June 14, 2011

Thanks to everyone for leaving nice comments and again, I apologize for missing a day. I’ve got a few things going on in my personal life (yes, I do have one of those!) and it’s fucking around with me a little bit. It’s nothing life-changing, but I don’t want to blog about it and hopefully everything will work out. I appreciate all the nice comments yesterday, it really helped.

Today I’m going to put up the photos of going to PKNY last Sunday night. I was going to go every Sunday and drink my way through the menu, but now I think I’ll go more like once a month, otherwise it’s going to be the same post every week and I think it would get old. But I went Sunday and had a good time and below is the proof!

Due to the summertime, it's still light outside even though it's almost eight o'clock at night.

But inside PKNY it always feels like midnight. It's dark inside and no windows, a true oasis where you can relax and let your troubles float away.

And there's Val down at the end of the bar.

And here's Kigan, Val's bar back for the night. It's time to start the tiki drinks.

Val suggested a strong drink first, so I ordered up the cobra and he and Kigan went into action. Like I said last week, it's like performance art watching these two make a tiki cocktail. Sit back and enjoy the show as they go into action!

And here's the finished product! Nice work by Val and Kigan!

Fred was seated next to me at the bar, he own his own business, Quality Plus Cleaning. If you'd like to talk to him about his cleaning services his phone number is: 914-486-1056.

Areeb and Nikki were enjoying drinks on my left hand side and Val took a shot of them.

And Val serves up drink number two, the Miami Vice. Three words: Philip Michael Thomas.

A shot of Nikki enjoying one of the massive drinks in here.

These people were enjoying themselves in the back and really got into the mood by keeping their sunglasses on!

Val gave me one last drink on the house, but I forgot what to ask what it was. But it was delicious!

And one parting shot with Areeb and Nikki and it was time to call it a night. Goodnight everybody and we'll see you tomorrow after dark.

The Drink List
What I’ve had from the menu so far.
1. Bermuda Swizzle
2. Spiced Duke
3. Hemmingway
4. Papa Doble
5. 1958 Zombie
6. Cobra
7. Miami Vice
8. ????? (On the house cocktail I forgot to get the name of.)

PKNY
49 Essex St. (between Grand & Hester Sts.)
212-777-8454

Further reading: Shecky’s, Off The Broiler and Oyster Food and Culture.

You also might like: Biting Your Nails, Eating Some Snails and Living in Wales.

Five Other Tikis

Tiki Torches

Tiki Woman Lightswitch Cover

Don Tiki

Tiki Barber

Knuckles Tiki Bar

When I go swimming, I am always dressed in style,
'Cause I go swimming wearing just a great, big, smile.

ARCHIVES

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Bonus Announcement!

My friends Karen and Jon from Grade "A" Fancy are going to be part of an event tomorrow night called "Drink Think." Sadly I have to work, but if you can make it, you should check it out. Here's the details about the evening that Karen and Jon sent in.

We will be reading (yes we can!) at the next Drink.Think event on Wednesday, June 15, at Lolita Bar (corner of Broome & Allen Sts.). Come at 6:30 to drink at the bar; readings start at 7pm.  We fear it will be packed -- it was listed in Wednesday's Times and in Time Out. Here's the line-up of actual beverage & food writers they're letting us mingle with:

• Betsy Andrews, deputy editor, Saveur Magazine and author of several poetry books
• Talia Baiocchi, wine columnist, Eater.com New York
• Joshua M. Bernstein, author, Brewed Awakening
• Toby Cecchini, spirits and cocktail writer for The New York Times Magazine
• David Farley, travel writer and author, An Irreverent Curiosity
• Karen McBurnie and Jon Hammer, publishers of Grade “A” Fancy
• Karen Ulrich, wine writer
• Megan Wiig, wine ambassador and writer
• And our hostess, Kara Newman.

More info is available at www.drinkthinkreadings.com.

June 1, 2011

I think I may have thought of a place that will have the elusive glass swizzle sticks! I was looking over last year’s bar list and I noticed the bar Painkiller, which was bar number 184. They have some real exotic tiki drinks and stuck all kinds of fancy doo-dads in them and the place is kind of pricey, but the drinks are worth it...this just might be the place that houses the ever-elusive glass swizzle stick! Let’s find out!

It's a nice night out and the Empire State Building is Mellow Yellow.

And here we are at Painkiller. No fancy sign, just a painting on the door that you have arrived at a Tiki Bar.

Ahhh, nice and dark inside. Al will approve. Let's find a seat at the bar.

Mike and Pooja were seated next to me and were trying to figure out what to order from the cocktail selection. And that's not an easy task, there's 110 drinks on the menu!

Fancy bottles on top of the bar.

And there's a familiar face behind the bar. It's Valentin, who I met last July while visiting Painkiller on the bar crawl.

I ordered the 151 Colada which is one of the STRONG drinks in the bar. They only allow you to have one of these per visit.

Valentin is swizzling the drink together, but what sort of swizzle stick will get? The tension mounts!

Holy shitballs, he's putting a metal swizzle stick in the drink!

And here's the drink and the metal swizzle stick! Nicely done, Valentin! So far, Painkiller is the bar to beat in this swizzle stick contest!

The drink is strong and mighty potent, so in-between sips (sip ahoy!—patented catchphrase courtesy of Uncle Waltie!) let's take a look around.

Rescalla and Kaina were on duty at the end of the bar. They're both fun and nice people and Rescalla is a musician with a CD coming out that's a theme CD all about bars. We'll keep you informed about that, it sounds interesting!

A tiki goddess on the bamboo wall opposite the bar.

And another tiki lovely on the bar.

A longshot of the railing opposite the bar.

Three tiki gods hang on the wall in the back room.

And a vintage Ballantine Ale ad featuring "Papa" Hemmingway hangs on the brick wall up in the front of the bar.

The ceiling is bamboo, I think the only bamboo ceiling in Manhattan.

Okay, the drink is done, let's take a closer look at that fine swizzle stick we scored!

The end of it is a spoon...hmm...it makes me think of the early '80's for some reason...

Memories! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.

If They Do Say So Themselves!
(Two paragraphs from the “Aloha” page at Painkiller’s website.)
We believe that the tiki bar should be a place where one can always see a sea of smiles. The bartenders are glad to be there. The guests are happy. The cocktails, the island dress and the music aren’t necessarily the only elements that make a tiki bar a place where we all want to go for an “escape.” The PEOPLE make it great. YOU make it great. We are carrying on a tradition. This bar will be doing things differently but by no means not showing respect and reverence for those bartenders that came before us.  We are attempting to do just as Trader Vic and Donn Beach did before us…Make beautiful, delicious cocktails.

We hope that we will be welcomed into the fold as an island outpost amongst the many within the pantheon that we all look towards for an “escape.” We promise to always make sure that everything that we prepare for you is made with respect and care. Our vision is practically the same as any of the great tiki bars: we hope that people will leave our bar with a smile and a sense of happiness. We want people to remember that the island of Manhattan, to us, is the greatest island on Earth. When you are at PKNY, we do not want to provide you with an escape from where you are; we want to remind you that you are where you want to be.

Painkiller
49 Essex St. (Near Grand St.)
212-777-8454

The Swizzle Stick Collection So Far

Further reading: Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, Grub Street, Esquire and Examiner.

You might also like: Fancy Cocktail Glasses, Fancy Glasses and Fancy.

Four Other Painkillers
Vicodin
Morphine
Heroin
Budweiser

Whatever Lola wants,
Lola gets.

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