Thursday, December 16th, 2010—Bar 340
Day 340—Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Audrey Lounge (in the St. Giles Tuscany Hotel)
One of my favorite blogs is Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York. It’s a blog that documents how the landscape of New York is changing and how important institutions and places are vanishing. The writing is clever and insightful and it shows how our culture and New York is changing, most times for the worse. In addition, Jeremiah interviews people that are doing things connected with New York City and I was honored that he asked me to do a Q. and A. for the blog. Today it’s up and you can read it here: Marty’s Q. and A. at Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York. Thanks Jeremiah, keep fighting the good fight!
Okay, back to the bar crawl. Well, I’m still a little shell-shocked after being thrown out of Spain’s bar last night. I need to bounce back and I think I know the place to go. The other day I got a direct message on Twitter and here it is.
Hmm...imagine that, a bar that actually appreciates someone roaming the city and documenting bar and tavern culture at every stop. What a concept! So it’s nice to be invited somewhere where my services are appreciated. Plus it’s not far from where I work, so bundle up, it’s as cold as the staff at Spain out there.
It's about 14 blocks from here, so we'll just hoof it on over. It's cold out, but it's not too windy, so it's not that bad out here.
Okay, after about twelve blocks, forget what I said earlier, I'm freezing my ass off over here, where the hell is this place.
Here's the hotel, The St. Giles Tuscany.
And here's the bar, let's get inside and get warmed up.
The bar is small, but I see a seat and the lighting in here is warming me up already.
I didn't feel like drinking a cold beer, so Rebecca, the pretty and friendly bartender mixed me up a specialty cocktail. It's called the Riker's Island. Kind of a scary title for a drink.
And the drink is served.
And it's delicious! I'm officially warmed up at this point.
Here's the back of the bar in all its lit-up magenta glory.
A long shot of the cozy, candle-lit bar.
There's tables in the back of the room overlooking the lobby and a Christmas tree.
There's also a small lounge area back here to enjoy a drink and chill out. What's that on the wall?
Fire! This goes out to Gidget and Jaws, who are currently digging themselves out of their snow covered cities.
A couple of window seats opposite the bar.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, Rebecca poses with Brian and Peter. We had a nice conversation at the bar with topics ranging from music and new bands, to suicide, to Duane Reade, to New York apartment living to what the internet is doing to our society. A fun conversation and a fun night.
Rebecca highly endorses Absolut Brooklyn, which Absolut has made in conjunction with Spike Lee. In fact she's not only the President of the Absolut Brooklyn fan club...
She's also a member. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
The Audrey Lounge in the St. Giles Tuscany Hotel is a nice, small, cozy magenta hued bar. The bar itself seats about a half a dozen people with tables and chairs to the side and behind it and a candle-lit nook to the side. The bartenders are friendly and the crowd is a mix of people staying at the hotel and neighborhood locals. Music is played at a conversational level and the vibe is chill and friendly. And there's a fireplace on the wall!
There’s a full bar with a selection of about a half a dozen bottled beers and cocktails. They also have a decent selection of bourbon and single malts and Rebecca recommends the Big Apple Martini and The Riker’s Island from the specialty cocktail list. I’m sworn to secrecy about the ingredients of the drinks, so you’ll have to stop in to check them out yourself.
Thanks to the Audrey Lounge for inviting me over. A lovely time was had by all.
Audrey Lounge (in the St. Giles Tuscany Hotel)
120 E 39th (Between Park and Lexington)
212-686-1600
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Bonus Cockroach Art From Jaws
The old "Joe's Apt." show was mentioned in the comments section and here's Jaws' take on cockroaches in NYC!
10 References
Reader Comments (16)
Mean people suck and nice people rock! I'd like to give a big shout-out to lovely Rebecca and all the good folks at Audrey Lounge who helped you bounce back from that horrible restaurant in the Village. The Audrey looks nice and cozy. Love the fireplace on the wall (FIRE!) and they did a cool twist on the lit-up bottles dealio. Seems like a great place to stop in and kick up my heels for a while. Next time I'm at the museum, I'll hoof it over for a cocktail or three.
Nice bounce back after last night! Looks like a nice, warm, friendly place. And that's a nice Q. and A. at Jeremiah's blog. Thanks to him for spreading the word about 365! 25 to go!
@Biff and Barfly: I agree 100% with your comments. Rebecca is a very attractive lady as are all on the journey. Great red glow at this place. @365: Really enjoyed your Q and A with Jeremiah's,,,seems I always learn something new and interesting about the crawl. Was that Absolut Brooklyn vodka in your Riker's? just wondering what Brooklyn tastes like,,,,ha ha.
Nice Q&A on Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York !
@Al: Brooklyn tastes like...chicken!
@GENE: See you tomorrow!
Thanks for the plugola and the fire, Marty! I always appreciate a red color scheme...reminds me of my brothel hopping days in Germany when I was in the army (A Guy Walks into 365 Brothels...your next project Marty). They 're just finishing up digging out around here, and check out the Minneapolis Metro Dome collapse on you tube for a giggle or two if you haven't already.
Absolut Brooklyn? Do you start seeing singing, dancing cockroaches like in the movie 'Joe's Apartment' after a few bumps of that? I actually had to hire a kid with a bobcat min-pay loader to dig me out of my place for fifty dollars....I couldn't walk three feet out of my front door after the storm...honest!
@Jaws: Happy to give you a shoutout. And happily no dancing cockroaches showed up last night. Glad you got dug out!
I love the brothel idea.. who is gonna hold the camera for Marty? are there 365 brothels in NYC?
Thanks for the shout out Marty
still fucking cold.
i think my tits froze and fell off.
gonna snow again today:(
This bar is fucking awesome.. and I love THEY invited you!
A Great stop!
Rebecca is the kind of bartender I loved.
Fun and a pleasure to be around.
I had a few in my "daze" and it guaranteed my ass parked at the bar for hours...and hours...
and days... and months...and years. I am still friends with a few of them even though we're all scattered across the country now. Good, lifelong friendships were made.
To Rebecca!
@Gidget: I'd need a LOT of donations to pull of the brothel thing!
@"Boris:" To Rebecca!
that drink looks deelish! maybe rebecca will post the ingredients, i don't live in nyc! nice place and it looks cozy. your q + a at the vanishing blog was cool! good q's and good a's!
Loved the interview Marty! Glad you had a good night after Spain. Love the fireplace, is that real or a projection?
btw - reading your firetruck book and just read the RS fishwrap chapter last night. Loved it!
@kari: Glad you enjoyed the interview! JVNY is one of my favorite blogs and I feel honored to be there. Glad you're enjoying the firetruck book!
i....i....i....don't know what to say....i don't know what to .what to do....if you are not happy...you must be blue....it is so easy....it is so easy...to get off topic....great to "meet" alll you crawlers. with about a month to go...thanks to 365 for the ticket to ride...happy trails to you till we meet again...happy trails to you...KOC
rr
ah you see this post has nothing to do "wheresoever the fuck we are"...KOC...MOTHERFUCKERS...
@raginrr: Well...I can't add anything to that!
The Audrey looks like a fun, friendly and wonderful place. I love it!!
"imagine that, a bar that actually appreciates someone roaming the city and documenting bar and tavern culture at every stop." LOL great pont Marty!