Destinations: New Year's Parties 2011!!

Loungerati recommends the following events for your New Year's Eve celebrations. Kick off the fun one day early on New Year's Eve Eve at The Salon's annual party. Lounging, dancing, and great performances! Read more about the history of this alternative New Year's Party here. Then head to Brooklyn for a duo of unique events. Dress to the nines at a 1920s Formal ball at the Montauk Club or treat yourself to an evening of incredible cocktails and exotic fare inspired by the travels of drinks legend Charles H. Baker, Jr. at Fort Defiance.

New Year's Eve Eve - December 30, 2010

THE SALON - New Year's Eve Eve
at Rebel NYC
Doors open and live music begins at 8:00pm
Sponsored by Hendricks Gin and Milagro Tequila

REBEL, boasts Brazilian-walnut...dance floors, numerous bars, a state of the art sound system and we now have all 3 floors (13,000sq ft!) for your dancing and lounging pleasure. 

On the Main Dance Floor:
THE GEORGE GEE SWING ORCHESTRA
featuring vocalists Hilary Gardner and John Dokes

in the Lounge:
QUEEN ESTHER & THE HOT FIVE
Grand Prize Winner, Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, 2008

THE FRIED BANANAS
Imported from Boston, this band kicks-off the BLUES ROOM at midnight - along with DJ LadyBlues, spinning until the wee hours.

MICHAEL ARENELLA TRIO
Special late night set in the VIP lounge

Dandy Wellington's MADE TO MEASURE BAND
Playing an early set on the mezzanine and a late night set on the mainstage.

In addition to live music all night long, The Salon proudly presents:

THE MINSKY SISTERS
The '20's Tap Dancing Sensation

MISS RUBY VALENTINE
The Alabaster Beauty... As seen on MAD MEN

LEGS MALONE
The girl with The Thirty-Four and a Half Inch Inseam

DANDY WELLINGTON
Emcee Extraordinaire

DJ's by Swing Remix
SPENCER WEISBOND and PAOLO LANNA will keep ya dancing all night long.

+ FREE beginner swing lesson at 8:15 by Spencer Weisbond!

Behind the bars:
ERYN REECE
Guest Mixlologist from Mayahuel

FREDO
Loungerati.com

The Salon has been sponsored by HENDRICKS GIN and MILAGRO TEQUILA! The first 100 guests to arrive at The Salon will receive a complimentary Hendricks or Milagro cocktail; doors open at 8pm and it's first-come-first-serve, so arrive early! In addition Milagro is offering free tastings of their tequilas from 10pm to midnight!

HAVE WE GOT A DEAL FOR YOU...
$20 - Early Advance Online (thru Dec 5th)
$25 - Advance Online (from Dec. 6th - Dec. 30th)
$30 - at the door (cash only)

for advance tickets and more info, go to:
http://www.thesalon.biz/

REBEL NYC
251 west 30th Street
(between 7th and 8th Ave) 
New York, NY
21+ ID required


New Year's Eve, Friday December 31st

For the Dancers and Jazz lovers

2011 Formal Ball at the Montauk Club
featuring Michael Arenella's Dreamland Orchestra
Dinner at 7PM
Drinks & Dancing at 8:30PM - 2:00AM
$75 PER PERSON - OPEN BAR
$140 PER PERSON - DINNER & OPEN BAR

Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra perform sweet and swinging '30s/'40s era standards for your listening and dancing pleasure. Featuring The Minsky Sisters Ring in the New Year with us in the Montauk Club's historic and luxurious ballroom.

General Admission Ticket - $75 (includes open bar)
General Admission tickets are available at BrownPaperTickets.com.
There will be no tickets available at the door, so please purchase your tickets in advance!

Dinner and Open Bar Ticket - $160
*taxes and service charges included*
Enjoy dinner in the Montauk Club's dining room, including the full service open bar.
Guests who would like to dine must first purchase a General Admission ticket at BrownPaperTickets.com, then email Jen@Dreamlandorchestra.com to make your dinner reservation.

Ticket sales end on 12/30 at midnight.

The Montauk Club
25 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY
www.montaukclub.com
718.638.0800


For the Cocktail Lovers

Fort Defiance Cafe and Bar in Red Hook
NEW YEAR'S EVE: An Evening with Charles H. Baker, Jr. 
St. John Frizell and his crew will be serving a five-course prix-fixe menu inspired by the travels of our favorite globetrotting adventurer of the Cocktail Age, featuring Deviled Lobster from Cat Cay, the Bahamas; the Imperial Cossack Crusta from Shanghai; the Rangoon Star Ruby from Lower-Burmah; and much more! $95 includes five courses, paired wine, and cocktails. Make reservations today!

Fort Defiance
365 Van Brunt
Brooklyn, NY
www.fortdefiancebrooklyn.com
347.453.6672

Wayne Curtis on Charles H. Baker in Atlantic Magazine

I don't usually quote or link to other articles, however I do not usually come across a great article on Charles H. Baker, Jr. cocktails AND Fort Defiance in Red Hook. So here is a passage which I sums up Baker's work and how cocktailians feel about it.

Baker was a bon vivant who wrote about food and cocktails for Esquire, Gourmet, and Town & Country. Today, he is best remembered for writing The Gentleman’s Companion: Being an Exotic Drinking Book or,Around the World With Jigger, Beaker and Flask, in 1939. It remains a tour de force. Flipping through its pages is like stepping into a dusky hunting club where the trophy mounts are cocktails such as the Sahara Glowing Heart and La Zaragozana’s Ne Plus Ultra, and where Baker sits in his cracked leather chair, recounting the story behind each. (Of a cocktail called Between the Sheets, he wrote, “We ran into it one dank day of sleet and rain in early January, just after the first Arab-Jewish riots which started with a murder of a poor old man stoned to death in a Haifa melon patch, between halves of a soccer match.”)

For the entirety of Wayne Curtis' article on Atlantic Wire click here. I did not try the three cocktails mentioned during my two week expedition...I think a Between The Sheets is in order!

Between the Sheets
3/4 oz cognac
3/4 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz London dry gin
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
Baker: “Shake briskly with lots of cracked ice and serve in a Manhattan glass.”

(photo of Baker courtesy of St. John Frizzell)

Gentleman's Companion Day 12 - The Porto Flip

by Fredo

For the delicious Porto Flip, I decided that a trip to Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn was in order. St. John Frizzell the proprietor of the new cocktail destination is known to make delicious Charles H. Baker, Jr. cocktails. I sampled several including the Remember The Maine and the Daisy de Santiago. So when it came time for a nightcap, I had to go with this gem that Mr. Baker imbibed at the Army & Navy Club, in Manila, Philippines back in 1931.


PORTO FLIP
Port Wine, 2 jiggers
Egg, fresh essentially, 1 whole
Thick cream, 1 pony
Cognac, 1 pony
Sugar, 2 scant tsp
Chartreuse, 1 tsp (though the color is not specified, St. John used Green - clearly he knows Baker very well!)
Grated nutmeg

Mix the concoction over ice, shake hard, and serve in a small goblet, floating the Chartreuse on top with a bar spoon, then dust with grated nut meg.

Smooth, well balanced, with significant kick and layering of flavors. This was the best flip I ever had. Perfect capper for a crisp Autumn night.

I also wanted to add a Happy Birthday to our pal Morey who made his Red Hook debut thanks to a sold out Burlesque Festival and a Big Grazie Mille to St. John Frizzell who indulged our merry band with lovely cocktails and hospitality!

(Photo courtesy of Morey Kunin)

Gentleman's Companion - Day 7 - Mid-Ocean Highball

by Fredo

Tough day at work and I'm in the mood for a stiff drink with a splash of effervescence. I leafed through The Gentleman's Companion: Vol II and found just what I was looking for, THE MID-OCEAN HIGHBALL. Mr. Baker refuses to acknowledge this drink as a "highball", he writes "contrary to native title is a legitimate fizz, being an exotic from Bermuda." He is partially right. I wouldn't classify this cocktail as a fizz anymore then I would call it a highball. There is no citrus and only chilled soda to taste. Also the gin, cognac, and vermouth seems wasted in a highball glass. So I went with serving the "highball" err I mean "fizz" in a chilled coupe.

THE MID-OCEAN HIGHBALL
1 jigger of old Tom gin (I used Hayman's Old Tom Gin)
1/2 jigger cognac (I used Hennessey)
1/2 jigger of French vermouth (Noilly Pratt)
2 dashes of orange bitters (Regan's)
Club soda

Shake well with cracked ice, strain into chilled highball glass and add chilled club soda to taste. Twist on a bit of green lime peel. (I stirred the drink).

Where to get this drink? Good question. I have never seen it on a local cocktail menu; I assume they still serve it at the Mid-Ocean Club in Hamilton, Bermuda. However, if you aren't game to hop the Pan American clipper, there is one place one could ask for the Mid-Ocean and get served proper - St. John Frizzel's Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The man knows his Baker cocktails.