HotelChatter

Once we turned the corner and hit the bar, we were struck immediately by the sexiness of the space: everything was black and sleek; the lighting dim. There were quite a few seats left at the bar when we sat down, but we figure it was cause of the quiet opening and we were grateful to hit an NYC bar without having to balance a martini in one hand while elbowing through a crowd. Definitely a swanky vibe here, but a chill sort of swanky: as you can glean from the photos, the crowd ran the gamut from LA-chic to dudes participating in Flannel Friday.

We ordered up a couple of fourteen-dollar specialty cocktails made with absinthe (the allure of the once-banned spirit draws us in; what can we say?), which were pretty good, but super sweet and not quite as strong as we'd have liked them to be.

The dining room was packed but the atmosphere was pretty quiet — we didn't end up sticking around to eat (see also: we didn't have a rezzie and just wanted to scope out the scene), but we studied the menu and saw some magificent-looking dishes go out. A couple menu items that caught our eye:

· Chickpea Sweet Onion Fritters with ginger and mango chutney and minted yogurt ($12)
· Smoked Squab Breast with foie gras and lotus crepes with savory bean dip (4 pcs, $25)
· Mongolian Lamb Chops with glazed bananas and chili mint carrot cardamom chutney and peanut sauce ($20)

Yeah — you won't be finding anything run-of-the-mill like fancy-fied mac 'n cheese dishes here. Also, everything is a la carte and diners are encouraged to share; accordingly, the menu is divided up into soups, salads, vegetables, seafood and meat and you're free to pick and choose and share.

Bottom Line: We dug the scene at the bar because it wasn't packed with models and their modelizing lovers, but it certainly looks like the sort of place they may flock to once word gets out about the opening. As for the food? Well, if you've checked it out, you tell us.