• The Summit

  133 Ave. C, nr. 9th St.; no phone

  Veiled behind wooden Venetian blinds and tucked away on Avenue C, the Summit shies from the ostentation of certain mixology temples. What’s left is a stripped-down neighborhood watering hole with first-class bartending, the handiwork of Minetta Tavern’s drinks guru Greg Seider, who created the bar’s binary cocktail menu. On one side, there are the Classics, of which the whiskey sour with Buffalo Trace bourbon and fresh-squeezed agave ($8) is the finest example. And then there’s the creative stuff (a genre called “Alchemist” here), which includes the Ground to Glass ($10), a refreshing contrast of Corralejo Blanco tequila and cucumber with a rim of hickory-smoked salt. And while you may not be craving a drink with Afghan raisins soaked in rye (biting into them elicits a potent, peppery burst of liquor), the Summit gives you that option as well.

From the 2010 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine