I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that last week, Esquire magazine published its list of the best bars in America. Among the top-ranked establishments are fine-cocktail havens such as Pegu Club, in New York; No. 9 Park, in Boston; The Matchbox, in Chicago; and, of course, Seattle’s Zig Zag Cafe. Credit where credit… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Establishments
Bars: Really, Really Good
For rabid cocktail geeks such as myself—our bookshelves filled with yellowed old copies of Thomas, Boothby, Bergeron and Baker (and less-tattered though no-less-loved editions of Wondrich, Regan and Haigh); our kitchen cabinets sagging beneath bottles of assorted Italian bitters and an array of obscure liqueurs; our maddeningly circuitous internet debates about what makes a martini… Continue Reading
Bars: Good
Thank god for ambitious bartenders, and for the chef/owners who love them. Rob Feenie is one of the most respected chefs in Canada; his flagship restaurant, Lumiere, is a Relais-Chateaux establishment often mentioned in the same breath as Daniel, Charlie Trotter’s and the French Laundry. A couple of years ago—around the time he was getting… Continue Reading
Bars: Bad
This is why I rarely drink in bars (well, one reason, anyway), preferring instead to mix my own at home: the curse of the poorly made cocktail. Scene: Bacchus Lounge in the Wedgewood Hotel in Vancouver, BC. For the past two years running, Vancouver Magazine named Bacchus the best lounge in the city, so it… Continue Reading
