Archive | Drink RSS feed for this section

Well Done

IMG_3793 2_1500bii

Though it has a good name for a dive bar, The Well is not a dive bar. It’s a wine (and beer) bar with dive bar prices, a circular pad burrowed into the lower level of Yale’s still-new Schwarzman Center. …

Read More 0 Comments

Natural Selection

IMG_3394_1500di

Being natural is messy. B-Natural eats clean. The restaurant offers bowls, sandwiches, wraps, salads, smoothies, juices and all-day breakfast, with an open kitchen in back where, during a recent visit, made-to-order components sizzled and simmered.

As I placed my order, …

Read More 0 Comments

Items of Import

stuffies display_1500ai

According to The Japan Times, “zakka” emerged in postwar Japan as a catch-all term for “everyday tools and objects such as kettles, brooms and buckets.” In 2001, the International Herald Tribune noted that latter-day Japan had elevated it to …

Read More 0 Comments

Like Fine Wine

IMG_3296_1500bii

I trust the proprietors of Hamden’s Mt. Carmel Wine & Spirits Co. more than I trust my doctor. In decades of frequenting the store, the suggestions I’ve gotten, no matter the price, have never disappointed. The staff—currently including Bob Feinn, …

Read More 0 Comments

Past Experience

sazerac_1500aii

It looked like a little home library, with parlor chairs, bookshelves and a Christmas tree. Then I found the slot where I was supposed to give the password…

Read More 0 Comments

Z Food

artwork 2_1500aii

For New Year’s Eve, VivaZ Cantina planned quite the fiesta. The Mexican restaurant’s four-course prix fixe menu (at $65 per person) featured…

Read More 0 Comments

Wine List

ImageTrio_1500c

During the holiday season, the last of the last-minute purchases is too often the wine…

Read More 0 Comments

Bar Kept

shanahan at bar_1500ci

I think of Delaney’s as Westville’s Cheers. It’s a friendly neighborhood bar with a notable history, low-key vibe, steady stream of regulars and…

Read More 0 Comments

Big Drink

IMG_6543_1500aii

Though the Manhattan has been a bar staple for well over a century, its origins remain cloudy. One popular legend is that it was invented in the 1870s at New York City’s Manhattan Club for a party hosted by Jennie …

Read More 0 Comments

Bubblicious

Gioia_AviandTim_PhotoCred_MoniqueChaisavanSourinho_1500

There’s a phenomenon I call “the bubble,” where a restaurant’s food, drink, service and atmosphere are executed so seamlessly that you forget about everything beyond your table. This immersion is what hospitality professionals strive for when they subtly dim the …

Read More 0 Comments