Ottmar & Employees Only

We jumped back on the subway and the next stop is the Staten Island Ferry. An hour round trip to get a view of the city. After this trip, we will have to make our way back to the same area as brunch and then part ways again.

The girls have tickets to see Joan Osborne and Susanna Vega at The City Winery. I made last minute plans to see Ottmar Leibert at the Highline Ballroom.

The view of the Statue of Liberty was awesome as well as the New York skyline!

Once we got back on the train, Jess told me where I needed to get off in order to make my concert. It was close to Bathtub Gin and once again Siri guided me to my destination. A very small venue and no room to move.

He was amazing but the crowd was a bit overbearing. If you moved from your spot too damn bad. So I stood my ground and waited until after the show to get some food and beverages.

My show ended at 8:15 and I sent Tish a text letting her know I was on my way to meet them at our last stop. Their show would be another hour or longer. So I made my way toward Employees Only and figured I would find something along to the way to eat and drink.

One steak house quit serving at 8:30…really?  So I was just 4 blocks from our meet up and I smelled that wonderful aroma, cigars.

Hudson Bar & Books was a happy accident  and I had time.

They had everything on the cocktail menu and cigar menu. The eats menu not so much. Very limited but was able to find a snack to munch while I burned one in NYC.

I ordered an Old Cuban and selected the Arturo Fuente Short Story to burn. Several cocktails later and the girls texted me they were leaving soon. Perfect timing and I left this nice nugget of a find.

Being as fat as I am, I took a nice stroll through the city of NYC. Then I rolled up on a small building with a “Psychic” sign in the window. Texted Tish and Jess, they said it would be 15 minutes until they arrived. Okay I can hang.

The crowd control, okay…the days of bouncer is long gone. He was a big ole boy and had an impressive presence. We chatted about things from days gone by. The ole ‘80s and how you dealt with the A-holes at that time period. Many stories were shared and some were quite funny. Within 10 minutes, Tish and Jess arrived. At this point of the night, we were going to be just standing at the bar enjoying craft cocktails.

Little did I know my new friend was about to hook us up with a good evening. He said: “Follow ME!” Okay the fat man was ready to see what could be an epic night.

“Sit them at a good table.” Okay, redneck is down with that!

Menu’s were dropped off and I new what I wanted for a drink. Employee’s Only signature drink…

Mata Hari!

Remy Martin 1738 Cognac shaken with Chai-infused Martini Rosso & Pomegranate Juice. Served straight up.

A wonderful blend of flavors and amazing presentation. And I was very impressed with their wine list. Although this joint is known for its craft cocktails, many of the folks around us were ordering bottles of wine.

I have to say, E.O. & P.D.T. are tied as my favorite speakeasy thus far. Although, the Booze & Boobs at Bathtub Gin was another highlight of my trip.

We head home tomorrow and I’m already planning another visit and tour of the other speakeasies on my list.

I made my last visit to Hot & Crusty for coffee and croissants. The lady who took my order really took control:

Me: “Coffee & Croissant”
Chick: “You take cream?”
Me: “No.”
Chick: “Oh, you take cream today!”

Obviously she mistaken me for a regular. So I got to enjoy coffee with cream. How the hell do people do that to perfectly good coffee.

After Tish had her coffee, we went for a walk at Riverside Park before we packed up the car. A young lady riding a bike looks and smiles and that’s when I stop and turned to Tish. Her expression confirmed what I thought…it was Amy Schumer.

So, I ended my first official trip to the Big Apple with my first celebrity sighting.

It was an amazing time and I can’t wait to return. Thank you Jess for your hospitality and we will see you soon with more speakeasies and watering holes to visit.

Brunch & Burlesque…Yes Please!

Yes, I know I skipped a day. I was working in at a vineyard…imagine that!

At any rate, here is the next to last entry of this series:

Once again, blurred vision and 11 o’clock seems to be the norm for this trip. Showers and then we were out the door heading to Bathtub Gin for…wait for it…

BRUNCH & BURLESQUE!

The subway trip seemed to take forever. This is because I have not had coffee and that’s not a good thing. We get off the train and took a stroll to the stop. This is the address for the place but we are outside of a tiny coffee shop, Stone Street Coffee.  Okay I’m ready to drink rot-gut coffee at this point.

Then a gentleman asks: “Are you here for brunch?”

We give him our name and the wall opens to yet another gorgeous bar with a large copper claw foot tub in the middle of the dining room. Okay, I’m all excited at this point.

The girls decided to have Mimosas and opted for an Irish Coffee. Oh this was going down really good. For my brunch, I went against the norm. Wagyu Burger with Wild Mushrooms and Gruyere, a side of Fries and then a few Allagash White’s were consumed.

Then it was time for the girls to perform. I felt it was necessary to have the girls on the outside so that they could enjoy the girls. Okay I wanted them to feel uncomfortable. I know, Jerk!

Did I mention, this was my first time enjoying Sunday brunch?

Breakfast & boobs, I can get use to this. Kind of like back in the days of closing strip clubs and then going to breakfast with the talent. You know you’ve done that before! Don’t judge!

Another New York watering hole that I’ll return to on my next visit!

Jess had a surprise for us and it involved water.

PDT

It was a short stroll to our last stop of the evening. As you know, most speakeasies are disguised and you need to look for landmarks. As soon as I saw the Crif Dogs sign or the other that says: “Eat Me”, I knew we were there.

The long counter of stools were filled and there was a short line to use the phone booth. Yes, I said phone booth and it was sporting an “out of order” sign.

The routine is simple, dial 1 and wait. The adjacent wall opened to a magnificent dim,  yet sultry lit bar. The young lady asked for my name and said it would be 5 minutes. So we hung out with a very young crowd and when they called my name, we heard grumbles from the peanut gallery.

I was borderline righteous at this point and said:

“Hey Scooter, you should have made reservations…Rookie!”

We took seats at the bar. Gorgeous backlit bar with high-end spirits. Several taxidermy items on the walls made my two vegetarians nervous.

Our bartender presented us with our cocktail menus and I spotted my first drink:

Paddington
Banks 5 Island Rum, Lillet Blanc, Lemon & Grapefruit Juice, Bonne Maman Orange Marmalade, St George Absinthe

An amazing presentation of a craft cocktail with magnificent balance of citrus flavors. If the first one was this good, I can’t wait to try my second choice.

Shark
Butter infused Bacardi Silver Rum, Wray and Nephew Overproof Rum, Frangelico, Blue Curaçao, Lemon & Pineapple juice, Cream, Bitterman’s Elemakule Tiki Bitters

A true Tiki drink, I wanted the bartender to turn on some Buffett tunes at this point. The girls truly enjoying their drinks too.

And was it worth the trouble of getting reservations…

I can honestly say, this is one of my favorite bars of all-time. I will be back and will tell all my friends about this place.

At the end of the night, NYC got the best of me but tomorrow will be another day of go, go, go. This country boy is ready for another day of fun. Music and more cocktails are on the docket.

Did I mention brunch and boobs too!