Cited: NY Times

The Crosby Bar and restaurant were built to flow seamlessly into each other and they do. As the diners finish their meals, they begin to make their way to the back room for $18 cocktails. Some will not have far to go because they are guests at the attached Crosby Street Hotel. The quirky decor of the Crosby bar starts with its light fixtures.

The hotel is the first New York outpost of the London boutique group Firmdale Hotels. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the Crosby Bar so earnestly embodies a certain British quirkiness with its Paul Smith-meets-Moroccan décor and eclectic art, including an arrangement of Bakelite telephones on one wall and a huge wooden dodo bird behind the long pewter bar. Stools and banquettes are upholstered in retro orange and candy-colored striped fabric, and lights that hang low from the ceiling are encased in multihued crystal balls that resemble a 1970s craft project. The bartenders, not to be outdone by the furnishings, measure, serve and schmooze in crisp black pants and blue shirts with dapper sherbet ties tucked in around the third button.

Still, for all its head-turning adornments and psychedelic color wheel, the décor is not overwhelming. It almost skews on the warm side save for the high ceiling and metal-framed glass walls that look out onto the street and two enclosed outdoor areas — one of which will open for warm-weather dining.

“It’s not low-key definitively, but it doesn’t have this stuck-up attitude so common at lounges,” said François Zelbat of the Upper West Side, who added, “There is no drama.”

There may be no drama, but according to some, there are still trend-seekers. On a recent weeknight, the crowd was more creative-professional than socially aspiring, though every bit as attractive as you might expect.

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A group of 10 women were having a girls’ night out. Nandita Khanna, who owns an Indian restaurant in New York, laughed when asked if they were prowling for men. “We’re all married with kids,” she said. One friend smiled and said, “I’ll still look!”

Nearby, three women were engrossed in conversation. One of them, Agnes Berecz, an art history professor, offered her professional assessment of the space: “It’s funny how the waiters and bartenders have this full, pseudo-French look — very formal. It looks like they’re coming from Jean Georges or something.”

Patrons tend to stay focused on their original cohorts and their beverages, with the latter being something that the Crosby Bar takes great care to keep on the cutting edge. Its seasonally driven cocktail list includes a revolving menu of drinks adapted from famous bars around the world.

Ann Matthews, the director of development for a recording studio, said she was a fan of SoHo’s new digs. “It’s gorgeous,” she said, as she and a friend stood alongside a growing group at the bar. But she did have a word of advice about the bartenders’ use of a wine jigger.

Ms. Matthews stated that bartenders should just estimate and pour wine directly into a glass because she said, “When you pour wine into metal, it changes the flavor.” Going definitely does not have a good flavor when it has a metallic taste to it.

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My Take: I do not think this is actually a “bar”, but more of a cocktail lounge. You will not usually find a “bar” attached to a hotel, at least not a nice hotel. Nice hotels usually have a cocktail lounge. And it is the smart people that stay at the hotel so that they will not have to hire a Monmouth County DWI lawyer or hire a car accident law firm.

The New Year holiday will probably see many people looking for Monmouth County criminal defense lawyer or an injury law firm because somebody was dumb enough to drive and drink. It is one of the most important things that anybody learns at an academy driving school in NY, do not drink and drive. In fact, if you have a motorcycle and you take NY motorcycle lessons you will discover that it is even worse driving a motorcycle when drinking.

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