674 Manhattan Ave  Brooklyn

On these frigidly cold past weeks I’ve seen the darkened walls of Beloved more than any others (besides my home). I need to get a few cocktails with Mike and Shaun in before leaving and beat cabin fever so the close location of this new cocktail bar is ideal.

But it’s not just proximity that makes it worth a mention, the drinks are good (the lemony DB Cooper being a personal favorite) and, at least early on in the evening (my days of bar hopping past 9pm are long gone), it’s a nice environment to relax with booze and friends.

Once a Polish-only drinking hole, Beloved fits the mold of  the “new” post-Girls Greenpoint. Sure it’s a bit predicable in its schmancy Brooklyn vibe, but it’s also inviting and will service the area’s new generation of cocktail sippers nicely.

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Posted on February 4, 2013

145 Bedford Ave

For months, nay years, we’ve been walking past the work in progress that has become Trix – deriding and speculating about what looked to be a most bizarre labor of love.

We’d spy an old guy hammering tin for weeks at a time, witnessed the sidewalk get caged in by bars, saw a stained glass window go in touting the words “go go”?

One day, sometime in year two, a small hand written sign appeared on store front eliciting help in typing a short story and we couldn’t help but wonder, what was going on with this place?

We saw innumerable places open, some even open and close by the time Trix was ready for the public and when that day finally came, we knew we had to stop in during a recent date night.

We were expecting it to be weird and it is – really weird. Like, can’t really be described weird.

It looks like an unfinished set inspired by cinema of the late 80’s and early 90’s (Beetlejuice and Cool World perhaps). There’s a mixture of the building’s history as a go-go club (hence the sign and stripper murals), art nouveau, and folksy crafts, all conjured up by the mind and artisan-ship of one particular and peculiar vision.

From a spider web sculpture above the bar to a creepy portrait of a woman that reminds me of the portrait of a dead wife one might find in a haunted house movie from the 70’s (see yawning Jim photo below), the decor is confused and bizarre.

We were thoroughly expecting to hate the place, honestly. I thought we’d share a joke about “Trix” and call it a night, but as strange as the place is, it’s also incredibly inviting, mellow, got an interesting cocktail (I had something with bison vodka and blackberries) and beer menu, and serves some of the finest, biggest oysters I’ve had in a while. Even our friends, Mike and Shaun, far harsher critics than we are enjoyed their visit.

Word is that all the food is good, and they serve brunch every single day – which is pretty genius in a neighborhood of the willfully unemployed.

The staff genuinely seems happy to be there and happy you’ve come in. To my utter surprise, I am looking forward to going back and maybe getting brunch next time.

Long live Trix! It took so long to come to the neighborhood, I hope more people discover it like I have so it sticks around. It’s not “cool” but it’s also not obnoxious like some “cool” places can get.

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Posted on June 25, 2011

44 Berry Street, Williamsburg

I have to preface that my experience of The Counting Room may be very different from yours, unless you too go to bars in the early afternoon when the neighborhood babies along with their booze starved parents take over. So don’t blame me if it’s full of techno and 19 year old jerks at midnight.

During this time, it’s a bright, lovely space with soaring ceilings, picnic tables, and chic barn light fixtures.

I was itching for a cocktail – but those don’t make their appearance until after 6pm, so I went for the Bloody Wilbur, a bacon infused (what isn’t bacon infused at this point) bloody mary that was pretty good, but not mind blowing and very weak as far as the vodka goes.

Much more impressive was the beer list which included the incredibly tasty and surprisingly American Domaine DuPage French Style Country Ale, a brew I will be keeping my out for from now on. It won over everyone at our table.

The food was also a pleasant surprise. Going far beyond expected bar food that can taste like an after thought, everything we tried was excellent: a well adorned sopressata sandwich on criso French bread, and yummy, slightly lemony deviled eggs.

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Posted on January 30, 2011

From the Pickle Makers

Wow, this McClure’s Bloody Mary Mixer (perfect for those of us that can’t drinks but like the illusion) is not for the faint hearted. All of you the poo poo bland bloodies without kick? I’d be very surprised if you could find any fault here. Even as a pickle juice drinker, I have to cut it with some seltzer (made with my new soda stream, of course).

The pickle makers concoction boasts pickle brine (not surprising) as well as tomato paste, cucumber juice and spice.

The mix is sold out on line but can be found in various local retailers and markets.

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Posted on April 25, 2010

My Mom’s Own

Inspired by a cocktail at Angel’s Share on a recent visit to the city, my mom went home and perfected her own take on the “serendipity”…
earl grey infused vodka, lillet, ginger-ale, lemon juice and a slice of lemon.

Use a measure of the infused vodka, 1/2 lillet, a squeeze of lemon juice, a slice of fresh lemon…all over ice…then fill the glass with ginger-ale.

We enjoyed this refreshing beverage all through the holidays.

Click here for the rest of The Serendipity

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Posted on January 24, 2010

Here's what I said back on January 5th:
Tales of the ill-kept secret Milk and Honey bar, where at one time you could only enter if you had been given the ever changing phone number by an already trusted regular seemed the stuff of legend and had I not known people who had actually went through the hassle of obtaining the number, I probably would have let the famously exclusive Sasha Petraske hot spot remain off my radar and to do list forever.

See, I am not one for hassle and when I heard that they had changed their policy once again to make it where only members with a special key would be able to enjoy the hallowed dim cocktail walls, I knew that Milk and Honey was just a place I'd never see the inside of.

Fortunately for me, though, good friends are among the few who nabbed a key and they were kind enough to invite us there on Jim's Birthday. In a time when “speak easy” is the trend for drinking, this place trumps them all, as it should since it started the whole thing. The entrance is truly nondescript, even a bit sketchy: an unmarked beaten up thick gray steel door in a quiet apartment building, as you walk in you half expect that there's been some mistake and you'll end up in a stranger's living room past the thick curtains.

In fact, the space is not much larger than a living room and the ambiance is minimal: the lights are very dark, the booths are a bit battered and cozy, the music soft. I can't imagine the place would make any sort of real impression on those expecting a level of fanciness for all the secrecy, particularly if those lights were turned all the way up.

But superfluous decoration is beside the point of Milk and Honey, a bar truly and utterly devoted to the notion of substance over style. The experience here is about a civilized environment in which to enjoy perfect cocktails. Plus these expertly cocktails all cost $9; a price which is a steal compared to the $11-13 that absolutely everyone seems to think they can charge these days.

There are no crowds here and to our surprise, no menus either. You simply tell your kind and knowledgeable waiter what sort of drink you fancy and they come back with a custom made concoction. I opted for bourbon, starting with a frothy ginger spiced highball and moving on to a simplified take on the old fashioned. Jim found happiness in his beloved Chicago fizz.

It's a strange place in theory. In some ways it's a stand against the celebrity obsessed, over hyped bar scene. No name dropping or obnoxious behavior is tolerated, but at the same time, it's become an almost uncomfortably elitist corner of the city (in theory). After such a wonderfully pleasant evening there, however, I stepped outside and decided I may just enjoy being an elitist sometimes, so long as it means secret keys that open doors to places like Milk and Honey.

RUNNERS UP:
Voodoo Rootbeer
Agua Frescas
The Richardson
Lion's Tail
Temple Bar

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Posted on November 2, 2009

Can you fault a place for its douchey clientele? Not when it's The Rusty Knot, which serves such a delightful menu. There are few places that offer so many of my favorite things: spicy beer (cerveza Cubana, their refreshing and flavorful take on the michelada) and sides of pickles and oysters; even in a sea of pleated khakis, halter tops and going-out-pants, we had a great time.

The interior is tight with only a few coveted tables (one of which we hogged for hours) and a stupidly large pool table taking up most of the largest room. The theme is big-time nautical with a Polynesian twist, expect Tiki cups and lots of wood paneling; the drinks are cheap (regular beers start at 99 cents) and the general mood is low key, but any sense of divey-ness is carefully fabricated – the gentlemen behind the popular hangout come from Freeman's, Milk and Honey, The Spotted Pig, and Momofuku; a group well versed in what's hip and how to convey it without seeming to try too hard.

It's a skill that's made them very rich I'm sure, and I don't mind adding to their coffers when they're serving such yummy snacks and drinks – but next time I'll make a wiser decision than to go so close to the meatpacking district on a Saturday evening.

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Posted on August 17, 2009

The Flatiron District isn't an area of the city that I might expect to find a decent, sophisticated cocktail spot not marred by bland ambiance and overwhelmingly lame and obtrusive clientele, but then I found the truly impressive Flatiron Lounge. Flatiron began pouring high end cocktails towards the beginning of the trend and feels comfortably lived-in with its art deco inspired interior and restored wooden bar. While seats may become hard to come by as the night wears on and on weekends, after work our group was able to snag a corner booth – and I find booths most conducive to indulging in whiskey concoctions.

The drinks I tried were both whiskey based and excellently mixed but the menu changes often and I can't ind a current menu to let you know what I had by name, but if you go for lemony and whiskey I can promise it will be wonderful. Nothing on the three page menu that interests you? Jim ordered off menu requesting a fizz and the guy made it special for him.?

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Posted on July 13, 2009

? Why do I mention it now?

Because you really have to have one drink up here once a summer and summer will be over before you know it.

Here's what I said back on 9/11/06:

The view: divine. The crowd: civilized. The drinks: well made. Grabbing a drink after work with friends on the lovely rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum is a certain must before it closes for the season. Equally fun is the nearly empty walk through the museum on the way out.

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Posted on June 15, 2009