On a kind of related note, anybody know anything about 57 Greek St.??

Last edited by Avgvstvs (2010-03-29 11:34:55)

I love this topic. One of the last refuges for the old-school drinker, the hotel bar. I say it for amusement and as a statement of fact: I don't drink any cocktails invented after 1939. For reasons of health. Who knows the long-term effects of all these new things? Best to let others do the research. Give me a Sour of some kind (brandy sours are good, too), a Martini or an Old Fashioned. If it's warm, a Gimlet is one of my favorites. In my own Pantheon, expat Harry Craddock of the old Savoy is up there with Mozart.

"Whiskey" Sours are lovely, too. Classic drink and very refreshing. I'm fond of them at Bemelmans Bar in The Carlyle in New York. Used to start there and then go into the Cafe and hear Dixie Carter do her cabaret act, or Bobby Short. Woof, that was a while ago, though. Don't get to New York as much as I used to.

In San Francisco right now, there is much fuss over a classic Tiki bar in the Fairmont Hotel, the Tonga Room. Some want it preserved as a landmark, the hotel wants to rip it out and do something new. Great place for a Sling. Across the street is the Huntington Hotel, whose restaurant has a very nice clubby-feeling bar whose bartenders know the good stuff. And there's also the Mark Hopkins but most days and especially weekends there are too many people from everywhere meeting each other "at the Top of the Mark" for the place to have a relaxed vibe.

One of my favorite memories is the bar at the Plaza Athenee in Paris, in the earliest 70's. My first complete experience with divine company, truly excellent champagne, foie gras and a plate of savoury petit fours that I can still picture today. Hard to describe that evening, but being deliciously drunk, perfectly content and happy with the entire world is how it felt. One of those perfect evenings. And being able to toddle up to one's room and take the evening into dreams is what made that evening excellent and makes hotel bars some of the great places on earth.

Quay, I love Bemelman's, too.

My favorite hotel bar drink is the Gibson (or as Cheever's character would have it, IIRC "Geefeater Bibsons").  With the extra miniature decanter in the ice glass at Bemelman's. Potent, to say the least.  Plus you have the piano player, the old bartender, the soothing dimness. Hope it stays that way. I always feel better when I leave, and it's not just the gin. Wish I had been alive to hear Bobby Short play next door.   

Have also had some great Gibsons at the two Oak Bars, at the Plaza in NYC and the "other Oak Bar" at the Fairmont in Boston.  But while both served great drinks, they didn't combine it with quite the "way" of Bemelman's, which is truly an escape.


Sadly a lot of hotel bars are going to the dogs via neglect or trends or something. The Algonquin was a real disappointment when I stopped in 2 years ago for the first time.  Though it has not fallen as far as the Parker House, which despite still looking great, on a recent visit sported 3 giant TVs and expensive and bad drinks and food. A crappy sports bar would probably have made a better Gibson.


On the subject of sours, I like gin sours as well.  Great on a hot day.

Last edited by Coolidge (2010-05-30 18:36:35)