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NYC has a new heavyweight entrant to the cocktail bar scene - The Tippler (425 W. 15th Street), a subterranean hideaway opened by the Tippling Bros aka Tad Carducci and Paul Tanguay. Up till now, they have consulted around town but this is the first standalone venture opened by the duo. And what a spot it is - a sprawling former storage basement underneath the foodie paradise & media hub known as the Chelsea Market.

Midtown is hardly known as a cocktail destination, though the odd exception does pop up like Lantern's Keep, so we were intrigued when speakeasy in the sky J Bird opened up at 251 W. 48th Street.

There aren't many reasons to trek up to the East 70s but we've found one - the recently opened Czech restaurant Hospoda (321 E. 73rd St, website). 

It always struck us as odd that Ma Peche (15 West 56th Street) opened in the former Town space, a subterranean dining room underneath the Chambers Hotel. Years ago, Town was a favorite of ours since it was home to Albert Trummer and his then groundbreaking cocktails. Eventually, the restaurant dropped off the radar and then closed, leaving an empty basement we thought for sure would never matter again. Instead, David Chang and Tien Ho at the height of their powers came calling. However, the opening never really intrigued us - were we going to hike up to Midtown for stuff we got at Ssam Bar? Not really. So time passed and we never went.

Every once in a while, a fantastic new place pops up out of nowhere. Case in point, Williamsburg's new oyster and cocktail hot spot Maison Premiere (298 Bedford Avenue) has become an instant classic, a slice of New Orleans married to NYC's booming cocktail scene. The decor takes the fab chic trend of the last decade - sorry Freeman's - and perfects it with small details, including antique lamps and mirrors, a cozy 8-seat oyster bar and old-fashioned absinthe fountain behind the bar. What could easily have become the EPCOT Center of New York/Nawlins nostalgia instead feels real and vibrant.

The other night, Time Out New York's readers handed out awards to a couple of drinking spots, including "Best New Local" going to deserved winner The Tangled Vine and "Best Cocktail Bar" given to Williamsburg's very good Dram. But the list of joints up in the latter category was curious to say the least - Lani Kai, which as a tiki joint is something we're just not too hip on, Painkiller (ditto) and Weather Up Tribeca. 

The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station holds a fabled place in New York City bar lore - it's beautiful, well located and always packed. Somehow, we'd never actually managed to visit... until the other night. Turns out that we were missing nothing more than a poorly executed churn 'n' burn commuter/tourist trap.

It's been nearly a year since we last visited Death & Company (433 E. 6th Street) - not for lack of trying mind you - and we were pleasantly surprised to slip in just after they introduced the new Winter Cocktail list. Could the new list yet again live up to four years of excellence, not to mention make up for a somewhat disappointing previous visit? As it turns out, the list is one of the strongest they've produced in years.As always, we flipped immediately to the Whiskey page and found ourselves facing a pleasant dilemma - there were too many choices. Our first two picks both proved to be excellent - the Vampire Blues, Old Weller Bourbon, Lustau Sherry, Fresh Lemon, Pumpkin Butter, Angostura, and Whiskey A Go-Go, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Meletti Amaro, Fresh Lemon, Cinnamon Bark Syrup, Demerara, Fernet Branca. The Vampire Blues was lush and creamy the Whiskey A Go-Go had a nice bitter finish balanced by the bourbon and syrup - both are instant classics. Later in the evening, we revisited each as they were clear favorites even in the face of a very strong list. The Manhattan-like Jive Turkey, a rare holdover from their very first list - Wild Turkey rye, Buffalo Trace, Cio Ciaro Amaro, Dolin Dry Vermouth, St. Germain, Angostura bitters - was reliably good as was another newcomer featuring Cinnamon bark syrup called Jekyll & Hyde - Eagle Rare 10 year old Bourbon, Lairds Apple Brandy, Demerara, Cinnamon barky syrup, Angostura, Bitter Truth Aromatic bitters.

The Hurricane Club (360 Park Avenue South) is the type of corporate theme restaurant we tend to avoid - unless we've been carousing for hours and let our guard down in search of one last drink. That's precisely what happened recently when we found ourselves in the relative wasteland that is Park Avenue in the mid-20s.

One of our favorite bars in NYC is found inside the four-star Eleven Madison Park (11 Madison Avenue). While the restaurant itself has been the scene of highs and low for us, the bar has consistently been one of the best in town, from the welcome of head bartender Leo to the scrumptious cocktail nuts to the thoughtful, well made cocktails. Much of this is due to the staff's ability to both reference cocktail history and also creatively use ingredients in new and different ways.

The other night we were lured by the perfect storm of pizza and cocktails into Donatella's new venture - D Bar. How was it? Well, let's start by saying that it was with some surprise that we read today that the mediocre margherita pizza - they imported real Neapolitans for this? - was just inexplicably called a "perfect pizza" by Slice.com. Apparently, tasteless "dry" cheese cuts it for them but we have some standards and they don't include gold ovens... anyway this is a booze blog. What about the drinks? Oi vey, do they need work.

One of this year's best new bars is actually two bars. But that's okay, because if you can't decide between wine or cocktails, now you can go somewhere to have both - The Counting Room (44 Berry Street, Williamsburg).

As little as three or four years ago, there was nowhere to drink anything decent in the 'Burg but now there is an amazing selection of places for every taste, everything from Hotel Delmano to Rye to Loreley Biergarten. And with the arrival of The Counting Room, you have real sophistication, in the form of an adventurous winelist and creative cocktails, which so far have proven to be the best in the area.

The winelist features interesting wines from small producers around the world. Those in the know will find many gems here - especially since most bottles can be opened and bought by the half bottle. That means the by-the-glass list constantly changes based on what other people order. Some great choices on the list include a 2006 Movia Ribolla and the 2007 Guitian Godello. Check the chalkboard for nightly wines open by the glass.

The cocktail program is run downstairs in the cavernous basement, which provides a bit of a logistical issue. Technically, you need to go downstairs to get a cocktail, which is awkward if you're with wine drinkers upstairs. However, if you get the owner serving you at the bar, she'll make sure your order is placed. But the servers themselves are much more likely to direct you down than make an effort to take your cocktail order upstairs. The policy should be that if you're sitting upstairs, service staff get the drinks from downstairs, not you. Telling customers to do differently when you have waitstaff is awkward, to say the least.

Regardless, the cocktails have proven to be very good and it's a credit to the mixologists that there is a lot to choose from. Our favorite was the Arbitrary Nature of Time, a boozy mix of Wild Turkey Rye, Campari, cherry heering and two types of bitters, mole and orange. Salt & Ash pairs both mezcal and tequila with a lapsong suchong vermouth to equally good, and smoky effect. Another tequila drink, Karmic Delight, was a fizzy delight - tequila, Plymouth sloe gin and egg white. If you're looking for something lighter and more refreshing, try A Lazy Spring, Beefeater gin, rosemary-infused Blanco Vermouth, honey, lemon and black peppercorns.

There is a small food menu of items prepared at the upstairs bar. We enjoyed the "Green Eggs & Ham" Deviled Eggs ($3) while the bag of croutons will do in a pinch. The menu also includes sandwiches such as a tasty Grilled Cheese and the Pork & Philly, but your best bet is to eat before coming to booze.

Some might consider opening on the wrong side of Williamsburg - closer to Brooklyn Brewery than Bedford - to be gutsy, even fatal for a bar of The Counting Room's class and style, but we only hope that in time the crowds will find this terrific new spot. In the meantime, pull up a stool and tell them BoozyNYC sent you.

Night of Joy (667 Lorimer Street) sits on a forlorn East Williamsburg corner in the shadow of the BQE. It also stands in the shadows of the city's great cocktail bars and that's not a good place to be.

At first glance, Night of Joy has some things going for it - a large space, friendly prices ($9 cocktails), lack of crowds and a roof deck. However, stepping into the somewhat schizophrenic, dimly lit space, with its Victorian front, long bar with cushy high backs and rear room with pool table, hopes for something interesting start to fade. The disjointed atmosphere - part lounge, part hipster hangout - just does not gel.

The drink list is short and lacking in information - only the ingredients and booze are listed, not the maker, which in retrospect should have been a clue. It turns out they are not using the top shelf stuff in their drinks - hence $9 cocktails - and the results were, for us, universally disappointing. The drinks are also heavy on herbs - beet and dill vodka anyone? Not for us. We started with a Basil & Lime Gimlet made with Mr. Boston gin. The drink was one-dimensional and would have benefited from a gin with more character. The Jalapeno, Black Currant and Tequila was slightly out of balance and too spicy to fully enjoy, though with ice dilution it became more bearable. Rosemary, Bourbon, Ginger and Lemon was a bit soapy and the Evan Williams bourbon surprisingly got lost. Another spicy drink, the Cilantro Bloody Maria, made with tequila, mostly tasted muddy. Something added an unpleasant note and we suspect the Worcestershire sauce, though we can't be sure. In addition to the cocktails, there are local beers and a short, affordable winelist with selections priced at $8 by the glass and $30 by the bottle.

Night of Joy doesn't have it together yet in the way that nearby Hotel Delmano or The Counting Room does. A little less pretension and higher booze standards would go a long way in rectifying that. Otherwise, that blinking neon out front light may not be illuminating the night much longer.

The wine bar craze continues unabated with the arrival Anfora (34 8th Avenue), from the guys who brought you Dell'anima. Open just a few weeks, Anfora is theoretically a kind of homage to what was the main wine vessel for many centuries, though in reality it's just a name for a sleek, almost souless wine bar that can best be described as a work in progress. At worst, one could say it's suffering from the 7 Deadly Restaurant Sins:

#1 Off putting atmosphere - walking into Anfora can seem like stepping inside a rather stinky sock. On our visit, the smell of the ubiquitous grilled cheese sandwich permeated the air and was borderline offensive. No, we did not try the grilled cheese.

#2 Wine Infanticide - yes, we understand that a lot of wine is sold to restaurants too young. But wine bars really need to make sure the wine being served is ready to drink. Certainly most any red from 2008 is too young. It's nice to see a Sicilian Nero D'Avola in the anfora style on the list but it's too young. Ditto for the Bierzo "Petalos" Descendientes de Palacios 2008 (a 2006 is listed on the website but not available). Neither of these wines are anywhere near ready to drink. The list contains a lot of great winemakers and leans heavily on a favorite producer of ours - Lopez de Heredia. Unfortunately, they seem to have some of the less interesting vintages. The Gravonia from 2000 wasn't giving much and is certainly not on the level of the great, slightly oxidized 1999. Their 2000 "Tondonia" Rosado was better but again somewhat muted.

#3 Lack of Info - too many places these days have staff that don't really know anything about the wines. These servers have been told to pour you a taste without actually talking about the wine. It's ok, we actually like to hear something about the wine before you run off to get us a taste.

#4 Not user friendly - the trend among wine bars to pour half-glass or 3oz tastes is welcome since that means we can experiment and mix and match. Anfora has decided to stick with full glass pours and that's too bad. Less for us to try.

#5 Taking our glass away without asking. Ask. Always.

#6 Glassware more important than customers. Note to restaurateurs - dishes should be done in the back so we don't have to compete with glasses for the bartender's attention. A distinct lack of available glasses during our visit meant staff was busy polishing instead of interacting.

#7 Make sure your food matches the wine. Anfora has several spicy dishes that are not wine-friendly - spicy stuffed peppers that don't say so on the menu kill the palate and don't work with wine. Also suspect, spicy shortbread and curry egg salad.

Anfora has a ways to go before it makes the league of the city's best. But the owners may want to take a cue from their restaurant two doors over - the winelist is more interesting and diverse than Anfora. That's a surprise considering this is a winebar.

Tribeca has gone from up-and-coming to plush and stuffy in a matter of two decades, so it was something of a surprise that Paul Grieco and Marco Canora decided to open an outpost of their hip winebar, Terroir Tribeca (24 Harrison Street) in the land of millionaires, Euro-bankers and moms pushing expensive strollers.

Terroir 2 brings Grieco's signature "wine is cool" sensibility downtown with good effect. The room is well appointed, the bar long and easy to saddle up to, and of course the wine selection is top notch. While a lot of people seemed to be ordering the wine in tetra pak and we hear tell of Finger Lake riesling on tap, we were keen to explore the extensive by the glass list. One of our favorite trends was on hand - the 3 ounce pour - making it easy to try many, many wines (our weak spot). The winelist offers choices for everyone, from the adventurous to the old world connoisseur. We ventured to the wine geek side and were rewarded with excellent by the glass choices such as the Cotes du Jura Nature Berthet-Bondet 2007 ($14.25), La Mothe Pechigo ($11.50), and the Domaine de Montbourgeau 2001 ($16). Also recommended are the Hermann Wiemer Riesling ($13.50) and the nicely balanced Alfred Gratien NV Champagne ($18). Interesting red options by the glass include the Morgon from Domaine Louis Jadot ($11) and the 2007 Givry from Chofflet-Valdenaire ($15).

The entertaining winelist contains all the usual Grieco-isms including "Who Needs a Drink?" starring the Pope, Vladimir Putin and Us (because street fair season has started!) as well as longer pieces on celebrities, obscure and otherwise. Our favorite is the ode to Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, a member of the International Football Hall of Fame. He had a way with words too and the list includes several famous quotes from him - our favorites being "Italians can't beat you but you can lose to them" and "If I wanted you to understand, I would explain it better."

Canora complements the wine selection with hearty, damn-the-season meaty fare like sage leaves wrapped around sausage, oxtail risotto balls, meatball sandwiches and a few larger "Big Stuff" dishes thanks to kitchen space more than double the EVill location. We definitely dug the "Big Stuff" items - Bev's Famous Pork Blade Steak (right) and the Colorado lamb.

Tribeca has had its ups and downs in the past few years (Chanterelle closing, endless Bouley shuffling), so we can only hope that Terroir's arrival is a sign this neighborhood is going to loosen up and start enjoying life, the way it should.

There is something about cold weather that makes us think about brown spirits and a recent trip to Brooklyn gave us the opportunity to check out a place that is a must destination for brownies like us - Char No. 4 (196 Smith Street).

Char No. 4 tags itself a whiskey bar and restaurant, and it certainly delivers on the brown liquor front. The list has 150+ American whiskeys as well as whiskeys from around the world, so we were excited to peruse the list and take advantage of the 1 oz pour options to taste some obscure stuff.

The long bar was inviting as we slipped in early one night. We started with a couple of cocktails, hoping to ease our way into the bourbons and single malts. Unfortunately, this proved a mistake - the Hound Dog, Ancient Age bourbon, fresh grapefruit juice, honey, mint and lime was initially refreshing but quickly became boring. Even worse was the pointless Kir Royale-esque Kentucky Royale, Henry McKenna bourbon, sparkling wine, cassis and orange zest. The heavy bourbon basically killed any effervescence in the sparkling wine and the drink was a complete failure.

Meanwhile, the bar got busy with people ordering, of all things, wine and beer. In a whiskey bar! Still we were determined to get into the ounce tastings, Bud-swigging neighbors be damned. We started with one of three tastings Char has created - the Belmont Park, which consisted of Four Roses single barrel bourbon, Jameson Irish Whiskey 18 year and a Laphroaig 7 year Signatory Single Malt scotch. At $25 for three one ounce pours, the tasting was a bit steep but nevertheless rewarding. The highlight was the delicious Jameson 18, surprising since Irish whiskey is not our thing. We then jumped to some 1 ounce tastes - the 1990 Lochnagar old malt cask 15 year old ($14, 1 ounce) was quite good as was the Blanton's silver, a rare find ($20, 1 ounce).

And the food? Decidedly meaty, with a Southern flare and actually pretty good. We enjoyed the house cut smoked bacon, the pork sausage with lentils and the lamb pastrami.

This being Brooklyn, the service was friendly at points, unprofessional at others and not enough staff was totally knowledgeable about the booze list. That's unfortunate in a place with this depth of great liquor but perhaps not so surprising when considering that many people just prefer beer to delving into the vagaries of 12 vs 15 year old single malts.

Few cocktail bars have the creative muscle and consistency that Death and Company (433 E. 6th Street) has had. It's often our weeknight 'go to' place - no we don't go out on Fridays and Saturdays - since it is large enough to get into as opposed to tiny PDT, which we also find less consistent. So when we are out carousing, we eagerly look forward to a few rounds of Death and Company cocktails. Unfortunately, on a recent visit, for the first time we were disappointed. Some really good cocktails were off the menu, and in their place, were some less successful newcomers.

First off, we have to have our Manhattan Transfer (Rittenhouse rye, Noilly Pratt dry vermouth, ramazotti, orange bitters) and it remains top notch. Unfortunately, other faves Myra Breckinridge and Grouse Rampant were off the menu. Our rather large party, momentarily derailed by a lack of obvious choices, decided to risk the My Oh My Ty, a wimpy version of the mai tai that was in no way memorable, and a Smoked Horchata (housemade horchata, Herradura silver, Crema de Mezcal), which was way too sweet. Another newcomer, La Vina, was just okay as was the intriguing Daisy Buchanan (chamomile-infused Old Overholt rye, Dolin Dry Vermouth, Aperol & Yellow Chartreuse), which was bone dry on the finish. And the further we delved into the list, the more disappointing it became.

Hopefully the cocktail issues were just a manifestation of the mid-winter blahs. But what did strike our fancy were the always surprisingly strong food choices. The pulled pork sliders were very good while the prosciutto and cheese flatbread was fantastic. So fantastic, that we ordered more.

Anyway, we recommend proceeding with a bit of caution right now, at least until D+C gets  some "spring" in its step.

We'd heard much about Williamsburg's Rye (247 S. 1st Street), which opened last year to a good bit of fanfare, but had been remiss in making a trip until recently. Finally we did and we're happy to report that advance notice was spot on - where many Brooklyn spots disappoint, Rye is the real deal with good food and great cocktails.

The cocktails skew classic and towards the brown liquors we at BoozyNYC love so. Let us count the reasons to love Rye: The Havemeyer (Rittenhouse rye, Fino Sherry, Carpano Antica and bitters) is a fine Manhattan-esque drink. The very good Classic Old Fashioned. The smoky Blood and Sand (black tea infused scotch, cherry heering, vermouth). The spot-on Sazerac. The terrifically spiced Hot Butternut Rum, a take on the classic using butternut squash butter in addition to aged rum and housemade falernum. However, both the Southside (gin, muddled cucumber, mint, fresh lime, soda water) and Stone Fence (Laird's Applejack, fresh apple cider, housemade ginger beer) were well made, if too sweet for our taste. All cocktails are $10.

The food lived up to advance billing for the most part - it stuck to your ribs, was tasty and worked pretty well with the drinks. The standouts were the grilled quail, which was the best quail we've had in a long time, and the house smoked sturgeon appetizer. The pork belly was merely good - nicely grilled edges but otherwise run of the mill - is NYC officially over pork belly or what? Less successful were the mac & cheese, which needed a bit more flavor not to mention creaminess, and the vaunted meatloaf sandwich - pretty good but completely upstaged by the crispy onions that crowned it. The meat, while moist, needed to amp up the flavor and the bread was superfluous.

The room is a somewhat endearing hodgepodge - the bar dating back to 1890 is majestically dark and imposing, providing a solid foundation from which to get hammered. But the rest of the space looks like a German restaurant circa 1900. The main room is full of large round tables situated too close to the bar, meaning that anyone standing at the busy bar are nearly pushed against patrons on the bar stools. The back area with a smattering of smaller tables gave off a bit of a Siberia vibe.

Rye is well worth a visit. It's priced right, the attitude is in check and there is real talent both behind the bar and in the kitchen.
 

Hotel Delmano (82 Berry Street, Williamsburg) has been around awhile but it never quite made the A-list of NYC cocktail meccas. We had a good experience last year, and while the cocktail list was on the short side upon the opening, there was promise. Recently, we popped in to see what they are up to.

The cocktail list is much longer these days, there are more bartenders, too. Our first round consisted of the Rattlesnake (rye, absinthe, lemon, egg white, $13) and Autumn Leaves (olorso sherry, apricot, reposado tequila, $9). The Rattlesnake was fine though it didn't have much bite while Autumn Leaves didn't work at all. Smoke and Flowers (St. Germain, sherry, dry vermouth, Ardberg single malt scotch, $10), which has a romantic 1930s ring to it, was quite good while the 20th Century (lemon, white creme de cacao, Lillet, gin, $9) was good but a touch sweet. Lastly we couldn't resist the very good, smoky Devil's Garden (lime, agave nectar, mint, chipotle, cynar, and bitter infused mezcal, $12).

Overall, the cocktails are good - misses are likely unavoidable - with such an extensive list, but only the Devil's Garden truly impressed. The space is romantic and inviting, banquette seating cozy but service struck us as efficient but indifferent, which broke the spell a bit. While prices are generally attractive ($9-  13), we'd be hard pressed to give a reason for you to go out of your way to check in to the Hotel Delmano unless you're in the 'hood.