Entries tagged with 'bars'
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Critic Turned Cook follows former Seattle Post-Intelligencer food critic Leslie Kelly on her journey away from the keyboard and into the kitchen. Take it away, Leslie! Bruce Ryan of Shultzy's pub near the University of Washington in Seattle. I love wine. I started writing a column called "Grapevine" for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, way back when there were 30-some vintners in the state. Now there are more than 600, many of them world-class producers. One of my greatest pleasures in being a restaurant critic was exploring the intriguing wines of the world, savoring the way wine made wonderful dishes taste even better. I once heard somebody describe wine as their favorite condiment. Couldn't agree more. But my knowledge of...
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Photograph of a speakeasy in 1933 by Margaret Bourke-White from LIFE photo archive host by Google While the "speakeasy" trend in new bars has been going on for so long in New York that some establishments are sliding into "speak-cheesy" territory, it's still a relative novelty in most of the country. In today's New York Times, William Grimes takes a broad view of today’s speakeasy-style bars, and what they have—and don’t have—in common with the 1920s originals. Speakeasies had their heyday during Prohibition, when their hush-hush approach to selling alcohol had more to do with avoiding prison than with any kind of urban trend. As Grimes notes, these bars ran the gamut from small rooms with a table, a...
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"Seely’s naked contempt for Jager-bombs and the people who drink them is as refreshing as a frosty schooner of Vitamin R." Dive into the Sloop and you might catch a glimpse of a crew member from "Deadliest Catch." Photograph by Cary Melton Mike Seely, managing editor of the Seattle Weekly, writes like Ernest Hemingway in his new book, Seattle’s Best Dive Bars. He’s Papa for the PBR crowd, exploring the gritty, working class watering holes that are the antithesis of the geeky chic image the city has embraced. He doesn’t candy coat his close-to-the-ground reports on these off-the-radar spots. For instance, he says The Waterwheel Lounge looks like the kind of place “where you might get your head bludgeoned on...
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Barcade in Brooklyn, New York, from Esquire's list of Best Bars in America. A great bar is a composite creation; it’s not all about the drinks. For all the consideration that’s given to the quality of the cocktails, wine, and other drinks poured in an establishment, a bar should be judged along many other factors. Is it comfortable and neither too frenetic nor too sleepy? Does the music fit the mood without leaving you humming that damn Journey song for the next three days? Does the bartender laugh at your jokes, then come back with even better ones? In the May issue of Esquire, the editors present the third annual collection of the Best Bars in America. The list...
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Photograph from Invisible Hour on Flickr Thank god for Prohibition. Before the Big Thirst got underway in 1920, the barroom was for the most part a masculine place. Women were banned from many drinking establishments—either by law, by house rules or by social standards—and it wasn't until the 1920s, when the owners of then-illegal watering holes were less picky about who they let through the door, that a female presence started to become a somewhat regular occurrence in bars across the country. As Eric Felten noted in "Women Behind Bars" in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal, it took another couple of decades before women moved to the other side of the bar in any kinds of numbers. Felten writes...
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The bar at The Foundry. As if the booze-pump wasn’t primed enough for the advance of craft cocktails and other well-made drinks, an article titled "Bar Wars" in last Friday’s Wall Street Journal highlighted another recent shift that has the potential to bode well for good imbibing: high-end restaurants are placing a greater emphasis on their bar and lounge areas. What’s prompting restaurants such as Per Se in New York and The Foundry in Los Angeles to expand their bar offering, of course, has less to do with a sudden desire to promote bibulous artistry than with the simple need to survive during catastrophic economic times. As Katy McLaughlin writes, Around the country, proprietors are turning their restaurants—or significant parts...
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If the bartender is simply opening a beer or pouring a glass of Scotch, $1 a drink may still make sense. But what about those bars where ordering a drink is more along the lines of ordering an entrée in a restaurant?
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Editor's note: Turning our attention from D.C., for a bit, let's go to another of the country's historic cities, Boston. Sunset Grill & Tap looks like an ideal place to celebrate this historic day, doncha think? Bonus: Free midnight buffet on Tuesday nights (and on Sundays and Mondays)! There are those who enjoy a cold beer at happy hour, but don’t know a lager from a lambic. And then there are those who appreciate the flavor and subtlety of beer the way wine snobs do their vino—who love the hoppy tang of an IPA, or a toasty, full-bodied Guinness, or a lively, crisp Saison. But both kinds of beer-lovers can find common ground at Sunset Grill & Tap. Just west...
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Partaay. The D.C. Council approved legislation that will allow bars, nightclubs, and restaurants in the District to serve alcohol until 5 a.m.—three hours later than usual—and remain open for food around the clock. Offer's good from January 17 until January 20, the morning of Obama's swearing-in....
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OK, I work as a bartender, so I can see how some in my field might feel the need to throw a beverage in an obnoxious guy's face or tell that high-maintenance drinker to take a hike. But, pour salt into a perfectly good cocktail? No way. Generation Awesome's video series, The Bartender Hates You, amusingly highlights annoying people and a bartender who likes to overreact. These videos had me laughing out loud, but I can't say I have ever done anything portrayed in them. I have definitely thought of it, though, especially the first video, where our hero throws ice at a customer after she complains there is just a little too much of it in her glass....
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