanc with your pizza? Sign us up. Equally interesting is the drink selection - we tried a couple but most impressed by the Constantinople (Single Malt Scotch, Nonino Amaro, Maraschino liqueur, lemon, angostura).

No idea where the name comes from but the drink was delicious - nicely balanced with aromatics imparted from one of our favorite post-meal tipples, the excellent Amaro from Nonino. Better yet, the drink paired perfectly with the excellent Vodka Pizza.

Sunday Sale on Roses at Astor Wines & Spirits

2012-05-17T16:35:27Z

Astor Wines & Spirits is welcoming the start of Rose season with a sale on all still Roses this Sunday May 20. Get 15% off any in store and taste two - a Sancerre Rose and Brun d'Folie Rose - from 3pm - 5pm.

Cocktails Go Nuts for Black Walnut

2012-03-02T02:16:50Z

One of the newest vogue ingredients around town is black walnut, often used to bring a nuttiness to traditional drinks such as the Manhattan. Black walnut generally takes the form of bitters from the expansive Fee Brothers library though a new liqueur has recently debuted - Kuchan Juglans Nigra Black Walnut Liqueur from a Croatian-born distiller working in California.

Empellon Cocina (105 First Avenue) is using the black walnut bitters in an excellent drink called Hecho en Humo, made with El Mayor Blanco tequila, Mexican Coca Cola reduction, Regan's orange bitters, black walnut bitters and "smoke". The reduction gives it a sweet, almost burnt caramel-like flavor that mellows nicely with ice melt. The smoke element, however, was very faint, if not completely missing.

At Hospoda (321 E. 73rd Street), a great spot for beer and modern Czech food, they make a Manhattan with black walnut liqueur. The result is a dark, rich drink with lots of body - almost like a dark beer minus the hops. Perfect for the richer dishes on their menu.

We weren't fans of the drinks at the predecessor to Inoteca Liquori (323 Third Avenue), Bar Milano, but the cocktail program under Chaim Dauermann has become the best in the area. Ask for the off-menu Black Manhattan made with Rittenhouse Rye, Averna, Cocchi Vermouth and black walnut bitters - it's a bit sweet but delicious.

Have you come across black walnut in a cocktail around town? Drop us an email or comment below.

Leap Day Sale at Astor Wines

2012-02-29T15:39:49Z

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.

Craft Spirits Tasting at Le Du's Wines 2/18

2012-02-15T15:24:19Z

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.

Who Dax?

2012-02-06T22:32:54Z

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.

The Opening Blues

2011-12-16T21:51:20Z

Sometimes we wish there was a course for restaurateurs on what to do and what not to do when opening a place. Three recent openings are indicative of how things can quickly go awry:

New Upper West Side spot Slightly Oliver was promoted as a gastropub with cocktails from Albert Trummer, surely a welcome addition to the area's frat boy bars and generic food mills. Instead the reality is completely different, and no we're not talking about the DJs, which show they've already tossed in the towel quality-wise. On a recent night we arrived early and sat at the bar where we were witness to a bartender having a heated discussion with another staffer and a dish tasting by the staff in plain sight. Yes, they were open, and we persevered, ordering a pair of cocktails that were fine but overpriced at $12 - this isn't downtown folks. Clearly they've heard about the barrel aging trend - actually the entire place was an amalgamation of every current trend in the food world - and their Barrel Aged Apricot Infused Rye Manhattan was pretty good. But served by a woman in a low-cut cleavage enhancing top? Guys, we're not looking for a good time, just a well made drink. And don't even get us started on the clump of staff in the middle of the room or the scowling suit supposedly running things.

On another occasion, we dropped in at newcomer Bigoli, drawn by the appealing opening menu bandied about in the press. In a complete fail, not only was the menu dumbed down - no kurobuta pork chop, no game hen 'al mattone,' no wild mushrooms - but the room was beyond ugly, the waiter from the haughty academy of culinary arts, and the wine list an underpopulated joke full of run-of-the-mill wines and pricey, undrinkable young Barolos. Even worse, the world famous chef was out of town. Dude, you open in NYC, you better be in the house for at least a month, not in Vegas. Maybe they'll find their way but honestly no one would willingly want to eat the same old Italian food in that dowdy, awkward space.

Lastly we have the buzzed about, industry spot. This kind of place is fun if you are known to the owners and staff, but if you're not, watch out. We popped into Corkbuzz and found the owner entertaining some friends at the bar. That's fine and dandy but when your service is perfunctory, you might want to pay attention to someone other than your friends. When customers have to up-sell themselves on wine, especially expensive stuff, that's another issue. And at the end, don't give us a silly card telling us what else we might like when you don't interact with us to know what we know or don't know. The hint we know what we're doing might be in the wine we do order. It's called attention and should be paid as much as the check.

The Beagle Roars

2011-11-16T01:51:26Z

The Beagle. When thinking of things to name cocktail bars after, small meek-mannered canines are not necessarily where we would go. But when a co-founder of Portland's seminal Clyde Common decided to drop a cocktail restaurant in the middle of the uber competitive East Village, we were intrigued. Name notwithstanding.

It was almost as if by accident we found our way to The Beagle shortly after it first opened. The hype was fairly minimal and the room quiet, so we easily found spots at the bar. Apparently, that night we had sherry on the brain - ordering both the Adonis, a mix of fino sherry, sweet vermouth and orange bitters and The Artist's Special (scotch, oloroso sherry, lemon juice & red currant syrup), which both hit the spot. The only misstep was a "pairing board" of sweetbreads and calvados - more on that concept in a moment.

A few months later, we dropped in for a more. The room was buzzing in a way it hadn't been earlier though luck had two barstools ready for us. We revisited the two aforementioned drinks, which stood up over time, though the Adonis now strikes us more as a jumping off point. We delved further into the menu, finding unexpected combinations and complexity. Highly recommended are the V.O.C. (Genever, Swedish rum, Lillet, lemon & angostura), which was very complex with herbal notes - let it warm up for the full effect - and the Golden Dog, a rich yet slightly sweet drink with Talisker 10 year old scotch, Lillet, Benedictine, apricot liqueur & angostura. El Guero shows off the lighter side of mezcal - another drink to start with. Meanwhile, if you're feeling adventurous, try one of the Barrel-Aged Cocktails - when we were in they were serving a rich, terrific Solera-Aged White Dog Manhattan.

A word on the pairing boards - they can be hit or miss. If you're looking for a high wire act, this is where you'll find it. Burrata and gin? Lamb neck and rye? Sweetbreads and calvados? The last one we tried over the summer and it was discordant. More recently, it was uni and sherry - yes that again, it's a theme at The Beagle. The sherry was good, a manzanilla from Manuel Cuevas, though the uni that came with it was on the meager side.

Sherry cocktails, attention to detail and barrel-aged drinks. That's a recipe for success and we'll happily occupy a stool anytime one is open. Maybe it's not the most famous place in the in town, but, somehow The Beagle stands on its own. And that's really saying something.

The Tippler

2011-10-18T19:48:45Z

NYC has a new heavyweight entrant to the cocktail bar scene - The Tippler (425 W. 15th Street), a subterranean hideaway opened by the Tippling Bros aka Tad Carducci and Paul Tanguay. Up till now, they have consulted around town but this is the first standalone venture opened by the duo. And what a spot it is - a sprawling former storage basement underneath the foodie paradise & media hub known as the Chelsea Market.

Nothing can prepare you for the two story descent off the street or the large, heretofore disused space in such a prime location. The room is momentarily disorienting so head for the bar, which is carefully woven into the structural beams along one side of the space, or grab a table under the archways across from the bar.

The menu is large - more than two dozen cocktails plus numerous wines and craft beers - but the care put into everything is clearly evident. Of the many cocktails we sampled, most were very good and the couple that didn't quite reach that standard were nevertheless interesting. Drinks follow the current trend of being layered with sometimes competing flavors, using artisanal bitters and unusual ingredients (hops, chiles, malt).

The Dizzy Oaxacan (Sombra mezcal, Averna amaro, grapefruit, lemon, ginger beer and chile) had a light touch, slightly sweet but the mezcal's smokiness came through nicely. The Improved Improved Wisecracker (Ron Zacapa, Meletti amaro, demerara, lemon, harissa) had a nice savory quality, while he Crippler (WhistlePig rye, J.M overproof rhum, Stroh Jagertee, Fidencio mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, bbq bitters) landed on right side of vanilla and caramel thanks to its surprising mix of ingredients, and the Spazerac (Redemption rye, sugar, Peychaud's bitters, absinthe, sacrilege) was okay but a little heavy on the absinthe. On the other hand, the delicious Stool pigeon (Pierre Ferrand cognac, amontillado sherry, orange curacao, blackberries, Peychaud's bitters) had a nice salty quality from the sherry. Curly and the Turk (G'Vine gin, curacao, lemon, hibiscus, chile, Moroccan bitters) was a bit odd and was best served by stirring until it achieved a bloody mary-like effect. Lastly, the Wise Cold Sage (J.M white rhum agricole, Creole Shrubb, grapefruit, sage, sirop de cann) was a nice balance of rum and fruit, while the Marauder of 15th Street (El Jimador tequila, sloe gin chile) was an excellent top-off to the night.

This may not necessarily come as a surprise, but The Tippler simply annihilates all its "competition" in the Meatpacking wasteland. It's reassuring that ambition still has a place in that part of town and even better, that a place this good has plenty of room for both scenesters and more serious cocktail aficionados.

This Bird Don't Fly

2011-09-27T20:29:43Z

Midtown is hardly known as a cocktail destination, though the odd exception does pop up like Lantern's Keep, so we were intrigued when speakeasy in the sky J Bird opened up at 251 W. 48th Street.

For starters, let's just say most of the fun is getting there - you enter a service area and an elevator operator whisks you up to the rooftop lounge XVI - from there you follow the birds in the hallway, go through a door, down the steps and make a left, go through another door and find yourself in the "secret" lounge. The space is large - don't let the website fool you with talk of being intimate or having limited reservations - with a large square bar at the entrance and two seating areas under a covered skylight. A view of the Hudson makes the western side the best place to sit, besides the bar, though be forewarned that the space is littered with tiny cocktail tables that barely hold drinks and are too low for the seats.

The drinks? Well, let's start with the absurd price of $16 per cocktail. This sort of pricing is egregious and far above what other, better cocktail dens charge. Should we pay a premium for some difficult to find space run by less-than-household name cocktailians in Midtown? Certainly not.

The menu is large with lots of infusions and syrups - our recommendation is to talk extensively with the bartender about sweetness level and flavor profiles as the flavors can be surprising. The best drink was the Moon on the Rain, (Calvados VSOP, Dubonnet and quince gastrique) that was rich and pleasantly Dubonnet forward, followed by La Rosita (Anejo tequila, Antica Vermouth & Campari) - the Campari perfectly balanced out the tequila. The Coco Viejo was Zacapa rum infused with coco and coffee beans, cane syrup and grapefruit bitters - a strong coffee flavor that thankfully mellowed somewhat with ice. Not unpleasant but for a particular palate, not to mention it overwhelmed other drinks on the table. Worst was the Brush on the Bush (Anejo tequila, mezcal, cherry bark, sage agave nectar & vanilla bitters), which buried the mezcal in sweetness even though we were assured it was a smoky drink. The staff raved about The Maddow, a gin cocktail overwhelmed by elderflower, and not likely to be favored by its TV star namesake. Were any of these drinks worth $16? Nope.

Aside from the pricing, the other thing to watch out for is the 20% service charge tacked on every check - making the drinks $19! While we always tip 20% or more, we found this to be shady - when the credit card bill comes, there is a section for tip and no doubt many people have added on extra without needing to. While the service charge should be clearly stated, it wasn't on the menu and the bartender did not state it, so it left us with a bad impression.

Frankly, there is little to recommend a trip to JBird - certainly it hasn't caught on by the looks of the empty room on a recent night. Shockingly, they are threatening more of these places. Unfortunately, his bird is more of a turkey. And we all know they don't fly.

Teething Pains at the Cannibal and St. Anselm

2011-09-23T17:26:53Z

This week Sam Sifton awarded St. Anselm (355 Metropolitan Ave) a deserved one star for the mostly delicious food coming off its grill but we were puzzled by his decision not to highlight the wine program, which is one of the most exciting lists for wine geeks to come along in some time. Sadly, the list suffers due to the lack of a sommelier and the fact that the staff has not tasted most of the wines. So obscure bottles from geeky producers such as Scholium Project (likely the city's largest collection of these wines), Radikon, Gravner and more get short shrift since there is no one to sell the wines. If you just want a glass, the short list includes a very good '03 Tissot Vin Jaune and a Damijan "orange wine," among other selections. But if you want to delve further into the list, you might want to do your research ahead of time.

Even shakier is The Cannibal (113 E. 29th Street) from the same folks as Resto. This hybrid beer store/restaurant is an odd duck and not entirely successful. The night we were in, the food was okay (pates and various meats) but not memorable while the staff was a mess. Food was misplaced, bers could not be properly described and the menus did not list what was on tap, a key issue when you're paying upwards of $10 (!) for a craft beer. Tastes were provided, which was appreciated, but if we have to ask repeatedly which beer we're drinking and the answer still remains a mystery, that's a problem. The wine program is better than expected but they were inflexible when asked if half-glasses could be combined into a flight (no button for open wine on the iPad?)

Oh and about those iPads. If it takes longer than the normal processing time for a transaction, fancy technology is not improving the customer experience.

NY Craft Beer Week + Oktoberfest

2011-09-14T21:37:04Z

As the weather cools, our thoughts turn to beer. Okay, not really. We like beer any time. But the beer gods have bequeathed this a special time of year.

For the Deutschophile, mid-September means the start of Oktoberfest. A good place to start off the celebration - which goes until the first Sunday in October - will be Loreley Williamsburg (64 Frost Street, Loreleynyc.com), where Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will be tapping a keg of HB Oktoberfest beer just like they do in Munich to kick off the festivities. Show up at 3pm for a free mug of beer. Both Loreley locations will have 4 different Oktoberfest brews on draft.

NYC Beer Week starts on Friday and runs until September 25 with special events and tastings around town. Once again, they are selling a $10 Beer Passport that gets you $3 pours at well over 100 NYC bars. More info and a full list of the numerous events at NYCBeerWeek.com.

Last Night at M. Wells

2011-09-01T15:27:13Z

While not quite Marienbad, the last night at M. Wells did have a slightly surreal quality - a mix of industry folk and devoted followers lined up outside the battered diner on the corner of obscure and nowhere in Long Island City, ready to dive once more into an order of bone marrow and snails. Surprisingly it was our first and only visit to this now legendary institution - one which we had imagined to be found at the end of some epic journey, surrounded by a sea of taxi lots and the remnants of industry, rather than just steps from the 7 train two stops removed from Manhattan.

But accessibility did not break the illusion that this was something odd, not quite great but still some kind of wonderful in a distinctly 21st century, non John Hughes way. Legendarily lax on the service side though it may have been - we saw some evidence of that but also had incredibly cheery and accommodating interactions with several staff members - and a supremely tight fit, M. Wells was a place for rich cooking and bold flavors. And we can't say it disappointed on that front.

Now this being a booze column, you'll likely want a round-up of spirits and notes on wine. We can't really judge a place on its last night as the list was no longer complete - what we did see looked good and we managed quite well, but a request for another bottle of a certain wine was met with an apology. We had drunk the last one, something that was just right given the circumstances. We did try a couple drinks - the Defenestration was a nicely aromatic yet somehow lacking, its mix of cognac, cocchi americano, punt e mes and benedictine not quite coming together, while the Glimmer, gin, aperol, licor 43, cava and orange blossom developed a kind of bubble gum-y quality enhanced by the fizzy cava. Interesting and not unpleasant.

But M. Wells was about the food - the bone marrow, the giant pieces of meat, putting foie on everything. It was comfort and excess all in one, an ode to times full of uncertainty where corporate profits break records but regular folk are left out and just want something that's, well, a bit different. The superstar sadly wasn't the bone marrow, which was sampled a few times and only half delivered due in part to underwhelming snails, but the surprising General Tso sweetbreads. This was a sweetbreads dish for those who are afraid of the ingredient and would rather pretend it were chicken. Or more simply, crack for foodies. Also excellent was the beef tongue salad, great big chunks of tongue over greens, and the chix fried schwab - though you had to watch for the funky bits. This is post-modern cooking which means you can always expect funky bits.

All was topped off by an unbelievable banana cream pie. Pillowly soft and deliciously decadent, it was the perfect accompaniment to the staff conga line that bounced through the tiny space. Last night indeed.

A Tertulia Snapshot

2011-08-25T16:19:35Z

The latest culinary hotspot to land in NYC is Tertulia (359 6th Ave), an Asturias-inspired casual Spanish restaurant inhabiting the former home of the West Village's La Palapa. We slipped in early on night, barely avoiding the crush at the door, and found two plush barstools waiting. From this vantage point, we watched two women churn out tapas near the window while a line of people formed behind us. Note to New Yorkers - if you want a seat right now, get there early. Beyond the bar, the space is divided into two cramped rooms with an open kitchen in the back.

Happily ensconced at the bar, we quickly learned that they are still overwhelmed from last week's opening and have some work to do. The opening enu was somewhat cut down - supply issues were blamed - and wines by the glass were not printed but posted on a blackboard in the back of the front room, all but impossible to see from our vantage point. We tried some Raventos Blanc De Nit cava and some cider from the taps installed in the large oak cask sitting next tot the bar. The cava was good if pricey ($14) while the cider was something of a revelation - a cloudy yellow in color, complex with a hint of fruit and a bit of earthiness. The sizing will throw you off at first - $4 for 3 ounces - but the portion size keeps the cider fresh. A rose from the tap was advertised as more earthy than its counterpart in the bottle but we didn't really taste it. Sangria was flowing freely while we were there but otherwise there are no cocktails yet. Seven sherries are available as well, which we plan on delving into at some later date.

The food has some items of note and a lot that will be familiar to fans of Chef/Owner Seamus Mullen's cooking. Recommended starters include a very good tortilla espanola and the delicious tosta matrimonio, black and white anchovies over creamy sheep's milk cheese with roasted tomatoes. Less exciting were the lamb meatballs, which had a nice tangy tomato sauce but needed more oomph, and the grilled octopus which, along with its sliced potato accompaniments, lacked seasoning, not to mention the apple which really added nothing to the dish. Not to be missed is the Arroz a la Plancha, a medley of mushrooms, snails, calasparra rice, celery and fennel topped with pieces of Iberico ham. The nice crust the rice gains from the plancha brings the dish an extra layer of flavor. And for those leery of snails, they are chopped into very small pieces so as not to disturb any delicate sensibilities.

Tertulia has the makings of a good neighborhood spot in an under-populated stretch of Sixth Avenue - once the crush moves on to the next hotspot. In the meantime, get there early if you want a seat at the bar.

The Bar at the Modern Reaches New Heights

2011-08-22T17:04:44Z

Danny Meyer restaurants are known for service, attention to detail and devotion to great ingredients, but often overlooked are the beverage programs. Sure the group has published a book of cocktail recipes, but no one ever seems to talk about their cocktails.

One place we've never failed to have a well made drink is the Bar Room at The Modern (9 W. 53rd Street) and a recent visit introduced us to a modern version of the Bronx cocktail called "The Heights." Incredibly aromatic and herbaceous, this layered drink worked very well with the charcuterie and Alsatian-style menu. The base of the cocktail is Ransom Old Tom style gin, which is more malty than the cleaner modern gins, and Ramazzotti Amaro, an Italian bitter. The grapefruit juice and grapefruit bitters work in harmony to enhance the botanicals and give the drink unexpected depth of flavor. Here's the complete recipe:

The Heights, courtesy The Modern

1oz Ransom Gin

1oz Ramazzotti Amaro

1oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth

1oz Grapefruit Juice

4 dashes A.B. Smeby Spiced Grapefruit Bitters

Combine all ingredients with ice in a shaker and stir well. Strain and serve into a martini glass. Garnish with grapefruit twist.