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Owners Amanda Silverman (a publicist) and Chrissie Miller and James Cruickshank (designers) were presumably seeking to combine the scene of Sway with the historic import of Ear Inn when they had interior decorator Rafael Cardenas (who did Parker Posey’s apartment) paint nautical stripes on the paneling, affix presidential wallpaper to the bar, and mount antler chandeliers here and there. A month after opening, the comfy banquettes were already drawing repeat visits from the likes of Drea DeMatteo, Johnny Knoxville, Charlotte Ronson, and Doug Aitken, who after his MoMA reception threw a typically doorman-free after-party here that packed the makeshift concrete dance floor in back. A chalkboard advertises shots (some purely conceptual) created by or simply named after other of-the-moment friends: Bijou’s Crack adds a lemon wedge to a vodka shot covered on one side with coffee grinds and on the other with sugar, the D. Stahl is a glass of champagne honoring Nylon editor Dani Stahl, and the Jus Ske is a straight shot of tequila sure to lend fire to late Friday evenings when Frankie Inglese revives the glory that was his eighties night at Don Hill’s. — Daniel Maurer