A perfect night: Apotheke, The Boil, & Pouring Ribbons

Apotheke: Interior

Tonight we headed down to the Lower East Side to have a crawfish boil at one of our favorite spots, The Boil. Since it's obviously a lot of other people's favorite places too we were looking at a bit of a wait. It seemed the perfect opportunity to meander on in to an unassuming pharmacy in Chinatown.

Of course, this pharmacy is not all that it may seem and is in fact a little speakeasy known as Apotheke. We grabbed ourselves a little table and then perused the menu to find a prescription that would kick start a wonderful night. After some deliberation we finally settled on Round 1:

Stimulant: BULL IN A CHINA SHOP 

42 Below Vodka, Meyer Lemon, Lavender, Coconut Water, Watermelon, Energy Tincture, Champagne, Lime, Agave

Euphoric Enhancer: THE STUNT DOUBLE 

Four Roses Bourbon, Absinthe, Hickory Smoked Peach, Lime, Agave

Apotheke: Cocktails

While we sipped these delicious drinks we took the time to take in our surroundings and appreciate the beaker based lighting fixtures and the mixologists' lab coats. I absolutely love dedication to a theme, so these things delighted me. Before you knew it, we were ready for Round 2:

Euphoric Enhancer: TAXICAB CONFESSIONS 

Jim Beam Bourbon, Zu Bisongrass Vodka, Maple, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Lemon, Apple Cider, Nutmeg

Stress Reliever: WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING 

Auchentoshan Single Malt Scotch, Cocoa Nib, Black Currant, Chocolate Extract, Lime, Agave

Finally, after these delicious drinks our table at The Boil was ready. A couple of Abita Purple Hazes, a bag of crawfish, lobster, corn, sausage, & potatoes brought us to food coma heaven. These iPhone pictures of course don't do it justice, so I encourage you to see this post with even better food porn pics.

The Boil: Crawfish

The Boil: Lobster

Once we had eaten our fill we realized we were not quite ready to head for home for the evening so The Mr. mentioned another bar that he wanted to take me to to check out. Imagine my excitement when said bar turned out to be Pouring Ribbons! Getting to knock out two of my 'must try' cocktail lounges in one evening is a rare delight. We asked our charming waitress to recommend two chartreuses to try for people who have never tried chartreuse before and she hooked us up. We were totally blown away by the complexity of flavors and couldn't even begin to pick them all apart.

ADVENTUROUS

Pouring Ribbons: Bad Habbit

I really enjoyed the Chartreuse, but for the 2nd round I also wanted to try a specialty cocktail off of their menu so ordered a Bad Habit: Wild Turkey 101 Rye, Canteloupe, Cynar, Egg White, Laphroaig Quarter Cask which fell on the slightly refreshing & very adventurous drink scale. Creamy and smooth yet light and refreshing and also smokey all in one, this was phenomenal.

This was basically a perfect NYC night and is an itinerary I would recommend to anyone!