Recently in The Manhattan Project Category

The bar at Felidia (243 E. 58th Street) is a bit cramped but probably the best option in the area for a good drink. 

Restaurant cocktails tend to be tremendous profit centers - the higher end the spot, the more inflated the price. So it was unsurprising to find two Michelin star Marea (240 Central Park South) with a list full of $18 drinks. What we weren't prepared for was how appealing that list would be.

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.

Since the Manhattan is a cocktail near & dear to our heart - plus Monday is the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience not to be confused with The Manhattan Cocktail Classic which is a series of events about cocktails in general - here's a link to an interview Metromix did with Dave Wondrich. Key takeaway, "The easiest things to do are to measure everything and to stir it--don't shake it. Stirring it gives it a really rich and silky texture."

You betcha.

We hadn't been at Employees Only (510 Hudson Street) in a while - it's not in our top tier of NYC drinks places - but recently found ourselves just down the block and needing a drink. The cocktail menu had a few intriguing choices but we went straight for their version of the Manhattan ($14) - "Rittenhouse Rye stirred with Italian Vermouth, Orange Curacao and Angostura bitters." The resulting drink is delicious - the orange curacao really rounded out the flavor. One of the best Manhattans we've tasted yet in this project.

Subterranean bar PDT (113 St. Mark's Place) is one of the best drink spots in the city, so it's not often we partake in a classic cocktail while we're there. However, a recent night got late in a hurry and we needed our usual nightcap - the Manhattan.

We didn't offer a liquor suggestion and we were not disappointed. The drink we were served was made with Rittenhouse Rye and Carpano Antica, purportedly "the original" sweet Italian vermouth. It was terrific, perfectly balanced and nicely presented with three small cherries on a skewer across the top. If only all Manhattans could be this delicious.

Death + Company (433 East 6th Street) is undoubtedly one of New York's best cocktail bars, as well as one of its most controversial, due to its never-ending battle to stay open. We've spent some extended time there recently - look for a review later this week - and after much imbibing, decided to test the bartender's Manhattan chops. We left it up to him and his take ($13) was interesting and quite delicious - he used half Booker's Bourbon and half Rittenhouse Rye to create a rich, nicely balanced drink. It certainly sent us out into the cold night feeling no pain.

Recent West Village wanderings took us into subterranean cocktail den Little Branch (22 Seventh Avenue South) in search of a good Manhattan. While we like the look of the space, the drinks themselves have never really impressed us. We slid into one of the tight booths and ordered a Manhattan. The waitress didn't ask for a booze preference but when it arrived, there was a familiar quality to it. Hmm, we thought. Could it be Old Overholt, our own house rye? Sure enough it was. Makes a nicely balanced Manhattan, though theirs was a tad drier than the Head Bartender version. At $12 a solid version of a classic cocktail.

We get a lot of recipes from liquor companies, but few are any good. Most of their so-called signature drinks wind up being too heavy handed with the product they are pushing. A notable exception are the fine folks at St. Germain, who consistently craft good drinks made with the elderflower liqueur.

Case in point is the Paris Manhattan, a twist on the classic made with St. Germain, which actually enhances the flavor of the bourbon. The 'Parisian' touch is light and flirty without being too frou frou. We'd raise a glass to the creator of the drink, if we knew who he or she is...

Paris Manhattan
makes one

2oz Bourbon
1oz St. Germain
1/2oz Dry Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Pour ingredients into an ice filled shaker and stir until cold, strain into a martini glass.

The bar at Gotham Bar and Grill (12 E. 12th Street) has long been one of the city's best dining bars thanks to their ingenious trays that rest on the rail running along the bar. While not a go-to spot for the drinks crowd these days, we figured it would have a solid Manhattan, so we popped in just before the holidays.

The bartender asked our choice of booze and we chose rye. He recommended Michters, which is quite good but it turns out a bit pricey ($16). The resulting drink was a taste of classic New York - smooth yet potent. It almost made us forget the howling wind just outside the doors. Alas, if we could afford two, we might have really been protected from the elements.

Waiting on a friend the other night, we slipped into the venerable Old Town Bar (45 E. 18th Street) and ordered up a Manhattan.

The bartender asked if we preferred rye or bourbon and we went with rye, but left the brand choice up to him. The resulting drink was well balanced but bracing, to say the least. Kind of a working man's stiff drink, perfect for the blue collar crowd. The booze?  McCormick's, the house rye. The price? $7. 

When asked our favorite libation, many potential answers present themselves depending on our mood. But when it comes to cocktails one drink stands above the rest - the Manhattan. This classic cocktail is the epitome of grown-up drinking: no juice, no shaking, no (plastic) monkeys. Just whiskey (usually rye or bourbon), vermouth and a few dashes of bitters, well stirred and served up. When well made, it's pure pleasure. When not, it's a boozy mess.

Debuting in the Manhattan Club in the 1870s, the Manhattan is about a hundred years older than we are. In the intervening years, it has inspired many variations and knock-offs. In honor of the original's outsized influence, we decided to embark on a project to find the best Manhattans in Manhattan - and beyond. We will search far and wide, high end and low end, to identify the best and warn you about the worst. We'll let bartenders guide us when it comes to the booze and see where they take us. And we will also tell you about some of the city's best new creations inspired by the drink.

But we can't drink the city by ourselves, hard as we try, so we'd like to hear from you about where to find the best Manhattan, who makes it or how you like to order it. Drop us an email or leave a comment.

Our first stop was a natural, a New York institution with a great bar: Gramercy Tavern.