December 5, 2008
Where to celebrate fall
Holiday cheer
Time to get serious. No more moseying around town in flip-flops and T-shirts. It's fall -- the city's best season, when there's electricity in the air and a purposeful stride in the streets. So, pull yourself together, dress yourself up and take yourself out for a glamorous drink. Here's where to go.
West. If ever there was a place that personified style, West is it. The bar is all sleek slate walls, Mies chairs, and huge windows. And what do you see from those windows? Ignore the West Side highway and take in the river and the sunsets. Now, that's a view. (425 West Street; 212-242-4375)
Pegu Club. They take their drinks seriously here, so be a little adventuroius. The place is upstairs, a sexy-looking low-lit room with banquettes and a classic bar, from which they dispense delicately flavored house cocktails sided with dropper bottles of bitters, lime juice, and the like, so you can adjust the flavor to suit yourself. Good snacks, too. (77 West Houston Street; 212-473-7348)
Spice Market. Jean-George Vongerichten's ode to the Orient has a buzzy bar that's usually jammed with Downtowners -- of both the Wall Street and TriBeCa variety. The house drink is a concoction of passion fruit juice and champagne, but before it goes to your head, take a seat and order a snack or two. ( 403 West 13th Street; 212- 675-2322)
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Blue Bar at The Algonquin Hotel. Grow up, or at least act that way. The famous bar at the famous hotel is a sophisticated place for an early evening drink. The courtly, old-fashioned waiters suit the place perfectly, and the chocolate martinis are justifiably popular. (59 West 44th Street; 212-840-6800)
The Campbell Apartment is as good as it ever was, high above Grand Central with plenty of style. Order up one of the house's perfect Manhattans and think about the Jazz Age. (15 Vanderbilt Avenue; 212-953-0409)
Library Bar. It may be the perfect place to while away a chilly evening: a huge, welcoming fireplace, comfy leather sofas and chairs, and a billiard table. Then, of course, there are the drinks: the season's muddled wine -- a spicy mix of red wine, orange juice, and cointreau -- goes down like water. (Hudson Hotel, 356 West 58th Street; 212-554-6343)
Flute. Bubbly is the drink, and you can choose from 100 Champagnes and sparkling wines by the bottle, 15 of them by the glass, all served in a room that was once a speakeasy. Feeling a little hungry? There's always caviar. (205 West 54th Street; 212-265-5169
Mixx it!