Prosecco and Ice Pop.

The calendar says it’s spring, even when it’s contradicted by chilly breezes and overcast skies. No matter.

Seasonal roof bars observe time, not temperature when choosing to open, and this week the Loopy Doopy Bar atop the Conrad New York, flung open its terrace above the Hudson for its second season.

With jaw-drop views of the river and the Statue of Liberty, Loopy Doopy – named for the Sol Lewitt mural in the lobby, not the way you feel after a couple of drinks – was one of last summer’s hot bars. It’s back with a new line-up of summer drinks and, last year’s hit, Prosecco on tap.

Also new: five new multi-proof flavors for the bar’s signature libation – Prosecco and Ice Pops. This childhood-channeling concoction with kick consists of a boozy popsicle plopped into a goblet of Prosecco, stick and all. Morello cherry (10 Cane Rum) is the fledgling season’s big seller so far – “it’s sweet,” explained a bartender. Pina colada (Malibu Coconut) and Orangeade (Cointreau) are the other sweeties. Lime Margarita (Suaza Blue Agave Tequila) and Appeltini (Absolut Hibiscus Vodka) taste dry and tart – by popsicle standards.

Make that ice pop standards. Popsicle is a trademarked moniker, so the drink was renamed for the season. Still more that’s new: the $18 price. “It’s an experience, not a drink,” quipped a friend of mine. So it is, especially at sunset on a balmy night – when things finally warm up.

Shaken, not stirred.

It seems some retro drinks, like Manhattans, Gimlets and Sidecars, have never gone away. Then there’s the Harvey Wallbanger.

As the story goes, this time-warp riff on the Screwdriver made with vodka, orange juice and the Italian liqueur Galliano was invented in 1952 by mixologist Donato “Duke” Antone and popularized during the bellbottom era by a savvy Galliano salesman. (Consider: Megan Draper serves Galliano to her New Year’s Eve guests in the Season Six opening episode of Mad Men.)

Captured in a statuesque signature bottle shaped like a telescope, Galliano looks like banana syrup. You don’t see it at many hotel bars, but it’s on display at The Pierre’s TwoE Bar and Lounge this spring during a festival of drinks made with forgotten liqueurs. (more…)

Molecular mixology at the Pierre.

As a fan of New York City’s hotel bars I happily moved into road test mode when Endless Vacation asked me to come up with a sampling of the best of the new.  These six newcomers – and renovated oldies – have the city covered from midtown to Battery Park.

To learn more, read on.

Pretty in Pink pastries

From the NFL, whose big bruisers sport pink cleats to the comic strip artists who added pink ribbons to their strips, the color of Breast Cancer Awareness Month pops up a lot in October.

So why not at a hotel?

For the month of October staff members at The Peninsula hotel flaunt pale pink ties. Big bouquets of hot pink flowers bloom in the lobby. And guests who indulge in high tea in the hotel’s Gotham Lounge get a choice when they order the pastry portion of the spread – an assortment of seasonal tartlets and sweets or the Pink Pastry Plate. (more…)

The Traveler.

We’ll venture a wild guess that architect Arthur Loomis Harmon never dreamed the roof of Allerton House, a residential hotel for men he designed in 1916, would one day serve up Mexican beer, California Cabernet and cocktails like Fly By Night (gin, lemon juice, cinnamon-vanilla bean, orange blossom and sea salt on the rocks).

He probably didn’t foresee $70 cocktails to share either, like The Melon – vodka, gin, tequila or rum mixed with watermelon puree, lime juice, agave and mint and served in a baby watermelon.

But the roofless sundeck that looks like a Romanesque ruin with brick walls and arched openings embellished with classic columns is the perfect setting for a 21^st century roof bar. It even has postcard views of the Empire State Building, which Harmon — and his firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon — designed 15 years later. (more…)

The JP Getty Gimlet

School isn’t a word that leaps to mind when we think of The Pierre. But six times a year the drinks team in the hotel’s Two E bar/lounge cooks up a specialty cocktail menu.  The night the drinks debut, Two E hosts a free mixology class where patrons can stop by, watch the team led by drinks maestro Sachin Hasan in action, and sample the new cocktails. Forget homework, but you can leave with a recipe or two.

You won’t see signs around the hotel touting the classes. But they’re not a secret, either, if you Like the hotel on Facebook.

We stopped by this week to bone up on the latest course — six classic cocktails refashioned for 21^st century tastes.

A row of stylish shot glasses that looked like bud vases dressed the big gold-leaf Two E bar for the occasion.   (more…)

Fashions inside.

Once again New York Fashion Week breezes in, and suddenly Manhattan’s Upper West Side is uncharacteristically chic – at least until September 13.

The temporary white Mercedes Benz cube in Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park is the epicenter. More than 70 designers will show including Michael Kors, Nanette Lepore, Charlotte Ronson, J Mendel — and Tracy Reese, who designed the sleeveless rose brocade dress worn by Michele Obama for her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Anyone who takes all that in deserves a drink — or lunch — a short walk from the cube.  A sampling of nearby hotels stand at the ready.

(more…)

Ancient trio.

If you’re on top of drinks trends, you know all about barrel-aged cocktails, mixed drinks like Negronis and Old Fashioneds poured into barrels and left for weeks or months to oxidize and absorb flavor and color from their woody casings, much like whiskey and wine.

You also know the trendlet’s history – how Jeffery Morgenthaler, a Portland, Oregon bartender with an avid blog following, sampled a mature Manhattan in London at Tony Conigliaro’s 69 Colebrooke Row bar in 2009 and had a hosanna! moment.

Describing the drink as “sublime and subtle,” he elected to try it at home. But instead of aging a Manhattan in a glass bottle, like Conigliaro, he decided “bigger equals better” and opted for large-batch Negronis in an oak barrel.

The result? Bliss in a barrel. (more…)

Dip in.

What does summer taste like? Popsicles, if you’re 10 years old. And if you’re in double decades?

How about a cool goblet of Prosecco with a boozy, Day-Glo popsicle plopped inside like a swizzle stick?

Prosecco & Popsicles headlines the bar menu at the Conrad New York’s new rooftop bar, aptly named Loopy Doopy (the name comes from a towering mural by Sol LeWitt in the lobby, but never mind).  The pops come in flavors like Strawberry Grey Goose Citron and Mango & Guava Malibu Coconut. And from the look of the hotel’s sun-drenched bar on a recent Saturday afternoon, they’re a hit – even at $16 a pop. Every third person was holding one, it seemed, including me (Watermelon 10 Cane Rum Mojito).

It was delectable, though half the fun was watching its creation. The Prosecco is on tap at the bar – just like Brooklyn Lager. (more…)

Zero-proof raspberry lemonade.

Yuzu-Raspberry Thyme Sparkling Lemonade is this weekend’s drink. It’s a sweet/tart mash-up that’s tasty and alcohol-free, but first an explainer.

Not so long ago an intriguing zero-proof drink was as likely to be served at a hotel bar as a hot fudge sundae. We know. We drank a lot of Shirley Temples when we were pregnant.

But increasingly alcohol-free drinks have leapt past snoozey staples like ginger ale and club soda with lime and muscled onto the cocktail menu brandishing A-list ingredients, stylish glassware and, no surprise, champagne prices (hold the champagne).

Not everyone wants to drink alcohol at a bar or with a meal, especially lunch, says Joe Jackson, corporate director food and beverage at Hyatt. “We try to have at least three zero-proof drinks each season.”

(more…)