Best of Lounge 2010 - Winners

Best Lounge Event Jazz Age Lawn Party at Governor's Isand

The Loungerati readers have voted via PollDaddy for the 2010 Best of Lounge, and the results are in:

Best New Bar/Lounge: PAINKILLER
Honorable mention: Lani Kai, Dram Bar, Summit Bar, Weather Up Tribeca, Comstock Saloon

Best Veteran Bar/Lounge: CLOVER CLUB
Honorable Mention: Employees Only, Death & Company, Milk & Honey, Pegu Club, Dutch Kills

Best Barkeeper (male): DAMON DYER (CLOVER CLUB)
Honorable Mention: Brad Farran (Clover Club), Maxwell Britten (Freemans), Michael Neff (Ward III)

Best Barkeeper (female): FRANKY MARSHALL (CLOVER CLUB) 

Honorable Mention: Lynnette Marrero (Peels), Karin Stanley (Dutch Kills), Jane Elkins (Lambs Club), Eryn Reece (Mayahuel), Misty Kalfoken (Drink - Boston), Gina Chersevani (PS7 - DC)

Best Burlesque Act/Show: THE MINSKY SISTERS
Honorable Mention: Grace Gotham, Medianoche Burlesqua, Kiki Valentine's Sunday Show, Miss Tickle, Madame Rosebud, Bea B. Heart's Mimed Striptease

Best Lounge Event: JAZZ AGE LAWN PARTY AT GOVERNOR'S ISLAND
Honorable Mention: Wit's End at Flute Bar, Liberty Belle Spectacular, DOV & Midnight Follies - City Lights at Players Club, Halloween Eve's Masquerade at Green Building

Viva La Musica Award: Best Jazz/Swing/Lounge Band: MICHAEL ARENELLA & HIS DREAMLAND ORCHESTRA
Honorable Mention: Drew Nugent & Midnight Society, Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators, Queen Esther & J Walter Hawkes, JC Hopkins Biggish Band, Amis Amie

Best Dressed Lounger: DON SPIRO OF WIT'S END
Honorable Mention: Dandy Wellington of NY Dandy, Michelle Coursey aka The Lady In Red, Reggie "Mr. Swank" Allen, Maxwell Britten of Freemans, Nicole Desmond of the Rhum Rhum Room
 

Damon Dyer mixing at Lani Kai

David A. Embury Award: Best Cocktail of 2010: GIN LANE ROYALE PUNCH Maxwell Britten, Freemans

Honorable Mention: The Grass Kilt (Brian Miller), Chinese Bootlegger Punch (Payman Bahmani), Kentucky Buck (Erick Castro), The Concertina (Richard Boccato), Isle of Islay Swizzle (Joe Swifka and Julie Reiner)
 

Marcello Mastroianni Award: Lounger Number One: THE SENATOR of LOUNGERATI
Honorable Mention: Jack Newcastle, J Walter Hawkes, Gina Haase, Payman Bahmani

Editor and Staff Picks:

Best Seat in the House: BACK BAR SEAT AT FREEMANS
Honorable mention: F14 at Clover Club, The dugout at Painkiller, Bar Seat at Milk & Honey, The "Regular" at Employees Only

Most Sought After Ingredient for the Home Bar: BLACK MAPLE HILL 23 YR SINGLE BARREL RYE
Honorable Mention: AB Smeby Bitters, Mescalero Mezcal, Trader Tiki Cinnamon Syrup, Creme de Violette,

Best Barfood: WARD III  - MINI PULLED DUCK SLIDERS
Honorable Mention: Lani Kai - Crab Wontons, Prime Meats - the Cheeseburger, Mayahuel - Pork Belly with Mango salsa, Fort Defiance - Muffelata, Keens Steakhouse - Pub Mutton Chop

Best Cocktail for the Road: THE CONCERTINA (RICHARD BOCCATO, DUTCH KILLS)
Honorable Mention: Nicosia (Phil Ward, Mayahuel), Negroni Swizzle (Guiseppe Gonzalez, Painkiller), Black Pearl (Joe Swifka, Lani Kai), St. Columba (Ward III)

Best Saloon: WARD III (NEW YORK)
Honorable Mention: Henry Public (Brooklyn), The Richardson (Brooklyn), Breslin Bar at Ace Hotel (New York), Comstock Saloon (San Francisco)

Best of the Internationals: BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE HOTEL BAR (GLASGOW)
Honorable Mention: Rick's (Edinburgh), 69 Colbrooke Lane (London), Curio Parlor (Paris), Experimental Cocktail Club (Paris), Rheingold (Berlin)

Best of the NY Hotel Bars: FORTY FOUR AT ROYALTON HOTEL

Honorable Mention: Lambs Club at Chatwal Hotel, Bemelmans Bar at Carlyle Hotel, King Cole Bar at St. Regis Hotel, The Breslin at Ace Hotel, The Blue Bar at the Algonquin (natch)

Best Dive aka "The Gutter Award": JIMMY'S CORNER (NEW YORK)

The Patriot Bar (New York), O'Connors (Brooklyn), Hanks Saloon (Brooklyn), The Rusty Knot (New York)

Don't Bruise the Ice Award: WEATHER UP TRIBECA (NEW YORK)

Honorable Mention:  B Flat (New York), Dutch Kills (Queens), Death & Company (New York), Little Branch (New York)

On the hit list to visit in 2011: The Varnish in LA, PS7 in DC, Glasgow for drinks with Mal Spence, Eastern Standard in Boston, Tales of the Cocktail Part Trois, The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, and so much more.

Please join us on December 2nd for Hawaiian Holiday cocktails at Lani Kai in New York. It is also Loungerati's fourth birthday.