Recent booze crawls have turned up a dearth of Manhattan-inspired cocktails, so we were excited to stumble across one recently at Perilla (9 Jones Street). We've been to Perilla a number of times and continue to be impressed by a lot of what they do - the winelist is varied and interesting, the drinks good and the seasonal menu generally strong. Now long past TV chef hype, the restaurant has turned into a great neighborhood spot.We prefer the bar to the long, confined dining room and found ourselves there on a recent warm night. Perilla's version of the Manhattan, called "Our Manhattan" ($12) wasn't exactly what the season called for but we couldn't help ourselves. It's made with Jim Beam rye, Vya sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and brandied cherries, making for a rich, nicely balanced drink, if a bit heavy for warm weather. It's great as an aperitif or as dessert in lieu of more solid post-dinner options. And it goes great with duckfat popcorn.
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