best cocktail lounge

Harry's Bar Wins Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge

Filed under: Spirits

Harry's Bar in Paris wins Luxist Awards readers' choice award for best cocktail lounge

No matter what country they're from, everyone seems to love Harry's New York Bar, a Paris venue that is the winner of the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

Since 1911, Harry's New York Bar has been mixing masterpieces for Parisians and international celebrities like Ernest Hemingway, FDR and the Duke of Windsor. The expatriate community is celebrated and encouraged there -- a somewhat atypical attitude in Paris -- and the bar is adoringly referred to as "Sank Roo Doe Noo," which is what the address sounds like if your French is terrible.

The bar is in the style of a proper classic cocktail venue; the main wooden bar is cozy and intimate, the walls are layered with college football pennants and black and white photos, the ceiling is dark and ornate, the downstairs piano bar is sultry and sophisticated and the lighting is warm and low. Be sure and take note of the Scottish crests on the walls; the original owner, American star jockey Tod Sloan, hired Scotsman Harry McElhone to run his "New York Bar," and he left his mark everywhere including the neon marquis out front.

Gallery: Harry's New York Bar in Paris

Woman enjoying a Sidecar at Harry's Bar in Paris

Harry's New York Bar has the distinguished distinction of (and our eternal gratitude for) having invented the Bloody Mary, the Sidecar and many other cocktails during their 99 year history. Perhaps one of their current concoctions will one day be as successful. Our bets are placed on the "Web Spirit" (5 cl mezcal, 2 cl cranberry juice, 1 cl lemon juice and 2 cl peach liqeuer), which they created for the launch of their website -- simple, yet devastatingly effective.

Though it's a long way to travel, you're certain to be welcomed at Harry's New York Bar -- and if you find yourself in Paris on Thanksgiving or The Fourth of July, there's no better place to be for American splendor (and drink specials).

Tags: awards-main, best cocktail lounge, cocktail lounge, Harrys bar, luxist-awards, Paris, winners-entertainment

Nominees for Best in Entertainment

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

Best Wine Bars

The first nominee offers an authentic Tuscan experience in the heart of Manhattan while the second nominee is an inviting and chic wine bar that is a favorite of San Francisco residents. The third nominee is sure to please every oenophile with its vast selection of wines from around the world while the fourth nominee offers a stunning selection and intimate ambiance with a European feel. The final nominee is a cozy, yet sophisticated establishment that attracts wine country royalty.

Accademia di Vino

Bar Bambino

The Local Vine
Mercy Wine Bar

Underwood Bar & Bistro

Best Cocktail Lounges
The first nominee is a monumental place with a magical atmosphere while the second features handcrafted liqueurs and innovative imbibables. The third nominee takes a culinary approach to the art of cocktail making while the fourth has been mixing masterpieces for Parisians and international celebrities since 1911. The final nominee is housed in a two-story barn that dates back to the 16th century England.

Best Coffeehouses
The first nominee is known for discovering unknown and exotic coffees from around the world while the second is focused on its craft of making the best coffee. The third nominee is the largest chain of coffeehouses in the world while the fourth nominee knows coffee the way oenologists know wine. The final nominee features artisan-roasted beans and single-origin coffees and teas from around the world.

Zoka

Best Hotel Bars

The first nominee offers the royal treatment and is located within one of the world's most glamorous hotels. The second nominee blends grand heritage with modern panache while the third offers spectacular service and stupendous views. The fourth nominee is a decadent, elegant and decidedly dressy bar while the final nominee is a New York landmark and iconic meeting place.

Best Brew Pubs

The first nominee is in Vemont and the only way to sample its beer is to go there yourself. The second nominee has won countless awards while the third nominee features hand-crafted beer. The fourth nominee brews its award-winning beer on the premises while many consider the beers made by the final nominee among the best in the world.

The Alchemist Pub and Brewery

Four Peaks Brewing Co.

Lost Coast Brewery

Silver City Brewery

Spuyten Duyvil

Tags: awards-main, beer, best brew pub, best cocktail lounge, best hotel bar, best wine bar, claridges, Cocktail Lounge, four seasons, Four Seasons George V, hotel, luxist-awards, Plaza Hotel, Starbucks, starbucks coffee, wine, wine bar, winners-entertainment

Flatiron Lounge: A Culinary Approach to Cocktails

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

The Flatiron Lounge in Manhattan is nominated for a Luxist Award for best cocktail lounge.

A visit to the The Flatiron Lounge is like taking a step back in time with a modern twist. While it is designed to resemble a 1920's-ear speakeasy with art deco decor, the Manhattan-based cocktail lounge has a modern approach to cocktails that resembles the ideology followed by a three-star Michelin Restaurant. The Flatiron Lounge, which is like no other cocktail lounge in Manhattan, is nominated for a Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

The Flatiron Lounge was founded back in 2003 by a team of partners, all of whom had extensive experience in managing and opening bars. Partners include Alex and Kristina Kossi (of the famed New York haunt Zinc Bar), Susan Fedroff, Kevin Kossi, Michelle Connolly (of The Red Room in San Francisco) and celebrated cocktail stylist, Julie Reiner. Together, this dream team created a true high-end and high style cocktail lounge. At the time of its opening, the Flatiron Lounge was one of the few bars in the country, if not the world, to offer high end cocktails.

Gallery: Flatiron Lounge

The Flatiron Lounge boasts a menu of original and unique cocktail concoctions created by Julie Reiner and the exceptional bar staff, as well as classic drinks from a bygone era. Reiner developed a menu of cocktails with precise measurements using such ingredients as fresh squeezed juices, fresh fruits and herbs and homemade syrups from raspberry to jalapeno. "We take a culinary approach to cocktails," says Reiner.

Tags: awards-main, best bars, best cocktail lounge, best cocktail lounges, cocktails, flatiron lounge, luxist-awards, manhattan, new york city, nightlife

Continue reading “Flatiron Lounge: A Culinary Approach to Cocktails”

The Drawing Room: Culinary Cocktails

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

The Drawing Room is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

Adjoined to the well-lauded Chicago nightclub Le Passage is The Drawing Room, an exclusive dining and cocktail lounge and nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

Pull up a chair to a rustic wooden table in the exquisite venue inspired by designer Hugh N'Cho-Allepot and order a small plate of contemporary, seasonal cuisine -- you'll need food in your stomach as you embark on a journey through the handcrafted liqueurs and innovative imbibables of The Drawing Room.

Gallery: The Drawing Room in Chicago

Tales of the Cocktail winner Charles Joly is the Chief Mixologist presiding over the impressive team of Master Bartenders at The Drawing Room, and together they hone delicious recipes and hand-make ingredients for both pre-Prohibition cocktails and cocktails of the future. Ask for table-side service, and someone will wheel a cart to your table with all the in-house brandied cherries, hand-squeezed fruit juices and bitters from scratch they need to create your consummate cocktail. Your mixologist will walk you through the process and let you smell and/or taste each delectable ingredient. Even the ice is special: The Drawing Room uses a one-of-a-kind, upside-down, horizontal evaporating ice machine to make each cube clear and perfect.

Drinks at The Drawing Room are constantly changing, but they've been known to make their "culinary cocktails" with ingredients like rose water, honey water, lemon oil, egg white, Canton ginger liqueur, torched bitters and Malort, among other unusual elixirs. Metromix recommends the "Secret Cocktail (Plymouth gin, Laird's AppleJack, pomegranate grenadine and fresh lemon-sour, $16), and A Perfect Poire (Bacardi Apple, Marie Brizard Poire liqueur, pear puree, cinnamon-pear maple syrup and a caramelized pear slice garnish, $16)."

Some readers seem perfectly willing to lay down in the street to get their hands on a table, describing the cocktails as "unbelievably well-balanced" and "the best drink I've ever had." Similar comments surround the food -- we highly recommend going there and checking out whatever they're doing with bacon this week.

Vote for the cocktail lounge that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through April 30 and winners will be announced on May 1.

Tags: awards-main, bar, best bar, best cocktail lounge, chicago, cocktail lounge, cocktails, le passage, luxist-awards, the drawing room

Lost Society: Something Completely Different

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits, Wine

Lost Society in London is nominated for best cocktail lounge award from Luxist

Lost Society is a perfect hideaway for late night dining and especially drinking in Clapham, London, and has been nominated for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounges.

The venue, which is a two-story barn dating back to 16th century England, has been redesigned as a dark, sexy country mansion reminiscent of movies like Clue or even Eyes Wide Shut. Six rooms provide completely different experiences, from dancing in the Crystal Ballroom to dining in the Black & White room, from classic cocktails in the Conservatory to "intelligent drinking" in the Library.

And what it is "intelligent drinking," exactly? Curl yourself in an ornate chair by the sky-high bookshelves and taste a fine wine or a Grape Expectations (White grapes and basil leaves with Zubrowka Bison Vodka, elderflower, lime juice, sugar and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc), and you will probably come up with the answer yourself.

Gallery: Lost Society in London

Tags: awards-main, Bar, best cocktail lounge, Clapham, London, Lost Society, luxist-awards, Nightclub, nightlife

Continue reading “Lost Society: Something Completely Different”

Buddha-Bar: A Parisian Paradise

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Buddah-Bar in Paris is nominated for Best Cocktail Lounge

The Buddha-Bar, located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris on the right bank of the River Seine, is a remarkable place with monumental proportions. The bar mezzanine, enlaced by 18th century style wrought-iron balustrades, looks out over the dining area where the gigantic Buddha – the bar's namesake - sits serenely enthroned.

The Buddha-Bar is known for its magical atmosphere and is one of the hot spots of Parisian nightlife. It has also been nominated for a Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

As soon as you've entered this remarkable place, you'll be enthralled by the charm of its soothing, yet exotic atmosphere. The amber-coloured lighting, rich mahogany furniture, Chinese and Japanese art objects, Khmer statues, decorated wood panels, lush reds and gold, luxurious fabrics and Portuguese mosaics all come together to create an opulent and refined décor.

Gallery: The Buddha-Bar in Paris

Tags: awards-main, best bars, Best cocktail lounge, Buddah-Bar, luxist-awards, Paris

Continue reading “Buddha-Bar: A Parisian Paradise”

Harry's New York Bar: The Parisian Home of the Bloody Mary

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Harry's New York Bar in Paris is nominated for best cocktail lounge

No matter what country they're from, everyone seems to love Harry's New York Bar, a Paris venue nominated for a Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Cocktail Lounge.

Since 1911, Harry's New York Bar has been mixing masterpieces for Parisians and international celebrities like Ernest Hemingway, FDR and the Duke of Windsor. The expatriate community is celebrated and encouraged there -- a somewhat atypical attitude in Paris -- and the bar is adoringly referred to as "Sank Roo Doe Noo," which is what the address sounds like if your French is terrible.

The bar is in the style of a proper classic cocktail venue; the main wooden bar is cozy and intimate, the walls are layered with college football pennants and black and white photos, the ceiling is dark and ornate, the downstairs piano bar is sultry and sophisticated and the lighting is warm and low. Be sure and take note of the Scottish crests on the walls; the original owner, American star jockey Tod Sloan, hired Scotsman Harry McElhone to run his "New York Bar," and he left his mark everywhere including the neon marquis out front.

Gallery: Harry's New York Bar in Paris

Tags: awards-main, Bar, best cocktail lounge, Cocktail Lounge, France, Harrys New York Bar, luxist-awards, nightlife, Paris

Readers' Choice Awards for Best in Entertainment

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits, Wine, Big Givers

Is there a coffee house that offers both ambiance and a great cup o' Joe? Do you have a favorite brew pub that makes great-tasting beer and serves good food? What wine bar offers an extensive selection of wines and a knowledgeable staff? What are the best cocktail lounges? Which hotel bars are the best in the world? If you can recommend the best places to enjoy a cup of coffee, a glass of wine or a cocktail, we want to hear from you!

The Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Awards for Best in Entertainment will be awarded based on your nominations and voting. We're currently seeking nominations for the best-of-breed in the following categories:

Best Brew Pub
Best Cocktail Lounge
Best Coffee House
Best Hotel Bar
Best Wine Bar

One nomination per category, please. Submissions can be filed until April15, 2010. Winners will be announced on May 1, 2010.

Tags: awards-main, best brew pub, best cocktail lounge, best coffee house, best hotel bar, best wine bar, luxist-awards