The 19 Best Bars in New York City

Via Condé Nast Traveler, written by Pilar Guzman:

3/19 Grand Banks

It’s hard to imagine that it’s taken this long for a restaurant or bar—in this case a chic-yet-cheerful oyster bar-plus concept—to take full advantage of Manhattan’s waterfront. When brothers Alex and Miles Pincus and nightclub veteran Adrien Gallo docked the historic Sherman Zwicker schooner at Pier 25 in the summer of ’14, they transformed the west side’s dockyard ruins into an instant warm-weather institution. Whereas so many outdoor waterfront establishments fail with their overwrought raw seafood towers and ersatz nautical décor, Grand Banks nails it with its south of France by way of Nantucket sensibility: Think Provencal yellow-and-white striped awnings and a just elevated enough menu of oysters, lobster rolls and fries, and carafes of easy house rosés and whites on tap. On a summer evening at the golden hour, there isn’t a better place to be in Manhattan than sitting at a tiny white enameled two-top and washing down perfectly plump Peconic oysters by the dozen with Sancerre served in a Duralex glass. The season runs from May to October and those of us who work nearby milk it, all bundled up in scarves, to the bitter end. The best kept secret is weekday lunch, which is served Wednesday through Friday. That and the fries, of course. –P.G.

Grand Banks Opens an Oyster Bar at Ace Hotel NOLA

Via Condé Nast Traveler, written by CNT Editors:

It's from the team behind NYC's Grand Banks, our other favorite oyster bar.

As part of the new Ace Hotel NOLA—home to "tattooed artists, young suited entrepreneurs, and bloggers with dogs" alike, according to Traveler contributor Jimmy Im—is an oyster/cocktail bar we would venture to try even in the swampy heat of a New Orleans summer. Ace has partnered with the Grand Banks crew, known for having one of the best bars in NYC (aboard a historic schooner, no less), to open Seaworthy today in a former 1830s townhouse. It's everything we could want in an American oyster bar: bivalves from the East, West, and Gulf coasts; meals prepped with fresh catch from Louisiana fishermen the owners know personally; and late-night hours that mean one glorious thing—midnight oysters.

Seaworthy owners Alex Pincus and his brother Miles—both sailors—write that they "grew up in New Orleans, running around the hotels and restaurants our father operated, learning everything we know about hospitality through osmosis, and everything we know about celebrating through practice. Our partner Adrien [Gallo] fell in love with the city long ago, so much so that he got married here. We're overjoyed to be bringing our own love of oysters, seafood, great cocktails, and impeccable service to the community that raised us."

Even if you're not into oysters (poor you), the menu impresses with buttermilk battered soft shell crab, salt-cured gulf shrimp, and a burger with fontal cheese and roasted country ham that might make us forget all those lovely sea creatures. And what of the desserts? Guava cheesecake and peach tarts... Our hearts just screamed silently.