Autumn Cocktail Roundup

These days, cocktails have become as important as dinner, and a good mixologist as valuable as a top chef.  Though some revelers are content to sling back beer year round, many enjoy autumn’s produce in their potable (and alcoholic) forms. Think apples, tart cranberries, and fragrant pie spices.  Serious bartenders around Manhattan have stepped up, offering out-of-the-ordinary cocktails that make it nearly as enjoyable to drink in this city as it is to eat.

Death & Company – Maple syrup explores its adulthood in a Maple Julep made with
Rittenhouse rye whiskey at this East Village sleeper, which just keeps conceiving first-rate libations.
433 East 6th Street, (212) 388-0882

Gramercy Tavern – Fresh cranberries, macerated until plump and spiced with Goslings rum, add a sweet-tart burst of seasonal flavor to the tavern’s “Drunken” cranberry Daiquiri.  But really anything Juliette Pope mixes up, turns to gold.
42 East 20th Street, (212) 477-0777 

Flatiron Lounge – Like a whiskey-soaked pumpkin pie, Ichabod’s
Courage blends rye whiskey with pumpkin, ginger, egg white and aromatic
bitters to create a Grimm libation worthy of a misty November
evening.
37 West 19th Street,  (212) 727-7741

dell’anima – This new West Village wine bar boasts a handsome selection of Italian wines and housemade grappas, but mixologist, L.R., also keeps up the cocktail end of things.  In a fine homage to cranberries, he muddles fresh cranberries with orange bitters, bourbon and a dash of Galliano.
38 8th Avenue, (212) 366-6633

Silverleaf Tavern – The Hot Maple-Buttered Rum is like the
hot apple cider of the over-21 set.  Replete with a cinnamon stick swizzel, this soothing concoction begins with a spiced compound
butter mixed with apple cider and Goslings Gold rum.
43 East 38th Street, (212) 973-2550

 

P*ong – An atypical and inventive riff on the sweet, neon-hued martini
standard, Pichet Ong’s Apple-Tea-Ni gives renewed life to this mix with fresh apples and earl grey tea.
150 West 10th Street, (212) 929-0898

Obivia – Take your pick of the Cinnamon Red Sangria, the
Spiked Butterscotch Apple Cider, or the Pomegranate Martini – each
offers its own distinct nod to the turn of the season.
201 Lafayette Street, (212) 226-4904

Tocqueville – The allure of apples is exploited ably and
fully with the Tocqueville Apple Toddy, which features a warming
mix of apple cider, spices and Calvados brandy. This toddy is an homage
to namesake Alexis de Tocqueville’s native Normandy, known for its
apples and Calvados.
1 East 15th Street, (212) 647-1515

Employees Only – Pomegranates, with their characteristic tannins, produce the most precious of the fall fruit
juices. Employee’s Only serves this fresh-squeezed juice shaken with
Courvoisier VS and chai-infused vermouth in their Mata Hari cocktail.
510 Hudson Street, (212) 242-3021

Aureole – Oranges hit their peak of flavor as
autumn turns to winter. To take advantage of this sunny citrus,
the mixologist from Charlie Palmer’s upper east side establishment
created the Dubonnet Riviera, made with Dubonnet Rouge, Grand Marnier,
and fresh-squeezed blood orange juice.
34 East 61st Street, (212) 319-1660

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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