The Perfect Brooklyn Cocktail Bar Crawl

(Updated August 2018) Manhattan, you’ve got some grade A competition when it comes to cocktail bars. Sure, you’ve got Dead Rabbit, Death & Co, and Raines Law Room. But sometimes, I just want to be able to walk for three minutes to get to my next bar instead of schlepping my stuff 20 minutes on the subway, you know? That’s why we’ve created this nifty Brooklyn cocktail bar crawl itinerary for everyone out there who wants an amazing cocktail without the hassle of taxis and trains.

It’s Five O’Clock Here: making your bar planning as easy and fun as possible. ~~Oh man, that sounded way too cheesy.~~

Read on to discover where you should go next time you’re in Brooklyn, NYC’s coolest borough.

What if I told you that my top sightseeing priority in Seattle wasn’t actually a killer craft beer spot? Would that be heresy? (Egads, say it ain’t so!) True, Seattle is nailing all things beer and cocktails (read about it here). But there’s another place which I believe should be on every Seattle visitor’s itinerary: Chihuly Garden and Glass.

I fell in love with Dale Chihuly’s glass art back in 2008, when San Francisco’s de Young Museum held a special exhibition highlighting his work. I was captivated by the vibrant colors of the installations and the innovative techniques that Chihuly used to manipulate the glass. When I heard that Chihuly Garden and Glass opened in 2012 in Seattle Center, then, I knew I had to go.

It’s really true that words do not do this place justice. Instead, I’ve created a photo essay so you can get a taste of what I saw in September 2016. (But I swear, nothing’s like experiencing it firsthand. You’ll have to see it for yourself!)

Despite being an East Coast transplant who lives and breathes New York City, I still find myself missing the West Coast at the most unexpected times. Sometimes, it’s those San Diego beach photos I see on Instagram during an especially vicious blizzard. Other times, it’s the thought of open spaces and towering California redwoods when I look up at silver Manhattan skyscrapers. But lately, I’ve been missing another West Coast city: Seattle.

Seattle has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. It may have had something to do with watching that particular Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie as a teen (I used to daydream about spending Valentine’s Day dining at the Space Needle). Or maybe it was because my sister-in-law, Rachel, had lived there for years, and her verdant, tranquil photos of the Pacific Northwest were giving me a major case of FOMO.

But whatever the reason, I finally made it over to the Emerald City back in September 2016. What I found was not only those amazing open spaces, but a bar scene that’s a cut above elsewhere.

Here’s a round up of my favorite places to drink in Seattle right now.

UPDATE: Sadly, Betony closed its doors on December 31, 2016. RIP to one of our favorite cocktail spots.

Cocktail lovers, rejoice! No longer do you have to avoid Midtown Manhattan if you want high quality craft cocktails: Betony has got you covered.

You have to understand, Mr. Five O’Clock and I have been trying to find a suitable after-work spot to meet for drinks in this area for nearly four years. We’d wander around the oasis that is Central Park down to West 30th Street between 5th and 7th Avenues, desperately attempting to find some glimmer of hope.

It’s not that there’s a shortage of bars here–you can find Irish pubs galore near Penn Station and overpriced watery drinks all over Times Square. But there was nothing on the level of craft cocktail bars like Death and Company or Little Branch.

Enter Betony. This restaurant, located on West 57th Street in Manhattan, contains a beverage program so good that people will drop by the restaurant just for a drink. We can’t keep a secret this good forever, so here’s why we think Betony is Midtown Manhattan’s best cocktail spot.

After months of blizzards, puddles of brown slush, and frigid rain in New York City, the weather gods have finally decided to relent and bless us with some actual warm weather. (Californians, I can hear your snickering across the country. Shhhhhh.) This, of course, means one thing: it’s time to get serious about planning your next wine tasting adventure.

While the Finger Lakes are where it’s at for truly high quality wine in the state of New York, Long Island wineries are an easy day trip from New York City, making it an ideal introduction to the state’s wineries for both locals and tourists alike. Here are five wineries to put on your itinerary for your next trip to Long Island wine country.

The mint julep holds a special place in my heart. Prior to attending the Kentucky Derby in May 2013, Mr. Five O’Clock and I were die-hard wine fans and wouldn’t give cocktails much of a second thought. However, once we tasted this delicious, boozy concoction on Derby Day, we realized that—gasp!—bourbon could be just as interesting as a glass of Bordeaux or Barolo.

The mint julep became the official drink of the Kentucky Derby in 1938, but it turns out that they’ve been around much longer than that. According to David Wondrich’s Imbibe!, a “julep” was simply medicine at first (as early as 900 AD or even before that). How it turned into an alcoholic beverage is still up for debate, but Wondrich tells us that the original spirit of choice for a julep was actually French cognac (not whiskey!).

Given the variety of julep recipes out there, we thought we’d conduct a mint julep taste test of our own. Which version of this drink would wind up reigning supreme?

In true detective fashion, I conducted a very sophisticated focus group during yesterday’s 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby (read: invited over Miss Scarlet and Bourbon Broad for drinks). While the Kentucky Derby may be the quickest two minutes in sports, our debate about mint juleps proved to be the longest twenty-two minutes in the history of our taste tests. Find out which julep we’d drink over and over again.

Giorgio set the glass of garnet-colored wine in front of me confidently, as if he already knew the ultimate decision I’d make.

“Thanks, but I’m not sure if I should try it,” I politely declined, still in disbelief at the fact that it was acceptable to legally drink wine under the age of 21. It was 2006, and the 20-year-old me, studying abroad in Rome, still clung to the rules and regulations she had grown up with in America.

My roommate and I had recently discovered a neighborhood Italian restaurant on one of the side streets near the Pantheon. Lured by the aromas of sizzling meat sauces and freshly-cooked tagliatelle, we were quickly seated in an outdoor table near the back. Upon learning that I had never had wine before, our server, Giorgio, insisted that I try some Montepulciano d’Abruzzo to “make my life complete.”

Planning a trip to the Hawaiian islands can be daunting. With six inhabited islands to choose from (not counting the “Forbidden Island” of Niihau), how can you possibly narrow it down to just one?

While Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island of Hawaii get the most love in terms of number of visitors each year, I’m going to come out and say it: Kauai is the island you’ll want to return to again and again. After I visited the Garden Isle for my good friend Agent M‘s 30th birthday, I vowed to return to see the rest of its unparalleled beauty. Whether it’s lush, green mountains or towering waterfalls you’re after, here are five experiences that will make you fall in love with Kauai.

In the “Booze Buzz” series, we take you to the latest and greatest watering holes throughout the country. Today, we head to U.P. (Unlimited Possibilities), part of Dominique Ansel Kitchen, in Manhattan.

I’m not a morning person. Anyone who knows me knows that I sleep in on weekends and hit the snooze button at least once on weekdays (not a healthy habit, I know). So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve never been able to drag myself out of bed for one of Dominique Ansel’s famous cronuts at 7:00 AM. I resigned myself to the idea that I’d never try one of those piping hot baked goods, a mystical cross between a croissant and a doughnut; I figured that if I couldn’t try the Holy Grail of desserts, then why bother visiting the bakery or tasting his other creations at all?

Fortunately, this misguided notion was recently laid to rest. Upon discovering U.P. (Unlimited Possibilities), an after-hours desserts tasting menu at Dominique Ansel Kitchen, and learning that these tasty morsels could be served alongside cocktail pairings designed in consultation with Jim Meehan of PDT (Please Don’t Tell) fame, Mr. Five O’Clock and I immediately booked a reservation for March 11.

Warning: spoilers ahead; if you don’t want to know what happens before you go, stop reading now!

In the “Booze Buzz” series, we take you to the latest and greatest watering holes throughout the country. Today, we head to Le Boudoir in Brooklyn.

I certainly have my share of guilty pleasures—some that I can readily admit (crack pie from Momofuku Milk Bar) and others that are probably best kept to myself (Monday night viewings of “The Bachelor”).

These, however, pale in comparison to my laughable weakness for themed dining and drinking experiences (just ask my parents, who took me to Rainforest Cafe countless times as a kid, or my co-workers, who mercifully agreed to a late-night dinner at the Ninja restaurant in Tribeca two months ago). So when an e-mail popped up in my inbox in early February about a Marie Antoinette-themed speakeasy that had just opened in Brooklyn Heights, I needed only .1755 seconds before deciding that I had to check it out.

Category: USA

The Perfect Brooklyn Cocktail Bar Crawl

Photo Essay: Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle

5 Places You’ll Want to Drink in Seattle Right Now

Why Betony is Midtown Manhattan’s Best Cocktail Spot

5 Awesome Long Island Wineries to Visit This Summer

Racing to Find the Perfect Mint Julep

“Revisiting”: The Only Wine Term You Need to Know

5 Experiences That Will Make You Fall in Love with Kauai

Booze Buzz: U.P. (Unlimited Possibilities) in Manhattan

Booze Buzz: Le Boudoir in Brooklyn