The pork belly melted in my mouth. I had a rye Manhattan that made ordinary cocktails seem like Smirnoff Ice.
Was it young love, or beginners luck? Subsequent trips have not fared as well. The pork belly was too salty. Asparagus fries went away for the summer. The popular "Cuban cigars" tasted like diner food.
I keep going back, mostly to sit at the curved copper-top bar. Two dozen beers on tap, and always something interesting.
In July bartender Steve Wood saw my restless post-gin expression and asked if he could make me a whiskey drink. I said sure. Turns out he's a bit of a wunderkind with the beer cocktail (see Fly magazine). The impromptu concoction he delivered was a delicious stout-laced twist on what he called a boulevardier.
The intermittent reward is a principle of behavioral conditioning. With occasional treats as good as Wood's cocktail, I'll keep walking in the door.
http://www.hungernthirst.com/
