Recently in News Category

A new Gallup poll shows that 67% of Americans consider themselves "drinkers," the highest level in 25 years. Gallup says the number of drinkers remains "remarkably stable" but we have to disagree. The gap between the low of 55% and a high of 71% is pretty sizable. Interestingly, one look at the graph shows a real correlation between times of crisis and turmoil and high drinking rates. 1945 - 46 were highs - presumably GIs coming home celebrating but also coping with the toll of the war - as were the 1970s, which were economically difficult, not to mention reeling from Vietnam and Watergate. In the midst of the Clinton boom, drinking rates were lower, while with the arrival of George W. Bush, 9/11 and uncertainty, the rate hovered in the mid-60s. Not surprisingly, the current recession has pushed the percentage up though not to the 1978 peak. Not yet anyway.

Not much has gone right for New York State since David Paterson became our hapless governor, however one legacy he may yet leave behind is finally allowing wine sales in supermarkets, if today's New York Post is to be believed. This would be a welcome development and really change the wine-selling landscape. Let's hope that the state's budget crisis lets this finally happen.

The space below Corner Shop Cafe at 643 Broadway has long been a part of NYC's nightlife, in spite of the innocent looking street level cafe. It's always been about the subterranean level even back in the day when both Walt Whitman and Mark Twain supposedly drank there. Years later the space was home to the notorious gay club Mr. Black. Most recently, it was never-quite-open speakeasy Woodson and Ford. We wrote about Woodson and Ford many moons ago but it never technically opened and the principals dispersed to other ventures including Rye House.

Yesterday, courtesy of a horrendously long and stuffy Community Board 2 meeting, we learned the fate of the space. A very earnest former dancer named Leslie has taken over both the cafe and basement space. The basement is slated to be a lounge, but a place that attracts artists, dancers and "freethinkers" rather than rowdy crowds. Leslie and her associate, who says he has worked at places like the Waldorf and the Plaza, pledge no promoters, loud music, velvet rope or bouncers. The neighbors weren't quite buying it - typically new owners get blamed for previous bad ones at these meetings - but we think the new owner will win them over. As long as she has a good bartender and eschews the bouncer, she should be in good shape.

In other CB 2 news, good luck to the guys who want to take over the Lola space - they plan a pizzeria/upscale Patsies type joint. Not exactly a Soho special. The Snack Taverna guys want to open a place called Barcar, which will have 12 seats plus 6 at the bar. The CB folks were very curious how they were gonna make money. And Charles owner Cobi Levy took the heat for the failures of Beatrice Inn. Hey CB 2, it's not his fault you approved a license in the space to a fake restaurant cum club - Levy insisted they didn't use the kitchen ever, except perhaps as a drug den. He pledged to work with the community, open a Spanish resto with a real chef that he won't name because the bloggers would ruin it (lol) and fix the various building issues.

After one of these mind numbing CB meetings, you really wonder why anyone would open a restaurant or bar in NYC.

Here comes state budget time and that means you'll likely have to pay more for booze in New York State. The dysfunctional folks in Albany are once again trying to raise taxes on beer, wine and liquor. The Daily News reports that beer taxes may go up $.10 a bottle and wine $.50. These are the excise taxes on the alcohol itself, not to be confused with the sales tax you pay when you buy the booze, which basically means we are paying double tax. Double tax for poor representation, just another benefit of living in good ole New York.

At least they are still trying to get wine in liquor stores. That plan fizzled last year though Gov. Patterson wants to revive it. Perhaps he'll even bump up his approval ratings - Crain's reports that 58% of New Yorkers want the option to buy wine in grocery stores.

One of the big problems with the cocktail scene is that places get packed and you can find yourself waiting an hour or more to get in. Worse yet, most don't take reservations, especially if you are just two. Considering the outside temps these days, waiting on the sidewalk is not really an option either.

One place has decided to go the reservation route, at least early in the week. Raines Law Room is now taking reservations Sunday - Tuesday. You need to email reservations@raineslawroom.com by 3pm day of with a phone number they can reach you at. Weds through Saturday is still first come, first served.

But surely you say, it's January and pretty slow - perfect to slip into a cocktail bar. Uh, not so fast. Early last week we tried to get into PDT but found it impossible while Death & Co quoted us a wait of 45 minutes. Even newbie Mayahuel was packed with only a couple of open tables. We're talking 8pm on a weeknight between the holidays and everything was jammed. So our recommendation is email Raines Law Room if you're heading out early in the week.

Tasting Table today reports that Brooklyn beer emporium Bierkraft (191 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn) has received a liquor license and now serves beer in store - try one of 13 draft beers, pick up a growler or just pop open one of those 1,000 bottles of beer with impunity, SLA be damned.

We never understood the silly wall that exists between retail and drinking establishments, but are certainly pleased to see it breached.

It's just been announced that Chef Ryan Skeen is out at Allen & Delancey. Though this happened yesterday, news only leaked out today that he was fired by email. Classy.

Given the number of chefs who have gone through that place, not to mention Skeen's peripatetic nature, who knows who is to blame for this... At this point, Boozy NYC is ready to write A& D off.

Take it away Paul...

Brooklyn Brewery is expanding production capacity and has just received a grant of $800,000 from New York State. The grant will help start the $6.5 million renovation that will allow for a tremendous increase in production - from 8,000 barrels annually to 50,000 - not to mention the creation of 15 permanent jobs and installation of solar panels on the roof.

See? We told you beer was good.

Daily Candy today introduces the world to the Accidental Wine Company - a website that sells wine bottles that have damaged or discontinued labels at prices from 20 - 40% off. Companies generally can't sell wines with damaged, smudged or poorly aligned labels so now these folks have procured the wines to sell to you in themed packs of 3, 6, or 12.

The only problem is if you like a wine you get, you have to order a minimum 6 bottles of it the next time, assuming they have it. But at these prices, who can complain?

The FTC has clarified those incredibly vague, seemingly ominous rules about disclosure for bloggers - they will not go after blogs but rather the "advertisers" and they don't impose fines anyway. "We've never brought a case against somebody simply for failure to disclose a material connection," says the FTC. People who run afoul of the regulations can be fined as part of a court action but since these are not laws but just guidelines, any enforcement at all seems unlikely. Certainly food & booze bloggers can happily go on accepting free stuff. Further details at PRNewser.

Listen up bloggers and food writers - the FTC has revised rules governing "endorsements" and other forms of writing that are basically considered reviews. In short, if you get something for free (or are paid) and then endorse it in any format, including blogs, you have to state you were paid or got it gratis. For example, if we get something for free - BoozyNYC does not take free meals but sometimes get product samples - we are required to disclose this.

From the FTC themselves:

"The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that "material connections" (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers - connections that consumers would not expect - must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other "word-of-mouth" marketers."

More details here (short version) and here (super long version). In reality this will be hard to police since it relies on people to file complaints. But if someone does and you are guilty of non-disclosure, you can be fined. No word yet on how draconian fines will be.

Sorry folks, the excise tax on wine is rising - in New York it is going up 11 cents per gallon while in New Jersey it has gone up 25% on wine and liquor. The good news is the charge is levied by the gallon so your favorite bottle should not go up by more than a few cents, if at all. Of course NYC sales tax also went up so we have a double whammy. Wine Spectator reports some other states have been hit too with this sin tax.

In the bizarro story of the week, The New York Times is getting into the wine business! That's right, you can join the wine club and get a selection of wines for $90 or $180. The wines are actually going to be provided by the Global Wine Company, which promises to focus on small and boutique wineries. Oh, and they promise editorial separation so they won't appear to be pushing wines from the newspaper. We'll see how that goes.

Clearly the world needs more awards, especially ones celebrating the cocktail, and Tales of the Cocktail has dutifully delivered. Without further ado, this year's winners of the Spirit Awards:

· World's Best Drinks Selection
WINNER - Merchant Hotel, Belfast
· Best American Cocktail Bar
WINNER - Pegu Club, NYC
· World's Best Cocktail Bar
WINNER - PDT, NYC
· World's Best New Cocktail Bar
WINNER - Clover Club, Brooklyn
· World's Best Hotel Bar
WINNER - Merchant Hotel, Belfast
· American Bartender of the Year
WINNER - James Meehan, PDT
· International Bartender of the Year
WINNER - Tony Conigliaro
· Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
WINNER - The Essential Cocktail - Dale DeGroff
· Best Cocktail Writing
WINNER - Dave Wondrich
· Best New Product
WINNER - Bols Genever
· World's Best Cocktail Menu
WINNER - Merchant Hotel, Belfast
· Best American Brand Ambassador
WINNER - Simon Ford, Plymouth Gin and Pernod Ricard

If you ask us, some of these categories look redundant or strangely exclusive - shouldn't the world's best cocktail bar also be the best American bar by default? As for the place in Belfast, really Belfast? Guess we'll have to put it on a future travel itinerary.

It's not a trend until the New York Times kills it and today is no different - William "Biff" Grimes reports that there are speakeasies breaking out all across this country. Dag nab it, places without signs serving booze. Wow! Don't tell the authorities or they will shut them down.

If you're dumb as dirt or two years behind the times, this article will catch you up. Otherwise, it's just another example of how pointless the Times has become.

Crains NY is reporting that Brooklyn brewery co-founder Tom Potter is raising money to open the New York Distilling Co. somewhere in Brooklyn next year. The distillery plans to make both gin and whiskey, mainly from local and organic ingredients. It also plans to be open for tours that showcase the distilling and tasting process. Whether he can raise the $2 million is up for debate but it would be rather cool to have the city's first distillery since Prohibition.

On the heels of Bartender Wars, The StrongBuzz today is reporting about another casting call - this time in LA - for a "Culinary/Catering" reality show.

Yup, just what we need, another cast of "motley" misfits. They are looking for sous chefs, pastry chefs, designers and a mixologist. This just speaks for itself: "MIXOLOGIST- 'state of the art' bartender- Molecular Mixologist/Alcohol Alchemist a plus." No word if they provide the lasers, vacuum machine and liquid nitro but we bet there will be plenty of booze to foster bickering and late night hook-ups.

Interested parties should send a picture, resume and bio to info@castingduo.com

Surprises and contentious moments abounded at last night's Community Board 2 meeting. Biggest of all was the curve ball thrown by the Martignetti brothers. Seems they want to split their liquor license and hold onto the basement club while giving over the ground floor to Cafe Noir... Except it's not Cafe Noir! Instead, Burak Karacam, managing partner of Pera, was before the board to apply for the license the Martignettis want to relinquish on the first floor - in addition to applying for a license for a new Pera at 54 Thompson. The folks from Cafe Noir were nowhere in sight and didn't answer the call, likely signaling the end of the road for that rumored takeover.

Unfortunately for the attending brother, Tom Martignetti, the knives came out almost immediately. After several minutes explaining the idea of splitting a license and then bringing in someone else to run the restaurant independently, we witnessed a fascinating (not) discussion of ingress and egress. But lo the board was confused by this idea of two separate joints. Who's the other guy (Burak) and is this legal they asked. How did you get a license in the first place - did you apply as one entity, etc etc. Poor Tom stumbled along as they failed to grasp what he was saying - he didn't express the idea clearly enough to my mind but I still understood the point  A vociferous board member signaled it would be a rough ride though, launching into a speech that there were too many liquor licenses in the area and that even if they rescinded one, they should not issue more than a beer & wine license. Then came the neighbors.

We've had Top Chef, Chopped and a ton of reality cooking shows but surprisingly no booze fests... until now. Announcing "Bartender Wars" airing soon on Fine Living Network.

Right now they are casting for the show - from the website:

"Great bartenders have to employ a variety of skills - from mixologist to psychologist - and now Fine Living Network wants bartenders in the New York metro area to put those skills to the test! We're looking for bartenders in the New York/Tri-State area to feature on "Bartender Wars," an upcoming FLN series where they are the stars of the show. Participating bartenders will go head to head with each other and frequently enlist their patrons in a variety of bartending challenges, from the simple to the outlandish."

If you feel you have the chops to compete, visit their website and fill out the form. Casting ends on 4/17.