NY Barfly

Sasha in Boston / SLA wants to hear from YOU.

2009-11-13T07:27:00-08:00

-Is Sasha Petraske cheating on New York? Fork in the Road has word that he is working with the W Hotels to spread his drink. His new spot, called Descent, is set to open in Boston early next year. We don’t take it personally that he is dabbling in other cities. Those Boston folks can use some cocktail gussying up (or, as they would say “dude, like, give us some wicked drinks”).

-Looks like the SLA is taking comments. Are the fun police warming up? Perhaps – if you follow Grub Street’s instructions and write the State Liquor Authority your thoughts in an email. Item one: why don’t hot dog vendors sell malt liquor?

-Oh, wait, Time Out’s The Feed reports that maybe the city is closer to liquor vendors that we thought. Ketel One is sponsoring a late night (from midnight to 2 AM) food cart on December 3^rd – 5^th. They’re not giving away vodka. Instead, it’s free burgers and kebabs for the drunken hordes. Bring a flask, share it, and you’ll be the mayor of those hordes for 2 glorious hours.

Guide to Drinking in the Winter

2009-11-12T12:40:00-08:00

Time Out has a handy dandy guide to drinking it up when it gets cold out. Luckily, it’s been pretty warm so far, but you might need to use their tips for hot winter drinks or bars near subways (minimize your exposure!) once it gets a little cooler out.

Drinking during the winter is one of the city’s great joys, followed closely by drinking in the summer, spring, and fall. We especially like going out in a snowstorm, as only the hardcore residents brave the winter precipitation to imbibe. A snowball fight quickly becomes a fancy-free ice ball / box cutter brawl in the magical winter weather.

When the frostbite starts setting in, check out Time Out’s guide here. In the meantime, you can practice by drinking Mad Dog from a paper bag while warming yourself by a hobo / trash can fire. All the cool kids are doing it!

Mechanical Bull Operator Speaks!

2009-11-12T09:46:00-08:00

What must life be like as a mechanical bull operator? You’ve got all the power, the glory, and the love of a fake electronic bull. The bull-obsessed addicts worship you. We bet there’s even a few free drinks involved.

Metromix has an interview with JR Lozada, the mechanical bull operator at Midtown haunt Johnny Utah’s. Check it out here for tales of ripped clothing, tequila shots, and loads of bull.

Hmmm – kind of makes us want to consider a new career path. In between Cheese Sommelier classes and court required debt management tutoring (that cheese is expensive!) we’ll have to find some room to take mechanical bull class.

New Secret Bar Alert!

2009-11-12T07:43:41-08:00

Grub Street loves to dole out tidbits about the newest secret bars in the city. They leaked dribs and drabs about Su Casa before it opened. Now, they have some hints about a new place. It’s on the Lower East Side and here are the clues:

It's below a Dominican restaurant and is farther east than weekend revelers usually go. To find the space, head through an unmarked door in the back of the modest dining room.

The spot sounds nice, if only because Grub Street promises $4 beers and $5 wine. The commenters are piping in with their suspicions:

My suspicion is it's the old Los Amigos Fishing & Hunting Club - a members only "secret" club that was (I believe) under El Viejo Negro, on the mysterious block of Rivington between Pitt and Ridge. Extra-mysterious because it's the one block on the LES not covered by Google Street View... Hmm... I smell a conspiracy...

Conspiracy? Who cares if the beers cost $4?

Have Whiskey for Dinner!

2009-11-11T12:54:00-08:00

Well, not quite. But a dinner next week at L’Ecole sure comes close to letting you dine on the sauce.

The restaurant, which is associated with The French Culinary institute, has partnered with The Brandy Library to present their first annual Whiskey Dinner. The event is on November 18^th, and will feature a 6 course tasting menu. Each course will be paired with a Scotch.

These librarians of brown spirits surely know their stuff. You can expect drams from distilleries like Glenfiddich and Ardmore.

The price is $175 per person, which includes tax and gratuity. It starts at 7 PM, and you can get more information here: www.frenchculinary.com/lecole.

If you go, consider skipping lunch that day. Gotta save room for the whiskey.

Where We're Headed: Supper at Minetta Tavern

2009-11-11T09:38:00-08:00

You’ve hit dinner, drinks, dessert, and dancing. Time for bed? Nope. Time for supper.

The décor isn’t the only thing inspired by the 1930’s at new incarnation of The Minetta Tavern. The West Village Restaurant serves a late-night “supper” menu. After an evening on the town, the fashionable set of the ‘30s surely didn’t head to a diner for a bagel with ham, egg and cheese. Judging by the alcohol induced smile lines on the original caricatures lining the walls, they came here.

Restaurateur Keith McNally knows how to deliver the upscale comfort food. Doesn’t some roasted bone marrow sound better than a slice from your local pizza place? That Black Label burger is surely more fulfilling than the taco truck. The restaurant serves its supper menu til 1 AM on Thursday, while 2AM is the cutoff on Friday and Saturday.

If you navigate Minetta’s supper correctly, it’s late enough for you to get your after bar fix, but early enough to stop for a nightcap before you hit the sack. If you really navigate it correctly, you’re likely to meet some other diners enjoying an after party snack. What’s all this talk about bed? Chat them up and head back out on the town.

When you finally stumble to the diner at 7 AM, that bagel will taste so good.

Holiday Cocktail Class

2009-11-11T06:08:00-08:00

On Saturday the 21^st, Acker Merrall & Condit Wine and Liquor Merchants has an awesome cocktail class on their schedule. Christmas presents are so old-economy. Now that no one can afford gifts, you can get your guests some tasty holiday libations instead.

These serve a double purpose, as they ease the pain associated with not being able to afford actual gifts.

In this Home Cocktails 101 seminar, the liquor store will feature stations on bubbly St Germain Cocktails, Holiday Grogs, Angelic and Heavenly Highballs, Minimalist Mojitos and a reinvention of that Holiday Classic-The Egg Nog.

A cheesy holiday sweater isn’t necessary to attend, but it can’t hurt.

The liquor store is located at 160 West 72^nd Street, between Broadway and Columbus.

7-Eleven's Value Wines, Convenience for Drunks

2009-11-10T09:25:00-08:00

Big Bite® hot dogs, Big Gulps®, Slurpees® and now wine for under $4.00? If Heaven is a place on Earth (and if that’s not a thought to send you straight to DrunkTown, we don’t know what is), than that place must be 7-Eleven.

Earlier this month, the convenience icon, which has more than 6000 franchises in the U.S. and Canada, announced they’re getting into the value wine business, releasing two in the United States and Japan. Sold under the Yosemite Road label, the California wines, a chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, will retail for about $3.99.

It’s a revolutionary move for this “best retailer of convenience” to be sure. Never mind the fact that Barfly has been putting exactly at least $4.00 worth of wine in our Big Gulps and Slurpees from the time we could ride without training wheels. (Sorry to steal your thunder 7-Eleven but take solace in the fact that we never capitalized on the idea.)

Experts told us that 7-Eleven’s top executive Domo, which according to Barfly’s world-renowned research team means “Drunk-o” in some Asian countries, is the brains behind this recession-foolproof way to get alcohol to those who need to drink the most – the unemployed.

And $4.00 wine, hot dogs and the next-morning requisite Pepto Bismol is not just for the unemployed, the unwashed and the ugly. Not for nothing does 7-Eleven tout itself as “A World-Class Organization” and a “culture that is based on the principles of Servant Leadership and the 7-Eleven Way.”

Coinciding with the move into the value wine business and to heighten awareness, the 7-Eleven Board of Directors spent a few minutes, taking it upon themselves to revamp the ‘three “Cs’, which defines their principle of Servant Leadership.

Taken from a press release dated November 6, 2009, is a revised edition of the 7-Eleven’s famous ‘the three “Cs”’:

7-Eleven’s ‘Servant Leadership’ is defined by ‘the three “Cs.”’ and applies not just to their commitment to their customers but also serves as their pledge to their employees as evidenced below:

∑ Capacity: What you can do to drink/remain in poverty.
∑ Commitment: What you want to do to stay drunk/remain in poverty.
∑ Character: What you will do to get and stay drunk/remain in poverty.

All of which is precisely why Barfly is a proprietor and a proponent of this marketing move to bring wine to the masses. Well, that and the fact that sometimes it’s just convenient to get sauced, hungover and recover at the same location – in the parking lot or on the sidewalk in front of your local 7-Eleven.

And with an ideology like ‘Servant Leadership’ it makes it easy to see how 7-Eleven has thrived and prospered, not to mention has ‘World Power’ potential. Can you say Domo for Prez 2012?

Now if they’d only sell those little travel pillows…

Free Tequila at a Harlem Speakeasy

2009-11-10T06:09:00-08:00

Mark your calendars, boys and girls. Next Tuesday is free tequila day in Harlem. From 7 – 9:30 PM, 67 Orange Street will serve up complimentary Tequila cocktails, courtesy of Partida. The bar and the spirits company have joined forces to “educate” their customers about good tequila.

That sounds like the type of learning that we can enjoy. Much better than all that “life skills” nonsense they are teaching the kids these days.

The speakeasy is located at 2082 Frederick Douglas Boulevard, and the event is November 17^th. And you say we never do anything for you (to thank us for the tip, you can buy us tequila at another date).

Worst Nights in NYC / The Feedbag Goes Bye Bye

2009-11-09T13:07:00-08:00

-Eater has a good list of the worst nights to go out in New York. Topping the list are New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween. Funny, we just realized what all of these nights have in common: people from New Jersey.

-Citysearch’s The Feedbag joined the bloggy graveyard last week. We considered proposing a moment of silence, but decided that loudly scarfing a hamburger would be a more fitting tribute.

-Fork in the Road has a look at some dude who earned a PhD in bar culture. We always requested that people call us Doctor, but we never realized that there is an actual certification!

250 Years of Tequila

2009-11-09T09:51:00-08:00

Last week saw the passage of a very important anniversary. A tequila one.

On November 2, 1758, King Carlos IV of Spain granted Don José Antonio de Cuervo a plot of land in the region of Tequila where the Jose Cuervo distillery, La Rojeña, still stands today.

And, why is this not a national holiday? That makes Cuervo Tequila 250 years old. Gee, what do you get someone for their 250^th?We're guessing paper, silver, and gold have all already been given. Perhaps an iPhone?

Nah – we’re thinking of something a little more liquid. To celebrate, the spirits maker came up with a limited edition label. There are only 495 bottles of Jose Cuervo Aniversario in the world.

Each bottle is hand blown and individually numbered. More importantly, each comes with its own lock and key. Good, as you friends need to keep their grubby hands off this, especially because it costs $2,250 a pop.

Guess it’s not too early to start thinking about what we will get tequila for its 300^th anniversary.

Manhattan Smackdown Tonight!

2009-11-09T06:35:00-08:00

Tonight, the bourbon heavyweights are coming together for the ultimate cocktail competition. The Manhattan Experience pits eight bartenders against each other. The goal? To mix the perfect variation of this classic cocktail. The prize? The unyielding admiration of lushes everywhere.

The event was organized by Woodford Reserve and Esquire Magazine. We will, of course, be on hand to report. Though, it’s hard not to be biased about this one.

We’ve got to root for our home team bartender. New York’s entry is from Shawn Sugrue. His Perfect FIGure combines sweet and dry vermouth, orange bitters, and zinfandel port. It’s garnished with a fig – beat that other cities!

We expect the toughest challenge to come from the Houston entry, by bartender Derek Black. His cocktail is the Maple Bacon Manhattan. How do we know this contestant will be formidable? The first ingredient in his drink is bacon infused Woodford.

Yes, we want NYC to take it, but we can’t help but drool a little.