Credit: Asia Coladner
With the abundance of bars and lounges in New York City, sometimes it’s a little difficult to weed through to find the best. I don’t know about you, but I love to get my dollars worth of great cocktails with an awesome environment to boot.
Luckily, my wishes have been answered with a new cocktail bar located in the Chelsea/Meatpacking border called, ‘The Lately’. Loosely modeled after an upstate cabin with a fireplace, very cool animal themed wallpapers and other cool additions like the wooden ducks you find on a mantel, you’re taken back to those days when you would meet your cabin buddies for an after work drink. These days we call them roommates.
The Lately is a collaboration between Den Hospitality who runs fellow cocktail bar, The Garret and Dinnertable; and LDV who runs upscale restaurants, Scarpetta and American Cut.
I got a chance to preview the new bar, and all I can say is “Encore!” The space is where the old ‘No.8’ Lounge used to call home, and as soon I walked, in the liked what I saw, The layout was opened up with the bar moved to the wall and booths on the other side, making the space so much more inviting. As you walked towards the back, a fireplace was ablaze with little wooden stools surrounding it. This place screamed comfort, like the kind you would find in that warm cabin away from the harsh elements of the outdoors. The Lately brought that same comfort from the elements of NYC, perfect for these last few rainy days.
What’s really cool about The Lately is their cocktail list, created by Grant Wheeler, the beverage director for Den. It’s formatted into three tiers Tier one features classic cocktails like the moscow mule, negroni and margarita. Tier two builds upon these base flavors to incorporate fresh juices, activated charcoal, amaro and other more modern ingredients. Tier 3 takes the classics and in spins them into new creations, like The Glad Fact (monkey shoulder, pierre ferrand 1840, lacuesta rojo, averna, green chartreuse and spice) and The Ultramaroon (cazadores reposado, watermelon and beet root shrub, lime cordial, moroccan bitters). Beer and wine is also available if bad ass cocktails aren’t your thing.
The Lately also serves small bites for you to enjoy, like the Schaller & Weber Wurst (spicy cheddar chorizo), Falafel “Gyro” (kumatos, yogurt, fermented fresno chili sauce), Quinoa Hush Puppies (charred jalapeno-cheese sauce), and Curried Chicken Skewers with mint-yogurt sauce.
The Lately is located at 357 West 16th Street. The Downstairs area will be open Sunday -Tuesday 4pm-2am and Wednesday -Saturday 4pm – 4am. Upstairs or The Library old No.8 heads used to call it, openings this April, date TBA.
Be sure to stop by for that after work cocktail, catch up time with girlfriends, or for that 1st or 20th date.
