This Week In Lounge: April 9th - 14th

Songbird Queen Esther channels Billie Holiday Saturday April14th

Monday, April 9th
Tiki Mondays with Miller
Our pal, up and comping bar star, Garret Richard will be guest bartending at the island oasis known as Lani Kai with the legendary tiki pirate, Brian Miller.  Get ready for a host of island inspired elixirs featuring the rums of Mount Gay from Barbados. Each drink will be a vacation in a glass.  Richard and Miller promise, "If you can't reach paradise, we'll bring it to you."

Lani Kai (525 Broome Street, New York, NY) - 6pm to 2am.

Friday, April 13th
The Champagne Riot presents La Vie en Rose: A Sultry Evening Celebrating The Return of Spring

It's their Spring Fling, and The Rioteers are feeling friskier than ever! Celebrate the sultry rain showers and blushing flowers with a glamorous evening of hot jazz and even hotter burlesque!

STARRING:
The Girl With The 44-Double D Brain MISS NASTY CANASTA
Mind-Bendingly Bendable Beauty EKATERINA
Tap-Dancing Dervish GIN MINSKY
The Girl Who Spins You Round EVELYN VINYL
Boylesque Sensation GO-GO HARDER
and The Fastest Girl in Town MISS JEZEBEL EXPRESS

with EMCEE DANDY WELLINGTON and Hot Jazz by THE GELBER & MANNING BAND

Dress To Impress: Bring colour to our world! We want our party to bloom with exotic flowers and decadent blossoms. Bright and romantic for the ladies, carnation-clad elegance for the gents. Fluttery gowns, flapper favorites, old Hollywood glamour... wear whatever puts a spring in your step

Dominion NY, 428 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 9PM Doors/10PM Show$15/Advance, $20/Door


Saturday, April 14th 
The Billie Holiday Project featuring Queen Esther

At this special event, the performance takes a theatrical turn when two Harlem icons collide in a mix of music and spoken word. Accompanied by The Hot Five, Queen Esther augments the relatively unknown yet timeless songs of the jazz siren Billie Holiday with newly unearthed Harlem fables by Zora Neal Hurston. 


The Apollo Music Café -- located within the iconic Apollo Theater -- is Harlem’s new night spot where music genres from the Apollo’s heritage – R&B, hip hop, soul, jazz, pop, funk, and rock – are transformed by cutting-edge artists in a stylized lounge space.
 
The Apollo Music Cafe - 253 W. 125th Street, 9PM Doors/10PM Show, $15/Apollo A-list advance tickets, $20/Door - seating is limited so get your tickets ASAP!


If you have any lounger worthy events for our weekly recommendations, please email loungers at loungerati dot com for consideration.

Destinations: Halloween Weekend 2011

Make Diane proud and make it Wit's End!

There are plenty of "lounge" worthy events this Halloween weekend. However, we suggest you head on over to these jazz age themed masquerades from our friends Michael Arenella in  and Wit's End, then cap it off at the Rhum Rhum Room (if you can get in).

SATURDAY OCTOBER 29, 2011

Wit's End: The Third Annual Black Cat Masquerade!

Flute - 205 W 54th St, NYC

8PM -11PM

$15 +21 years old

The Jazz Age is calling all flappers and Gents!

In honor of Wit's End founder, Miss Diane Naegel, Wit’s End, together with The Dorothy Parker Society, present The Third Annual "Black Cat Masquerade!" Our future is uncertain, and this may be the final Wit’s End, it’s certainly for 2011!

Celebrate Halloween of the 1920s and 1930s and join us for an evening of vintage cocktails, good company, and the return of Bliss Blood and the Moonlighters!

Come in your finest 1910s-1940s vintage/vintage-style Hallowe’en or evening attire to spend a night in vintage speakeasy style with us!

Free Dance Lesson will begin before the band goes on (approximately 8:45pm) from our pals Jeri Lynn Astra and Neal Groothuis!

Want a seat for the evening? Call and reserve a table for Wit's End! 212.265.5169

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2011

Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra present... SILVER SCREAM

8PM – 2AM
320 West 37th Street, 14th Floor, NYC
$50 - Open Bar!!! - Advance Tickets Only
Sponsored by Bootlegger 21 NY Vodka

A spook-studded soiree to conjure the starlets and spectres of the Silver Screen. Brush the cobwebs off your pearls and the creepy-crawlers out of your silk hat as we celebrate the bygone glamour and ghouls of the silent movie era. 

For your eyes: 

*Burlesque naughtiness by: 

Grace Gotham - Humour's Favorite Temptress

Tansy - The Elizabeth Taylor of Burlesque

Medianoche - The Spanish Sensation 

The Maine Attraction - Inimitable Mover and Shaker 

PLUS * film projections of silent horror movies! 

For your appetite: 

*premium bar featuring fabulous custom cocktails, wines and beers!

*hot gourmet hors d’oeuvres (complimentary with admission)

*fresh-popped popcorn, candy and other movie-house treats!(also complimentary with admission!)

*Proudly presenting custom cocktails designed by Fredo of loungerati.com and served by Nino Cirabisi of Brooklyn Social!*

And of course, dance and revel in the hot music of Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra! 

Hosted in a gorgeous midtown loft with a private roof terrace offering breathtaking birdseye views of the city and the Hudson River. This intimate and exclusive event has only 200 total tickets available,SilverScream.Eventbee.com!and are only available for advance purchase at

Admission: $50 ( includes hot gourmet hors d’oeuvres and movie-house treats!)

Open Bar

MONDAY OCTOBER 31, 2011

Here it is - the Halloween event you have been waiting for, Lani Kai's First Annual Mahaloween!
Lani Kai 525 Broome Street,NYC

Pirates and Wenches meet in well...a setting they were made for.

Tiki Mondays (Brian Miller) joins forces with the crew at Lani Kai for what hopes to be, in the words of Miller's first mate this week, Brad Farran - "EPIC!"

The Wenches (Julie & April) will be upstairs serving $8 Mai Tais to everyone in costume, along with several other tasty LK classics while downstairs your favorite Tiki Pirates will be slinging a Mahaloween inspired menu featuring the sponsor this week Partida Tequila. Not to worry, there will be plenty of mingling between wenches & pirates !!

There will also be a best costume contest, with a winner to be announced around 11pm. And as usual, Happy Hour will run from 6-8pm with 2 special cocktails for $6.50.

After the Lani Kai, keep the Tiki vibe going and head to New York's Famous Rhum Rhum Room in the West Village for their Annual Halloween Spooktacular!!

(Undisclosed location)

This party is by invitation only so if you are one of the lucky few to make past the bamboo and attack parrot, you will get to enjoy all sort of rum libations including the 1934 Zombie!

(photo of Diane Naegel courtesy of Don Spiro)

Barfly's Beat: An Autumn Cocktail Crawl

The Old Wench is a keeper!

Big surprise! Autumn is our friggin favorite season. Besides the crisp cool air, the opportunity to wear tweed jackets, and enjoy the colorful foliage, there is another great reason to love the season. Imagine a time of year that has four months that end in the letter “R” in a row? Folks, that’s a helluva lot of oysters!! And seasonal boozy cocktails go perfect with oysters and other tasty bar foods!

Keeping this in mind, start your Autumn cocktail crawl off at the acclaimed Maison Premiere in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for Oyster Happy Hour (4 - 7pm) - there are over 60 types of oysters on their menu for half price! Order a duo of Autumn Absinthe Juleps to wash them down, then hit the Little Neck clams. I have never considered the julep a post-summer option but barman Maxwell Britten has successfully changed my mind with the Autumn Absinthe Julep.

AUTUMN ABSINTHE JULEP

By Maxwell Britten

1 oz Pacifique Absinthe

1 oz still water

1 Heavy barspoon Crème de Framboise

¼ oz Demerara syrup

1 Sugar cube

Ice: Crushed

Tools: Julep Tin, bar spoon, jigger

Method: Muddle, remove mint, add ingredients, muddle sugar, add ice, swizzle, add more ice, garnish with Mint Bouquet

Where to get it: Maison Premiere (298 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn)

Properly toasted with this refreshing aperitif and oysters, we head across the river to Soho and visit tiki haven Lani Kai. Forget Old Man Winter, autumn’s Old Wench cocktail is the one to watch out for! Share a delicious Pu Pu Platter (crab wontons, delicata squash tempura, char sui baby back ribs, and escabeche tacos) paired with Julie Reiner's tiki’d up this variation of the old fashioned called the Old Wench. This libation features potent Lemon Hart 151, rich demerara syrup, and Elemakule Tiki Bitters – which adds cinnamon and allspice essence to the cocktail. Make a date with the Old Wench - she’ll warm you right up.

THE OLD WENCH

Adapted by Julie Reiner

1 ½ oz Bourbon
½ oz 151 Demerara Rum
4 dashes Elemakule Tiki Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 bar spoon Demerara syrup

lemon and orange twist

Method: Stir and strain over ice in a chilled dbl rocks glass

Where to get it: Lani Kai (525 Broome Street, Soho)
 

Next up, we head downtown to Tribeca’s Ward III to sample their autumn cocktail menu. Partners Michael Neff, Kenneth McCoy, and Abdul Tabini put together a top notch menu using seasonal ingredients. One of the stand outs is a boozy little number called The Stag. The Stag has a citrus fragrance and smoky nose thanks to the Balvenie 15 years single malt scotch which features smooth flavors such as vanilla, honey, bitter, citrus. The Gran Classico bitters blends well with the scotch without up staging it. Pair the Stag with some of Ward III's famous pulled pork sliders and that's dinner! This is a stud of a drink and will fortify you against the chilled nights.

THE STAG

2 1/2 oz Balvenie 15yr Single Malt Scotch

1/2 oz Gran Classico Bitter
3 dashes of Regans Orange bitters
Angostura rub

Tools: Mixing tins, muddler, jigger,
 

Method: Muddle 4 gloves with lemon and orange peels in a mixing  glass. Add scotch and gran classico. Stir with ice. Add a few dashes of angostura to a coupe and rub the inside of the glass with orange 

peel, serve up with a orange twist.

Where to get it: Ward III (111 Reade Street, NYC)

Finally, here is a great drink for your home bar compliments of drinks blogger Joshua Hoffman of SpiritedCocktails.com. This punch hits on all the classic Fall seasonal notes – cinnamon, apple cider, with the warming hand of Anejo rum – and adds some bubbly for effervescence.

AUTUMN HARVEST PUNCH

Adapted by Joshua Hoffman

2 oz Anejo Rum (Flor de Cana Anejo – 5years)
1 oz Apple Cider
½ oz lime juice
½ oz cinnamon bark syrup (Trader Tiki is recommended)
2 dashes aromatic bitters
Top with sparkling wine (prosecco)

Tools: Mixing tins, jigger, bar spoon
 

Method: Combine all the ingredients except the sparkling wine in mixing tin, add ice, and shake until well chilled. Strain into a frosted goblet and top with sparkling wine. Add a Star Anise or two as garnish.

Where to get it: At your home bar!

SALUTE!

Barfly's Beat: Late Summer Tiki Madness

Barkeeps Tobin Ellis, Julie Reiner, and Brian Miller at LK

Aloha! You want Tiki! You need Tiki! Well if you do not have a home bar called the Rhum Rhum Room at your disposal then get your Polynesian cocktail fix this coming week at the following events that would make Trader Vic proud:


Tiki Mondays at Lani Kai
Starting Monday, August 8th

Tiki Mondays reunites Elettaria tiki night alums on both sides of the stick with head pirate Brian Miller crafting a special cocktail menu of tiki classics. The list of concoctions include the Donn Beach's 1934 Zombie, the Cobra's Fang, both Caribbean and Tahitian Rum Punch, Navy Grog, and Rum Barrels. A rotating group of guest bartenders (expect more Elettaria ex-pats) accompany Miller dishing out swizzles for your pleasure. We hear Jim Kearns is up next week. So bust out the Hawaiian prints and start off the week in paradise!

6pm - 11pm

Lani Kai
525 Broome Street
SoHo, NY 10013
http://lanikainy.com/

Lono Lounge Tiki Tuesdays at the Astor Room 
Starting Tuesday, August 16th.

Meanwhile, Astoria is putting itself on the cocktail map with the opening of the Astor Room. Listen to the authentic sounds of Exotica from the legendary Fisherman’s Tiki Trio while you enjoy classic rum cocktails and tiki –inspired dishes in one of the most historic watering holes in New York City! With special guests Bunny Love and Ekaterina for your tropical entertainment.

No Cover, but RSVP!
9pm - 11pm

Astor Room
34-12 36th St
Astoria, NY 11106
http://www.astorroom.com/
Email: info@astorroom.com

(photo courtesy of Guest of a Guest)

Destinations: Loungerati Holiday Cocktails - Hawaiian Style Dec 2nd

Aloha Loungers,

Loungerati teams up with our gracious host Julie Reiner at SoHo's newest cocktail destination, Lani Kai, for a Holiday Liquid Luau, and to celebrate four years of Lounging, Life, and Libations.

There will be Loungerati drink specials, world class cocktails, a fireplace, and delicious Hawaiian food.

Dress your Lounge best and bring the liver too. Please mention "Loungerati" to the hostess to get in.

See you there! Please RSVP to loungers at loungerati dot com or on Facebook.

The Loungerati Staff