208065 Sun Feb 29 06:13:49 -0800 2004 19 18 Manhattan 0 1108398 A little history, a little design, a little booze. A group of women in the design field are looking for a fun Saturday after a week of work in NYC. I thought if we started with brunch on Saturday and worked our way around the city: some place very old, something new and terribly chic...could be the interior design or the architecture or none of the above if it had an interesting history. All ideas welcome. Can anyone help me? Thanks. "Let me eat cake" Marie Antoinette Sun Feb 29 06:13:49 -0800 2004 0 Marie Antoinette 1 1108400 The Brasserie on 54th & Park turned a lot of heads when it was redesigned a few years back,as has Lever House[don't know if you can just have a drink there].For old time it's Old Town on 18th st. Sun Feb 29 06:20:09 -0800 2004 1108398 0 M.K. 2 1108405 The Brasserie is a great idea. The transformation is stunning. I especially like the grand entrance and the translucent panels at the bar. I had a great lobster salad there last fall. I wonder if it is open 24/7 like it was many years ago when it was a place for onion soup and steak tartare. Maybe we'll do lunch there. Can't just drink all day. MA Sun Feb 29 08:16:08 -0800 2004 1108400 0 Marie Antoinette 1 1108401 As far as architecture goes Grand Central Terminal is a must-see and there are a variety of bars there that will allow you interesting perspectives on the recent renovaiton there. Link: http://users.commkey.net/daniel/grand.htm Sun Feb 29 07:22:25 -0800 2004 1108398 0 Deven Black 2 1108402 Thanks for the reminder on Grand Central. Will check it out. Sun Feb 29 07:47:15 -0800 2004 1108401 0 Marie Antoinette 3 1108420 Be sure not to miss the Campbell Apartment in GCT. It's a bar now, but it was the office of the head of the railroad, and it is a great example of baronial splendor hidden in GCT. A little hard to find -- can enter on Vanderbilt Ave. to find it or take elevator on the West ramp near the Oyster Bar (where the Guastavino ceiling and the wood-paneled Saloon are great, but the current union unrest may be an issue). If you have one drink in GCT for this excursion, Campbell Apartment is the way to go... Sun Feb 29 12:02:12 -0800 2004 1108402 0 Greg S. 1 1108403 P J Clarkes was in the back of my mind. I used to love it years ago. Have they kept it the same...still have dry ice urinal? MA Sun Feb 29 07:49:38 -0800 2004 1108398 0 Marie Antoinette 1 1108406 Guastavinos is a stunning piece of architecture you should take people to see. Four Seasons, albeit expensive, is at the Seagrams Building which was one of the first International Style buildings. Groundbreaking at the time but a little ho-hum now. The new Time Warner Center has a pretty atrium inside the mall. You can stop by one of the several bars in there and take in the view. Sun Feb 29 09:05:29 -0800 2004 1108398 0 Ted 2 1108407 Oh, and 44 is a legendary cocktail place. And then you can go across the street to the Algonquin which is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. And then hit the Hudson Bar, a typical Ian Schrager place with modern decor. A very beautiful courtyard area, too. Sun Feb 29 09:12:23 -0800 2004 1108406 0 Ted 2 1108410 Isn't the Brasserie in the basement of the Seagram Building. My last trip to New York I took clients for lunch at La Brasserie and then showed them the Four Seasons restaurant which I think is still a fabulous room reflecting a different era. My last dinner at the Four Seasons wasn't as good as I remembered but the Brasserie was excellent. Both are still RA restaurants, are they not. MA Sun Feb 29 09:38:46 -0800 2004 1108406 0 Marie Antoinette 1 1108421 Jefferson. 121 W. 10th AIA award for restaurant design 2003. They do brunch and dinner on weekends. Sun Feb 29 13:10:04 -0800 2004 1108398 0 dinnerboy 1 1108423 If you are in the West Village, you might want to hit Chumley's, an old speakeasy where a lot of writers used to hang out. The building is nothing special on the outside, but the interior of the former speakeasy is a great hidden gem and excellent for a drink Sun Feb 29 13:16:12 -0800 2004 1108398 0 Lee K 1 1108475 I would add La Caverna, a bar stucco'd up to look like a cave, complete with carved sculptures. Silly, yes, but memorable. 122 - 124 Rivington Street. I'd also give a look at Suba for the moat. And for old-timiness, maybe the Monkey Bar? Mon Mar 01 12:52:32 -0800 2004 1108398 0 Wisco 1 1108505 How about the Brasserie 8-1/2 (9 West 57th Street)? Stunning stairway entrance and it doesn't look like anywhere else. And closeby is the Oak Bar at the Plaza. Lots to look at there, and excellent Bloody Marys. Mon Mar 01 15:22:59 -0800 2004 1108398 0 K. McB. 1 1108524 Sounds like a great outing. In addition to all the excellent suggestions posted below, you might consider grabbing a copy of the "AIA (American Institute of Architects) Guide to New York City" and planning your trek accordingly. The Village Voice called the AIA Guide, "A book for architectural gourmands and gastronomic gourmets." I strongly second their observation. Mon Mar 01 16:10:12 -0800 2004 1108398 0 Steve Harrington 1 1108531 couple ideas (including a "secret" spot below :-)... do a Midtown Ian Scrager/Philip Stark tour: - Hudson Hotel, Hudson Bar & Library Bar - Hudson Bar is an amazing sleek and sexy space, Library Bar make nice side trip - Paramount Hotel, Whisky Bar - Whisky bar is still pretty hip and nicely designed (used to be super hip) the lobby at the Paramount is beautiful and worth a stroll through - Royalton - polished and cute round bar inside lobby is unusual and very cool, used to be known as the champagne bar I think they're calling it a martini bar these days. elegant & nice spot, beautiful bathrooms. some great & noteworthy places downtown (from the sleek or interesting design angle) - the problem is most of these places open around 6 pm and some as late as 10 pm: - Canteen - very different/futuristic, amazing furniture (while on Mercer St., a couple blocks away is Bar 89 worth checking out for their infamous transparent bathroom stalls) - Lot 61 - huge, lots of interesting touches... cool art, vintage furniture, fireplace (Bungalow 8 is their hipper new space, but not quite as design-y) - Idlewild - designed to look like your inside a very modern, metallic airplane - SX 137 in a really cool, modern bar/space in the LES - Coral Room - typical drab meat packing district giant warehouse club space, but has like the largest privately owned aquarium in the world, with live mermaids (swimmers) and I'm gonna share a secret spot, one that's very old and about as full of history and crazy architecture as you can get: - The Bar in the 7th Regiment Armory. This is in a huge armory that still exists (barely) on Park and 67th St it is FILLED with dusty history and artifacts. The building itself is massive and still has tons of the original architectural touches throughout the interior. It looks private but anyone can go on, just show your ID to the guard at the door and tell them you are going to the bar/restaurant on the 4th floor. Then be prepared to see some whacky and amazing stuff! It's such a spooky, weird and wonderful place from the moment you enter. Every item is in a state of deterioration and should probably be in a museum. The bar/restaurant floor looks right out of a Knights of Columbus hall, tattered moose heads on the walls furniture last updated in the 30's. But it's all amazing to behold. No one seems to mind if you poke around and explore the rooms. One dining room on this floor has walls covered with amazing and bizarre prisoner art going back to the revolution. The drinks are dirt cheap (but DO NOT eat there, terrible) from an article... "The Seventh Regiment Armory, completed in 1881, was designed by regiment veteran Charles W. Clinton, one of many regiment volunteers from well-to-do New York families. Many interior rooms were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, or the Herter brothers. The armory is a designated New York City historic landmark, and its 53,000 square foot drill shed remains one of the largest unobstructed interiors in the city and the oldest existing "balloon-shed" in the nation. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission described the building's magnificent rooms as "the single most important collection of 19th century interiors to survive intact in one building." Although this landmarked building is now sadly in poor condition, it is still the military palace that forty thousand subscribers lined up to see when it officially opened its massive doors in 1880." Mon Mar 01 16:33:11 -0800 2004 1108398 0 elvislives 2 1108562 holy cow the armory sounds like my kind of joint! thanks for letting loose with that cool tip. ok here's mine, in the village is the little bar in YE WAVERLY INN, a basically unchanged 19th century tavern with so much history and even better a great fireplace (bank and waverly). ps--skip the FRAUNCES TAVERN downtown, lame redo of the bar. Mon Mar 01 19:18:46 -0800 2004 1108531 0 mrnyc 3 1108563 wow, thanks for the recs. I think these will add immeasurably to the day. Hip, cool places abound in NY...so much so my head often hurts trying to keep them apart. I'm going to input everything and try to put up an itinerary. Who knows...it might become an internet classic. Thanks. Marie A. Mon Mar 01 19:24:03 -0800 2004 1108562 0 Marie Antoinette 4 1108657 word to mrnyc - Ye Waverly Inn should be in the top of your list. and djk is right, the bar inside the Royalton has always been known as the vodka bar - thanks for that memory nudge. (and thanks for the other clarification, I'd meant to say Coral was in the club/warehouse district, dam this aging thing. the owner's a friend, you'd think I'd get that one right.) the Armory is a strange and unusual place, but it's also VERY run down and dusty. we joke that to keep costs down they've decided to keep one live bulb per chandelier throughout the building. but I like that kind of stuff, and also love weird NYC architecture so it's right up my alley, but may not be for some. in case anyone's interested, here's a link to a 10 page article on the Armory that's full of info/history: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1026/1_155/53590433/p9/article.jhtml?term= also - I discovered the Armory has a website (you'll get the idea, but looks nothing like the pictures :-) http://www.seventhregimentrestaurant.com/ Tue Mar 02 12:22:52 -0800 2004 1108563 0 elvislives 3 1108591 that armory bar sounds like a must do - thanks for that! btb, the coral room is not in the meatpacking district but on w 29th....and yes, the little bar at the royalton has always been a vodka bar. maybe it's become an actual martini bar now tho. there's also the bar at bayard's on hanover sq between pearl and stone streets - way downtown. the bar isn't the draw, but the bldg is beautiful, 1851 italianate and eberhard mueller is still the chef at the restaurant - an expensive bite but worth it. Tue Mar 02 01:22:47 -0800 2004 1108562 0 djk