The Orient Express: Gentlemen Edition Part III

To close out the Fall 2011 Season, Women Who Whiskey held the third Gentlemen Edition event at The Orient Express.

The Orient Express is a little jewel of a bar. Modeled after a 1920s train car from the Orient Express--with wooden luggage racks on the walls peppered with vintage suitcases and books--the bar is next door to the Turks & Frogs--a wine bar--and owned by the same people.

The lighting is dim and cozy, with jazz classics like Etta James and Billie Holiday playing quietly in the background. Intimately lit tables for two dot the long narrow establishment, and the bar always has beautiful floral arrangements displayed to greet you as you come in.

And the cocktails are amazing. Not just a whiskey bar, The Orient Express serves reimagined variations of all the tastiest cocktails from Prohibition--Gin Fizzes, Old Fashioneds, and Sazeracs. And the skilled bartenders will make you anything you don't see on the menu.

The waitstaff is gracious and accommodating and very on top of it. We had only one waitress for a rather large group and she stayed on top of everyone's tabs, never making anyone wait.

It even has a small kitchen and offers a variety of appetizers and small entrees. What I had--a sort of grilled chicken panini with fresh mango chutney--was absolutely delicious, as seemed everything else on the menu.

The Orient Express is the ideal bar for any date--it's quiet, intimate, and romantic--but also for a night out with some girls.

 I would highly recommend going, if only to try their elderflower cocktails.

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The Orient Express

325 West 11th St

(between Greenwich and Washington Streets)

212.691.8845

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Whiskey Park: Gentlemen Edition Part I

To close out the Spring 2011 Season, Women Who Whiskey hosted it's first ever Gentlemen Edition, an expanded Women Who Whiskey event to which significant others and gentlemen friends are also invited to partake in the whiskey festivities.

Women Who Whiskey: Gentlemen Edition Part I was held at Whiskey Park, located in Donald Trump's Parc Tower and part of the Gerber Group.

The location--with it's sectioned off group seating areas, long bar, and even a pool table, was the perfect venue for twenty-five people to sit, stand, mingle and enjoy themselves.

The manager was very accommodating and allowed me to reserve seating for just drinks for a large group.

But--unlike Employees Only or Little Branch--Whiskey Parked lacks that authentic, one of a kind feeling that so many hole-in-the-wall prohibition era bars have.

The decor was modern, and a bit jarring, the wait staff, although lovely girls, would have been at home in any sports bar, and the whole atmosphere was a bit sterile and unoriginal--not surprising since it is a chain establishment associated with Donald Trump.

The cocktails, although drinkable, were not excellent. The Manhattan was watery and over-mixed and the Mint Juleps were just adequate. Pours of whiskey were slightly more expensive than the West Village average, but without the service and ambiance to justify it.

I would not return to Whiskey Park for it's cocktails, but I did appreciate their effort to accommodate our group, and the wait staff was very friendly, and the gentlemen certainly appreciated the pool table. I would recommend this establishments for large groups and corporate outings.

Women Who Whiskey will be back in September with a new Fall 2011 Season.

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Whiskey Park

100 Central Park South

(between 6th and 7th Aves)

212.307.9222

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