leek wrote:OK, so here's a question: I can really only have one drink and reasonably expect to find my way home (walking!). But, I'm torn. Help my decision-making - Negroni or Dark 'n' Stormy?

They put an americano on the menu, drink that instead of a negroni to start with and then have a second drink- an american is a really light apertif.

Living so relatively close to VH, I'm probably one of the first to get home. . . what a fun time!!! Thank you to happy_stomach (Sharon) for organizing. All told, about 15 LTHers showed up, which at first presented a bit of a challenge to the staff, who were very accommodating to our impromptu large group. At first, the server strongly suggested that groups our size order carafes of single types of drinks. She very politely explained why -- and it made sense to me (for what that's worth) -- if 12 people ordered different drinks, the bar would back up. At first we were disappointed because the point of the gathering was to try different drinks, but after some lighthearted negotiating, one of the bartenders came over and explained that he would accommodate us if we ordered only 6 drinks at a time because he understood that we were there to really appreciate their drinks. (All true.) It was a very classy move that I think satisfied both sides of the equation.

While I secretly was very skeptical about the drink sharing plan, I'll admit now that it worked out fantastically, in no small part due to GAF's forethought in bringing several of the tiniest, pewter, medieval-style cordial goblets, which worked well in distributing shot portions of the drinks to the group. As a result of this ingenious contribution, we tried almost everything on the drink menu. Sometimes more than once.

My favorites this time are (and I'm excepting the Dark and Stormy, which gets a bye as a confirmed favorite):

1) NY Sour (it's a girly drink, but I guess I'm allowed that once in awhile )
2) Spring Sazerac (I've had sips of this during prior visits but wow - the apricot bitters made it stand out this time)
3) Pulque (tequila, agave nectar and blood orange and chocolate bitters)
4) Palmer d'Or (some type of gin, Beefeater I think, with some other stuff including orange pekoe tea).

Disappointments:

Any classic drink such as manhattans, negronis (RL still does the best one here, I think) and margaritas. Not that they were bad, but they were too smooth for my tastes.

We tried everything on the food menu and the fried pickles and tempura green beans are still my favorites. For the first time, I tried the fried peanut butter sandwich. The first bite was overwhelming sweet -- but second and third bites made me wish I had more. I'd like that sandwich for breakfast someday (although I'm not sure how that would be arranged).

In all, it was a fun time, in no small part due to the eagerness and enthusiasm of the LTH crowd.

Just wanted to say that it was a lot of fun seeing everyone. Thanks to Gary for the idea of bringing the cordial cups. The drinks that have stayed with me until this morning are the pulque and the americano. I started to warm to their version of fried pickles as well although they were quite different to the ones at Weiner and Still Champion. It was fun heading over to Tabaq afterwards. I look forward to the postings of that with pictures. And a big thanks to Sharon for organizing.