Beyond Manhattan BlogKorzo
Posted on April 10, 2013
667 5th Ave (between 19th St & 20th St)
Korzo is one of Brooklyn’s great jazz bars, offering James Carney’s Konceptions series every tuesday night.
It’s also a fantastic Hungarian gastropub, with a wide selection of Eurpoean beers and fantastic food.
Barbes
Posted on April 10, 2013
Barbes, nestled unassumingly between a coffee shop and a brownstone just off the corner of 6th Ave and 9th Street in Brooklyn’s Park Slope, is a regular spot for locals, and almost altogether unknown for visitors to NYC. Want world-class jazz? Sure, the Vanguard will never fail you, as well it shouldn’t for its $90 pricetag for a show and drinks for two. Want to catch a great, surprising, genre-bending jazz show for a simple cover and uninflated drink prices? Barbes is your spot. Get there early, too, as it’s a small room!
Brook’Vin
Posted on April 10, 2013
Brooklyn’s many wine bars (wait till you get to Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens) have earned their reputation as exceptional alternatives to the traditional cocktail bar, dive bar, or pub, but Brook’Vin is head-and-shoulders above even most of them. Care was put into the arrangement of this bar, and it shows. The bar is massive, taking up 2/3 of the room, and allows an intimate interaction with the bartenders (all of whom were speedy, entertaining, and helpful) for a large number of people. Brook’vin has “shot the moon” by pulling off what seems impossible in New York, accommodating a full-house without seeming like a zoo.
Which is to say nothing of the wine selection itself – the house wines on tap are always good, a decent place to state – and the staff’s enthusiasm for wine shows through as they assist you gamely through the menu. A small and well-thought tasting menu cheese and charcuterie rounds out the experience.
Double Windsor
Posted on April 10, 2013
In a city traditionally known for its cocktail bars and dives, the beerofile gastropub is making a showing in a big way, and the Double Windsor, like its Manhattanite cousin the Blind Tiger Ale House, embodies the ethos. Here you’ll want to look at a beer menu (just think wine bar), but the staff are more than willing to help you choose, offering samples of everything. On the night I attended it was crowded, but I never waited more than 30 seconds for a bartender.
The Windsor also distinguishes itself from so many mind-numbing frat bars in the five boros by its inclusion of exceptional food. True, it’s burgers, fries, and chicken sandwiches, but think “chef-tweaked” – they’re not an afterthought. An altogether great spot to spend an evening, or a few minutes.
