POURING RIBBONS

255 Avenue B

New York, NY 10009

(917) 656-6788

Unlike the burger craze or the cupcake craze or the dollar pizza craze, the Cocktail craze that began back around the same time that I first started this blog hasn't shown signs of its impending demise. In fact, if anything, it's grown. Milk & Honey, the original, has moved from its divey digs to more corporate Flatiron, and PDT has its own "cookbook" at Barnes & Noble. Even Little Branch has opened a second location in Murry Hill. So in a sense, its nice to see that a place like Pouring Ribbons can still arrive and open shop under a filthy awning between a liquor store and a Subway. If you didn't know any better, you'd assume that it's where a knitting wholesaler might launder money.

Inside and up the stairs is a large and comfortable bar. Sofas, tables, comfy chairs, oak floors, flapper-era globe lamps. All these things and and a lot of space between them make Pouring Ribbons quite different from the tiny, cramped speakeasies you might be used to. Myna and I arrived early on a Saturday for a pre-movie drink and we were the first ones in. No beer, no TV might make Homer go crazy, but during March Madness, it also meant we weren't standing on a line for twenty minutes hoping to get a seat inside. The snack menu at Pouring Ribbons is almost nonexistent, so get a slice of pizza beforehand. Meanwhile, the cocktail menu at is large and imposing. To make your decision making somewhat easier, Pouring Ribbons rates the drinks on two sliding scales. Scale one goes from refreshing to spiritous (how boozy it might be) and scale two goes from comforting to adventurous (whether or not you've heard of its ingredients).

 I started off with a classic drink, the Dark & Stormy, a rum and ginger cocktail. Typically, they are made with ginger beer, but Pouring Ribbons instead uses a hearty ginger syrup. Myna opted for the Sing For Your Supper a very tropical drink of mango, bitters, and vanilla vodka. It was apropos given that she's a singer, and it was very fruity. "This would be the perfect brunch drink," she said. "Or it would be if they sold brunch here." These two were topped off with one final cocktail to pound back quickly before we raced out the door to the movie. We decided to share the Bols Deep, a citrusy cocktail made with Bols Genever, green tea, clarified milk, and chamomile-infused rye. I can't say that I really tasted the rye or the chamomile, but the drink itself was extremely light and smooth. It would be a fantastic drink to enjoy on a stifling hot summer day.

Pouring Ribbons was quiet (when we were there), sophisticated, and the drinks were excellent. If I was back in the dating game, I'd certainly go here on a first or second date (Myna says it should be a second date). I can't speak to how crowded it gets late in the evening or how long the line, if any, there might be. But on a nice night I would absolutely be willing to hang around and wait to go in or give them my number and holdout for a call. And in the meantime, there are a dozen more cocktail places a short walk away that I might enjoy myself in while I wait.