NY Barfly

Happy New Year!

Well gang, we’ve come to the end of another year. NYBarfly has been going stronger than ever, and we just wanted to say a big drunken thanks. Over the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to cover a lot of awesome liquid material, and we expect 2010 to be even boozier.

We would never be able to get up in the morning (well, 12:30) without you, our glorious readers (and Advil). Our best wishes for a good year. Now, quit pretending like you’re going to live up to your resolutions and have a great time tonight! We’ll be back next week, once we’ve recovered from our hangover.

Cheers!

The Best of 2009: List Mania!

It’s the end of the year, so you know what that means: list time!

Yesterday we took a look at Eater’s decade closer on nightlife closings. Today, we thought we’d share some more year end lists that we’re checking out. The first two are by yours truly, so you best be reading them:

Check out our list of the Top 10 New Restaurants, Top 5 New Bars, and Top 5 New Clubs on Metrowize. Which were your favorite?

We also chronicled the Top 5 happenings in New York Nightlife on AOL’s Tripvine site.

Boozy NYC has a fun year end list. Watch out, this one’s got some zingers.

The Dizzy Fizz has a list of the Top 10 new cocktail bars. We like this list, but our liver doesn’t.

Finally, if you’re looking for something to do tonight (still – after all the help we gave you?!), Grub Street has a great batch of last minute New Year’s options.

Really Last Minute New Year's Eve: Mercadito

What’s wrong with you! Have you been so hung-over that you couldn’t make any plans for New Year’s Eve? Well, it’s tonight. It’s time to celebrate the passage of time and all that. If you need a last minute thing to do, our suggestion is Mercadito. Well, the Mercaditos to be precise.

Each of the restaurants has a great deal on food and (more importantly) drink. Mercadito (179 Avenue B between 11^th and 12^th Streets) and Mercadito Grove (100 Seventh Avenue South at Grove Street) will offer a 4-course family style menu for $50 (food only) or $100 (food and open bar).  We think it should be easy for you to drink your $50 worth.

An even better deal is at Mercadito Cantina (172 Avenue B between 10^th and 11th Streets, pictured). Have a 3-course family style menu featuring a guacamole and salsa tasting, a taco, “para la mesa,” and side dish tasting, and dessert for only $40 (food only) or $80 (food and open bar) per person.

Drinking $40? Bah – that’s kid stuff. The special menus will start at 9:30, with the regular menu served before then. Even though you should have made plans already, we’re sure you’ll have fun. Just be sure to call for reservations!

For All Who Passed in the Previous Decade . . .

Eater has our favorite “decade ending list”. Their look at great bars and clubs that closed over the past 10 years really makes us feel 1) weepy 2) mortified that we used to go to some of those places 3) old.

We can remember dancing with the cool kids at Luke and Leroys, can definitely remember going to Bungalow when it first opened (underage – gasp), and are still sorry we went to Vinyl that time in 2001.

Before you start crying and lamenting what has passed, we’d like to add a few more to the list, for purely personal reasons:

1. Blue Moon – This Mexican restaurant on 8^th Avenue confirmed our love affair with gigantic burritos covered in BBQ sauce. New York cuisine has never been the same.

2. Suite 16 – The club on 16^th Street went through 1,000 variations, but we liked it best when it was Suite 16. We had the most fun there right around the time Beyonce’s Crazy in Love came out. It might be an HSBC now.

3. Yogis – We still can’t get over the fact that they closed our beloved dive bar. We can still feel the peanut shells crunching under our feet as we dream.

4. Atria – You only had a few months of life, but we constantly think of you. How many times, while walking through midtown, do we think “If only Atria were here, our cocktail problems would be solved.” Like losing a child.

5. All the random other dives, shit holes, and drink dens that didn’t make it. As we move forward into the next decade, we’ll miss you.

Davey and Drunky Count Down to the New Year

There's Cocaine in Your Drink! (sort of)

Here’s something we haven’t seen before: a liquor made of coca leaves. Now now, don’t get too excited. The coca leaves used in AGWA de Bolivia have been “de-cocainized” before they were used to create this spirit. The process didn’t take out all the fun, the green liquid is still 60 proof.

Don’t start getting any ideas. The coca leaves are shipped from Bolivia under armed-guard. They make their way to Amsterdam, where the spirit is bottled after the leaves undergo the maceration process.

The AGWA de Bolivia is best used as a mixer. The green hue adds a nice touch to a standard drink, and infuses some interesting herbal qualities into your drink. The best part is that it lets you ask your guests “Cocaine cocktails anyone?”

Below is the recipe for The Amsterdam Martini. The drink is simple to make, and quite refreshing. Check it out:

Amsterdam Martini; AGWA, Citron Vodka

· 1.5 oz AGWA de Bolivia Coca Leaf Liquor

· 1 oz Citron Vodka

· Squeeze of Lime Juice

Mix all ingredients with ice. Shake it up. Pour into a cocktail glass.

Last Minute New Year's Plans: Macao Trading Co.

Come on kids, there are only a couple nights left, and you’re still shaking off your hangovers from Christmas. It’s time to plan for New Years! We spotted a pretty awesome party at Macao Trading in Tribeca. Why is it awesome, you ask?

-They don’t make you buy a fixed price ticket. You can drink as much (or as little) as you want off their normal menu. Their cocktails promise the best New Year’s Day hangover the city has to offer.

-The night promises to be one of “vice and opulence”. Can you say yes and yes?

-A midnight toast will be served by beautiful courtesans, followed by a performance by Dame Cuchifrita (who has been trained in traditional Balinese dance and burlesque. Can you say gozanga?! We’re not sure what the means, but the same goes with Cuchifrita.

Check out the flyer below. Call for reservations and think of what you’re going to say to the courtesans. You’ll probably only get one chance to impress them.

 

Jersey Shore Cast at the Clubs, Part 2.

Last week we chronicled something alarming in nightlife: the muscled buffoons from MTV’s Jersey Shore are showing up at some of New York’s best clubs (also, a source tells us that they did NOT go to The Eldridge).

Looks like they are shopping themselves around to some hot spots for “appearance fees”. This process hasn’t been going so well. Club owners, like anyone who watches the show, know that these chumps will go out and behave like drunken assholes for free. From the Post:

The cast members of MTV’s hit show "Jersey Shore" aren't as famous as they think. We hear their managers have been trying to get clubs to shell out up to $10,000 for appearance fees -- but no venues are taking the bait. "The Chandelier Room at the W Hoboken turned them down," a source tells us. "They keep turning up at places like Marquee and Tenjune and the Eldridge for free, so why pay?"

Do you think The Situation is trying to get more to show his abs?

New York Bars, Still Smoky

The Post has word that the smoking ban continues to be unenforced in most of the city’s top spots. There have been no pubs or clubs shut down for repeated smoking violations, which surprises us as it seems that the same places are always full of fumes.

Not only are places being allowed to operate while their patrons puff away, the authority in charge of policing smoking at night has issued less fines this year. Check it out:

The Health Department collected $145,000 in smoking fines this year, down from $174,675 in 2008.

Hmm – the crowds continue light up, and the city doesn’t seem interested in enforcing. We’re not one for repealing the ban, but perhaps it’s time to take another look at Eater’s idea for smoking licenses. It seems that the city can make a lot more than $145K off the habit if they do things a little differently. 

Get in to The Boom Boom Room / Hangover Cures

-Want to go to The Boom Boom Room? Eater has word that they are selling tickets to the general public for New Year’s Eve. $250 will get you a standing room spot, but you still need to pay for all of your own drinks. We’ve been complaining about how hard the door is, but now we have something new to gripe about: how dare they let people in!

-Even more Jersey Shore cast member news! ChiChi212 reports that Kiss & Fly’s doorman turned The Situation away from the club’s door. Kiss & Fly, you deserve a medal.

-The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is like one big hangover. Good thing Grub Street asked a bunch of city bartenders to detail their favorite hangover cure. We like the suggestion of Coconut Water (followed by a shot of vodka, naturally).