[Liza]

If this is a work in progress, I look forward to seeing the final product. A charming bar slash restaurant to be, in the old Detour space, currently serving family dinner (set menu) on Thursdays, and opening to a full-service restaurant come January. The cocktail menu created by Rob (of Centrico fame) features an old-style pre-Prohibition era list, and a full list of newer inventions. On the menu tonight, a leek and wild mushroom tart; a gumbo; and hard root beer (Virgil's rootbeer enhanced with vanilla-infused vodka) floats.

Oh. And home made pretzels. Soon to be served with home made sausage. And mustard. Oh. I'm so going back.

[Sneakeater]

It really hurts me to say that my attitude toward pre-Prohibition cocktails (supplemented by newer inventions) is very quickly approximating my attitude toward Seasonal Market Ingredients.

As my mother used to say everytime somebody looked at her sideways, "They're taking away all the niceties."

[Daisy]

The cocktails were very good. I had a perfect aviation and sips of others' drinks were quite nice as well. Blondie had an especially delicious drink--perhaps she'll post about it. I did have a glass of wine once the food arrived since I'm not a fan of cocktails with food.

The bar snack of bacon peanut brittle is like crack. The pretzels are irresistible and it will be impossible for me not to order them when I return. I think there was crab in that tart as well. The gumbo was very nicely balanced, with duck and andouille, served ladled over dirty rice. I hit the wall on the root beer float but those ginger cookies---oh my.

As Liza said, a work in progress. Host Rob was telling us of plans to upgrade some lighting, install more banquettes. He also sent us home with some more of those cookies.

This is a relaxed place, the crowd was quite eclectic, and it is a welcome addition to a neighborhood where most bars not of the 'lounge' sort are frat bars.

[Liza]

You got cookies to take home? Dayum.

[Cathy]

The DOH showed up mid-service...I hope everything went okay.

I loved Blondie's Revival. I had a very good Vesper and a gin Gibson, garnished with excellent onions.

Meg, the cook, was executive sous chef for the Bar Room at the Modern.

[Wilfrid1]

The thread title reads like an advertisement for personal services.

[SethG]

The thread title reads like an advertisement for personal services.

Especially considering the address, which is just steps away from the Travis Bickle/Jodie Foster building!

[Daisy]

And especially since not so long ago when I first lived in that neighborhood 11th,12th and 13th from Third Avenue to First Avenue were crawling with hookers---12th, where I lived, was reserved for the trannies. They hung out in a bar on the corner of 12th and Second called La Bamba, which has just recently morphed from a gay bar into yet another EV frat bar. Oh, how the world can change.

ETA: According to local legend, La Bamba was owned by a local character named Slugger Ann (which was the original name of the bar, she later gave that name to a bar across Second where Bar Veloce is now) who was the grandmother of...Candy Darling.

[SethG]

Oh yeah, I lived on East 12th in the early '90s, and I was struck by how much Taxi Driver had gotten the location right.

[Wilfrid1]

Thread drift brought to you by Wilfrid.

[Daisy]

I just, per Rob's instructions last night, stuck the ginger cookies in the microwave for 30 seconds and had them as a late breakfast/early lunch. Oh boy.

[Sneakeater]

Don't you have a toaster/oven?

[Wilfrid1]

Chafing dish for cookies, preferably brass.

[Daisy]

I was just following the instructions given me by the proprietor. They worked.

[Suzanne F]

How do the pretzels compare with those from the late lamented Tribakery? Those were my absolute favorites in the world.