Where I'll Be in NYC

Best. Drink. Ever.  Bar Hemingway, Paris (excuse the terrible phone photo.)

I'm heading to New York the first weekend in August.  I've gone at the end of the month a few times, for the US Open, and to say goodbye to my beloved Shea Stadium, but this is the first time I have gone in the dead of summer with no specific event planned.  Well, except for seeing Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig- can't wait for that.  I'm such a fatalist that I actually worry he'll fall off his platform shoes and hurt himself before I get there.  Keep it together for 4 more weeks, NPH!

I hope to have beautiful days that I can spend wandering aimlessly, but should the weather be lousy, I know where I'll be- PJ Clarke's.

I love old school, classic bars, but somehow I have never been to PJ's.  I've been to, among others, The 21 Club, Martin's Tavern in Georgetown, and in Paris, Hemingway's (currently closed), and Harry's New York Bar. I went to Harry's on a pilgrimage of sorts, because they invented my absolute favourite cocktail- the Sidecar.

PJ Clarke's looks promising since the first drink listed on the cocktail menu is the Patrick Joseph Clarke Sidecar. Any bar that loves My Drink that much deserves a visit.  What better place to ride out a humid, dreary afternoon than a dark bar?  To be honest, I think this is where I'll be rain or shine.

Just because:

Lori's Sidecar:

1 part Cognac (as good as you can afford)
1 part Cointreau (not Triple Sec, not Grand Marnier. Cointreau!)
1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained (not from a bottle, not from concentrate!)

Dump into an ice-filled shaker, and shake until really cold. Pour into a nice coupe glass, or a Martini glass if that's all you have available. Sip, though you will be tempted to chug. If you chug, you will regret it. Or so I've been told ;)