There's always something new to discover in New York

Ever since a dear work chum heard about a 'speakeasy' called Bathtub Gin, he and I have been excited to try it.  We finally got the chance last night and made a grand evening of it.

Inside an unassuming corner coffee shop is a false door with a red light.  If the red light is on (and you have a reservation), you can enter an oasis of chic called Bathtub Gin.  Low lighting, jazz music, overstuffed banquettes and plenty of copper bathtubs greet you.  Along with a menu chock-full of cocktails made with gin or most any other liquor. 

Our charming server was quite happy to describe the various cocktails to us, and she made some recommendations as well.  I decided to go with the gin-gin mole, which she described as a sort of mojito-type drink, only with gin.  It also had fresh ginger syrup and mint.  It was DELICIOUS!  And potent.  I was seriously intoxicated with just the one drink.  Since we had a second destination planned, my group decided not to have more than one drink.  We just lingered a bit over our delicious gin cocktails and enjoyed the atmosphere.

I love discovering new places and Bathtub Gin is definitely a place to which I would want to return.  It has a fun vibe, delicious (and strong) drinks and bathtubs wherever you look.  They also have a food menu, which we didn't try.  We'll definitely have to try it next time. 

Thankfully, our second location was a restaurant, since we were all pretty toasted and could use some food.  :)   One of our party has a musician pal, and she was playing last night at Hill Country BBQ, so off we went.  Our brisk walk over to the restaurant sobered us up a little bit.  Thankfully.


We had a reservation here, too, which was a good thing.  The lower level was pretty full with music fans gathering to hear the performers scheduled.  Hill Country BBQ is set up that you have a food ticket, and you stand in line at various stations to get your food.  With each item you order, the server checks off a box on your food ticket.  Then you pay on the way out, based on what you ate.  It's pretty easy to rack up a hefty bill here, but the food is so tasty, you can't get too mad about it.  And you'll know better for next time. 

Hopefully, the vegetarian police are not reading this, because, yes, I had some barbecued chicken.  You can certainly make a meal of side dishes, but I just had to have some BBQ meat.  I was seriously tempted by their special for the evening: barbecued pork belly.  Oh. My. God.  Sanity prevailed and I stuck with a 1/4 pound of chicken (of which I probably ate less than half).  Their barbecue sauce was delicious, very earthy and tomato-y with just a hint of spice.  I will say the side dishes I got, the corn pudding and the potato salad, were yummy but had maybe a little too much jalapeno in each of them for my taste, but that didn't stop me from eating them.  The cornbread with orange butter was also delicious. 

As we were eating, we were treated to a fun set of music from Tabitha Fair, who is sort of a jazzy/R&B/country rock performer.  She was really great, as was her band.  My chum's pal was one of her guitarists, then after Tabitha was finished, she had her own set.  Her name is Ann Klein and she was fantastic, too.  She's a singer/songwriter who sings in a rocky/bluesy/folky way that's unique and fun.  I actually wish her set had come first, because I was starting to get tired and couldn't stay for her whole performance.  I would've preferred hearing a whole evening with Ann, then a few songs with Tabitha.  But that's just me.  Tabitha had quite a few fans there last night who were perfectly happy to start with her.  :)

So, all in all, it was such a fun night, visiting new places, listening to great music, and having fun with a group of chums from work.  We don't hang out enough together after work.  The only downside?  I'm thinking it would break the bank to start my Summer Friday experiment today after last night's revelries.  So, for my first summer Friday, there will probably only be shopping, laundry and napping.  Not that there's anything wrong with that...