Hello world!
Welcome to Astra Starter Templates. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
jade bar : Libations of the FIRST Resort!
This post is part of our Phoenix/Scottsdale tour : click here to get the eagle-eye summary of all of our experiences. Hotel bars, especially the elite establishments in Paris and London, are some of the greatest and most storied bars in the world. We don’t have quite the same legacy with our hotel bars in
jade bar : Libations of the FIRST Resort! Read More »
Phoenix/Scottsdale Bar Tour
The combination of COVID-19, the New England weather, and my semi-retirement after selling my 21 yr old web development company led Lorri and I to try the cliché snowbird migration to Arizona for the winters of 2021 and 2022 (currently in progress!), in the cities of Tucson, Sedona and Phoenix/Scottsdale. Corona Disclaimers/Strategies: In the 2021/2022
Phoenix/Scottsdale Bar Tour Read More »
The Art of Barrel Picking & Blending: A Whiskey & Rum Tasting
Our first online tasting event took place Wednesday June 23rd, 2021! View the recording of the event here : … or download the slide deck here: ORIGINAL SESSION DESCRIPTION: • We’ve all had whiskey and rums finished in other barrels … but how often have you tasted the ORIGINAL “mother” spirit next to the “daughter” spirits
The Art of Barrel Picking & Blending: A Whiskey & Rum Tasting Read More »
The Still (Tucson AZ)
A Hidden Speakeasy You Never Heard About From Us
The Still (Tucson AZ) Read More »
New Riff Bourbon Barrel Pick 2019
In the summer of 2019, Lorri and I were lucky to be invited to join a Bourbon Trail tour group planned by J.A.W.S. (the Josephine Avenue Whiskey Society from Somerville, Massachusetts) and guided by the inimitable Nick Taylor of Taylor and Taylor Whiskey Co. (who was also the guide on our raucously epic Scotch tour
New Riff Bourbon Barrel Pick 2019 Read More »
Bar Wayo
The Momofuku empire expands out to NYC’s Pier 17 complex … but did their cocktail menu expand into excellence … or insanity?
Lost Lake: Tiki Gone Modernly Elegant
Our second stop in our 24-hr 5-bar whirlwind tour of Chicago turned out to be our favorite. Tucked behind a nondescript exterior in Logan Square is Lost Lake, a well known tiki joint (but usually mentioned AFTER tiki empire Three Dots and a Dash). We jumped in right at their 5 PM opening time and
Lost Lake: Tiki Gone Modernly Elegant Read More »
Young American
Chicago! Lorri & I had only done the cocktail scene there once a few years ago, the most memorable stops being the Goat and the Girl (casually excellent) and the mad scientist mixology shrine the Aviary (stunningly original from top to bottom but with drinks that impressed the head more than the heart) and we’d
The Avery: Everything But The Drinks
[Dec 23, 2019] After leaving The Eddy , Lorri and I were eager to check out The Avery, rumored to be THE speakeasy in Providence. Let us run through the Speakeasy Checklist! Non Obvious Building? Yep, the Avery was in a deceptively residential looking area and was in a building that looked more like a house
The Avery: Everything But The Drinks Read More »
The Eddy: Revisiting A First Love
Lorri and I started our Providence / NYC / Washington DC Christmas trip with a return to The Eddy after several years. We had just started our interest in cocktails and stumbled across The Eddy while traveling through Providence. We recalled it as a terrific experience with its memorable U shaped bar, distinctive cocktail menu
The Eddy: Revisiting A First Love Read More »
Bootleg Special: The Curiousness of Cordials
Earlier this spring (May 30, 2018), Lorri & I eagerly headed a couple blocks south of our office to check out Bootleg Special, the new seafood boil joint at edge of the South End on Tremont Street. The look of the place as we stepped down into the dining area was charming: very reminiscent of
Bootleg Special: The Curiousness of Cordials Read More »
Deacon Giles: A Demon and a Distillery Walk into a Bar
Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin, You’ll Never Come Out The Way You Came In – Not the favorite poem of people of Lynn Lorri and I had to do a kid drop off and pickup in Lynn MA, so I Yelp’ed for cocktail bars in the area and I came across Deacon Giles Distillery in
Deacon Giles: A Demon and a Distillery Walk into a Bar Read More »
Ritcey East: A Bold Cocktail Gem in Watertown
We were driving home from work on a Wednesday & Waze started sending us in a completely bizarre direction we’d never taken before. I actually asked “Did a BOMB go off somewhere?” at one point. Traffic was a mess and I missed a few turns so I semi-jokingly told Lorri “Hey, find us a cool
Ritcey East: A Bold Cocktail Gem in Watertown Read More »
Coppa: How to Get Away with Cocktail Murder Deliciously
As fans of Ken Oringer & Jamie Bissonette’s Clio (RIP), Uni and Little Donkey, we’ve always had Coppa on our MUST DO list and on a gorgeous Halloween afternoon we finally made it down there for lunch. We were surprised by Coppa’s cozy, neighborhood vibe – very few restaurants of its acclaim have this quality,
Coppa: How to Get Away with Cocktail Murder Deliciously Read More »
Better Sorts Social Club: Naomi Levy Hits The Peak
It was with some sadness that we heard earlier this year that the Highball Lounge had closed. It was fun space in a schizo way with its Viewmaster menus, high end highballs (never our favorite cocktail but give them credit for stretching the category), strong whiskey selection and array of table games to go along
Better Sorts Social Club: Naomi Levy Hits The Peak Read More »
Nahita: If Inception Were a Cocktail Bar …
Is it Fate, Serendipity or Something More Sinister when a new place opens and seems to fulfill all of your subconscious cocktail desires? A sublimely charming host introduces you to this seductive new world, a familiar face floats in and out of view singing the siren’s call of future epiphanies, and ghostly apparitions of cocktails that
Nahita: If Inception Were a Cocktail Bar … Read More »
Lolita Cocina: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (4 of 5)
After the unplanned stop at Oak + Rowan, we made our way to our first visit ever to Lolita Cocina. Being VERY familiar with other stunningly designed COJE restaurants (Yvonne’s and Ruka), we were prepared for a dazzling interior but Lolita Cocina’s Fort Point location was INSANE. It’s like Trader Vic completely took over
Lolita Cocina: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (4 of 5) Read More »
jm Curley: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (5 of 5) [The Regulars]
Upon exiting Lolita Cocina, we piled into a Lyft to our fifth stop, Downtown Crossing’s jm Curley. When we exited the car, Tom pointed out the wacky-yet-eerie display in the wig store we were passing (Downtown Crossing is a bizarre mix of trendy bars, high end restaurants and kooky super niche-y stores that seem to
jm Curley: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (5 of 5) [The Regulars] Read More »
Gold Bar: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (2 of 5) [The Regulars]
“The Regulars” is a series of posts on bars that Lorri & I have been to often enough to trust with our lives … errrr … make that OUR LIVERS. Our second destination was only a few stairs up from our first stop at Drink. The Gold Bar is the tiny 6 seat bar at
Gold Bar: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (2 of 5) [The Regulars] Read More »
Oak + Rowan: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (3 of 5)
On the way from the Gold Bar to Lolita Cocina, the sign for Oak + Rowan jumped out to Danna and me and we simultaneously thought “Hey, Oak + Rowan is right here?? We should stop for a whiskey! We should also ask if Oak + Rowan = Okran !” (Note: It’s theoretically possible that
Oak + Rowan: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (3 of 5) Read More »
DRINK: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (1 of 5) [The Regulars]
After our outrageously fun tour of Lowell with Danna & Tom (industry pros from ICOB Burlington), Lorri & I felt like we had to pull out the big guns for a tour on our turf: The Fort Point and DTX (Downtown Crossing) areas of Boston. “Tours” are posts about a night (or nights) of many bars, many
DRINK: Boston Fort Point & DTX Tour (1 of 5) [The Regulars] Read More »
The Vodka Strikes Back (with Jackson Cannon!!!) at Island Creek Oyster Bar Burlington [The Regulars]
THE REGULARS features bars that we’ve been to often enough to recommend without hesitation … well, if you have any damn taste. Sometimes the best experiences start off sounding like the beginning of a horror movie. “There’s a Ketel One event happening Tuesday at 5”, Danna from Burlington’s ICOB texted Lorri and me. She might
The Hawthorne : Still the Finest Bar in Boston Proper? [The Regulars]
Being the greatest wife ever, Lorri circled the last of the Hawthorne’s Swizzle Sundays as a MUST-GO for us, even though crushed/pebble ice drinks and tiki drinks are solidly in MY half of our drinking Venn diagram and solidly NOT in any of the overlapping area between us. It didn’t hurt that Sean Frederick (familiar
The Hawthorne : Still the Finest Bar in Boston Proper? [The Regulars] Read More »
Southern Proper (The New King of the South – in Boston)
Lorri spent several years in North Carolina (and at least 22 years in the South), so my ears perked up when I heard about Southern Proper, a new restaurant in Boston’s South End / SoWa district that’s SO North Carolinian that the interior is decked out with North Carolina pine. The southern food / bourbon
Southern Proper (The New King of the South – in Boston) Read More »
Chickadee : Innovation Served Four Ways (featuring Kate)
Most Fridays I bartend a cocktail hour (more like 2 hrs!) for my company, but recently work’s gotten heavy and I thought it a poor example to have the boss devoting so many Thursday nights / Friday afternoons coming up with a quartet of new craft cocktails, so I dropped one of the Fridays a
Chickadee : Innovation Served Four Ways (featuring Kate) Read More »
Yvonne’s [The Regulars]
THE REGULARS is a series of posts covering the bars we frequent most often, featuring background information, tips and drink recommendations. To us, Yvonne’s is that uber-successful, fashionable and a maybe-too-glamorous longtime friend who instantly drops all the corporate d-bags and society wanna-be’s when you come through the door and makes one-on-one time to catch
Yvonne’s [The Regulars] Read More »
New York City Cocktail Roundup: The Newbies 2018
Roundups: We’ll also do in-depth posts on most of these places, but here’s a quick summary of the places we hit on this trip. Why a puppy picture on a cocktail blog? Why did we have a bizarre travel itinerary of Drive from Boston to NYC, Fly from NYC to Phoenix, Drive from Phoenix
New York City Cocktail Roundup: The Newbies 2018 Read More »
Tucson/Phoenix Cocktail Roundup
In between our NYC dates, we checked out Tucson (and a bit of Phoenix)- it’s been years since we did a serious tour of Tucson so Lorri & I weren’t sure what to expect (when we lived in Tucson over a dozen years ago ago the cocktail renaissance hadn’t quite landed yet). We were really pleased
Tucson/Phoenix Cocktail Roundup Read More »
Warp and Weft (Lowell Tour 2 of 3)
After leaving the 1981 Ramen Bar, our intrepid quartet debated going straight to the Keep (our featured attraction of the night), or making a quick stop at Warp and Weft, a recent addition to Lowell. After determining that we were in fact NOT complete puss- …errr …. wimps, we made the quick stroll over and man,
Warp and Weft (Lowell Tour 2 of 3) Read More »
1981 Ramen Bar (Lowell Tour 1 of 3)
Two of our favorite things: Discovering a new cocktail neighborhood with a pile of great places clustered near each other. Drinking with fun, knowledgeable and umm …. “high-stamina” company! No, that doesn’t mean folks who like to drink a ton and get wasted. In fact, kind of the opposite – the kind of people who
1981 Ramen Bar (Lowell Tour 1 of 3) Read More »
The Keep (Lowell Tour 3 of 3)
After the 1981 Ramen Bar and Warp and Weft, I should have known that The Keep (our final stop on the Lowell tour) was also going to be packed – dang, how many hipster drinkers are there in this town that can keep so many bars full on a Thursday night in the summer when most
The Keep (Lowell Tour 3 of 3) Read More »
Herbal Essentials [Cocktail Hour]
What’s Cocktail Hour? Most Fridays at 4 PM I run a popup bar for my company, usually featuring 4 cocktails centered on some ludicrously vague theme. It’s a good exercise in bar logistics, menu planning and high speed cocktail production (my employees are thirsty and ready to cut loose by Friday afternoon, so it’s about
Herbal Essentials [Cocktail Hour] Read More »
Rincon Limeño: Peruvian Pisco Sours Redeemed
For one glorious year, the Peruvian-Japanese restaurant RUKA (part of the Coje Management Group, which includes the stellar Yvonne’s and Lolita Cocina) was our perfect restaurant/bar. The bar team was headed by Will Thompson and had a Murderer’s Row of bartenders: Joaquin Meza (the Tequila and Mezcal guru), Alex, Rob, Shelton, Kim and Sebastian. They
Rincon Limeño: Peruvian Pisco Sours Redeemed Read More »
MAST’ : The Perils of Free Pour and Farewell, Ridiculous Whiskey Buckets
MAST’ (in the Financial District of Boston) is one of the very best Neapolitan pizzerias in Boston, featuring a totally legit Neapolitan brick pizza oven, one those rounded dome jobs that looks like this: Photo from Grubstreet Lorri and I spent one night in Naples, Italy (the birthplace of pizza) and it was enough to
MAST’ : The Perils of Free Pour and Farewell, Ridiculous Whiskey Buckets Read More »
LX (Legal Crossing) : Escape From Aladdin [The Regulars]
Being total Musical Nerds, Lorri and I have a subscription to Broadway in Boston, a form of ticketing blackmail a.k.a. “Buy tickets to 4 musicals you don’t really care about so you can see the ONE musical you’ll never get tickets to, otherwise known as HAMILTON”. That’s how we ended up seeing “Get On Your
LX (Legal Crossing) : Escape From Aladdin [The Regulars] Read More »
Democracy Brewing: Promising New Brewery in Downtown Boston
Lorri and I were back in our old stomping grounds at Boston’s Downtown Crossing, checking out Democracy Brewing, a new brewery/beer hall on Temple Street (a block from our previous office). Democracy took over the venerable Windsor Button store and invested a hefty amount of time and money into a complete overhaul. The space
Democracy Brewing: Promising New Brewery in Downtown Boston Read More »
The Baldwin Bar [The Regulars]
Our favorite Boston area bar for the total food/drink combination is the remarkable Baldwin Bar in thoroughly unremarkable Woburn MA. It’s housed in the Baldwin Mansion (from freaking 1661, making it older than our COUNTRY) and is part of the Sichuan Garden Chinese restaurant. The Baldwin is consistently ranked among the best bars in the
The Baldwin Bar [The Regulars] Read More »
The Gallows: Happy “Hang”-out in the South End (with Emily & Laura)
When you can’t come up with an actually GOOD blog post title, resort to horrible puns. When you need a solid cocktail in a no-nonsense bar with seriously good pub fare, go to J.M. Curleys …. or the Gallows! After moving our offices from Downtown Crossing to the South End, Lorri & I have been
The Gallows: Happy “Hang”-out in the South End (with Emily & Laura) Read More »
Summer Solstice [Cocktail Hour]
What’s Cocktail Hour? Most Fridays at 4 PM I run a popup bar for my company, usually featuring 4 cocktails centered on some ludicrously vague theme. It’s a good exercise in bar logistics, menu planning and high speed cocktail production (my employees are thirsty and ready to cut loose by Friday afternoon, so it’s about
Summer Solstice [Cocktail Hour] Read More »
The Old Fashioned [Deep Dive]
One Big Ice Cube 1/2 Demerara sugar cube 4 dashes Angostura bitters 2-4 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters 1/4 oz cold water 2 oz. high proof bourbon (ideally, Old Grand Dad 114) Orange peel Luxardo Maraschino cherry The Fabulous Jenn, our most loyal bar buddy, sadly moved from our town of Lexington (Massachusetts, not the Bourbon
The Old Fashioned [Deep Dive] Read More »
Pagu: Japanese for Pug (and Sublime Drinking)
A farewell dinner to one of our favorite employees (leaving for business school) warranted a special venue, and when Chelsea suggested Pagu in Cambridge, it was a perfect choice for me for four reasons: None of us had been there before Creative Asian food Great rep for cocktails Pugs! Pagu is Japanese for pug and
Pagu: Japanese for Pug (and Sublime Drinking) Read More »
Island Creek Oyster Bar (Burlington, MA) [The Regulars]
I Island Creek Oyster Bar in Burlington is our standard weekly lunch – SO standard that it’s practically “Cheers” to me & Lorri. Sometimes you really DO want to go where everybody knows your name … and your story, and especially your drinks (and vice versa). ICOB (with Burlington and Fenway locations) is one of
Island Creek Oyster Bar (Burlington, MA) [The Regulars] Read More »
The Imposters [Cocktail Hour]
What’s Cocktail Hour? Most Fridays at 4 PM I run a popup bar for my company, usually featuring 4 cocktails centered on some ludicrously vague theme. It’s a good exercise in bar logistics, menu planning and high speed cocktail production (my employees are thirsty and ready to cut loose by Friday afternoon, so it’s about
The Imposters [Cocktail Hour] Read More »
The Ghost Walks: Exploding the Envelope
Lorri and I were thrilled to see The Ghost Walks open just a few blocks from our new Bay Village office and even more thrilled to see alums of three of our favorite places in charge: General Manager Peter Szigeti (Committee), Beverage Director Moe Isaza (Baldwin Bar) and Chef Aaron Lhamon (Wink and Nod). Located in the
The Ghost Walks: Exploding the Envelope Read More »
Sumaio Hunan Kitchen: A New Cocktail + Spicy Food Contender (w/Johnny)
Lorri and I had our eyes on this fairly new restaurant/bar for a while now, for several reasons: There’s a superb feedback loop of decadence between top notch cocktails and spicy authentic Asian food, where the cold sweet alcohol fuels the desire for rich fiery food. No one nails this better than the Baldwin
Sumaio Hunan Kitchen: A New Cocktail + Spicy Food Contender (w/Johnny) Read More »