Apothéke

Speakeasies are a fine idea, but not when you have to pay $18 for a cocktail, especially from a pushy, waitress who looks like she was about to wash and hang clothes up to dry in a Mexican village. I'm in sales, so...dazzle me, talk to me about the place, the drinks, which one's your favorite and why...don't just say, "You can sit down, 'long as you order from ME, not the bartendera". Ouch!

Creative menu, lovely, inventive decor. Good to impress out-of-towners...until they see the check.
Never coming back and certainly never recommending it to anybody I like.

Love. "Farm to table" cocktails using delish local ingredients,  created by a hellacious team of mixologists. Delicately balanced, purposeful. The whole speakeasy-prohibition movement in NYC is still thriving, and these guys lead the pack. The crowd is a little funky, depending on when you go, but who cares if you snuggle up to a crafty cordial? Go. Now.

I came here around 7:45 pm on a Saturday night and I'm glad I didn't come any later, because there were distinct crowds entering at 8 pm and 8:30 pm, and by the time I left around 9:45 pm, there already was a line AND a bouncer. My early arrival meant that there was no bouncer and I distinctly saw men wearing flip-flops and there seems to be no problem.

The decor is quite beautiful, and I really love the round-bottom flask chandelier, and the carefully crafted menu and all the little fixtures that make this place look like and old-fashioned apothecary. But I thought the layout of the place was a bit clumsy - the couches all line up in a row against the wall, and since they are 3-seater couches, typically one couple monopolize a couch and then there's all this empty space that would be awkward to share with another party. People also look awkward sitting in a file with their backs against the wall if you're looking from the other side.

Also, the price. Props to the exotic drinks, but the prices are a bit ridiculous. $16-$17 a cocktail? Wow. No wonder the menu has no prices, otherwise people wouldn't try one drink, see the check and then leave immediately. That's what happened to me, and I went to the ECC instead - edgier and cheaper cocktails, plenty of bar seating and French-accented bartender. I rest my case.