Bar Buzz

Spring Buzz

When Mets fans are optimistic, tulips bloom on Park Avenue, and drink menus get fruity, you know what season it is. These five clubs celebrate spring with their own special cocktails.

By Lauren Fonda
Published May 21, 2005

Vapor
143 Madison Ave., between 31st and 32nd Sts., 212-686-6999.
The Drink: Wake up and smell spring's roses with the Persian Cosmopolitan ($10), a sweet-tasting aphrodisiac. Rose petal infused vodka is combined with honey citron jelly, simple syrup, and muddled lemons and topped with rose champagne. Served from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Destination: Vapor is a new, two-floor club amid the many, many frat-tastic bars of Murray Hill. DJs spin the gamut of genres while after-workers get misted with air-purifying vapor (hence, the name) in the back bar.

49 Grove
49 Grove St., between Bleecker St. and Seventh Ave.; 212-727-1100.
The Drink: Fresh peach and passion fruit juices are mixed with Stoli Persik and topped with a champagne floater to create The Paradise ($14). Think Trump in the tropics.
The Destination: From the leather, velvet, and chrome décor to the limousine/smoking lounge parked out front, this subterranean lounge reeks of money.

Sugarcane
243 Park Ave., between 19th and 20th Sts., 212-475-9377.
The Drink: Named after the Incan sun god, the Inti ($10) is a smooth concoction of Bacardi white rum, Bacardi Limon, muddled kiwi, lychee puree, pineapple juice, sugar, and orange liquer.
The Destination: If you thought it was too cold to wait for a table at SushiSamba this winter, respite comes in the form of a newly opened adjacent lounge. Sugarcane bases its cocktail list on derivations of its namesake: rum, cachaca, and shochu. Diners sip in style in one of the low-level booths while waiting (and waiting) for a table next door.

Stitch
247 W. 37th St., between Seventh and Eighth Aves., 212-852-4826.
The Drink: The Stiletto Martini ($9) includes Citron Vodka, raspberry puree, and ginger ale. For a faster fix, Nick’s Papaya shot ($9) mixes fresh papaya juice, Malibu, and Myer’s Rum.
The Destination: This Garment District behemoth of a bar has a similarly proportioned drink list, four flat screen TV’s, and a large projection screen for baseball fans who couldn't make it to the Bronx or Shea.

Libation
137 Ludlow St., between Stanton and Rivington Sts.; 212-529-2153.
The Drink: The Pallini Pom Pilot ($11) includes Pallini Limoncello, Bacardi Limon, pomegranate juice, and muddled orange and lemon wedges, and tastes like a sweet end to a long, hard winter.
The Destination: With three floors, a DJ spinning Wednesdays through Saturdays, an “American Tapas” menu, a seasonal cocktail list, and a former Spice Market manager at the helm, this not-so-typical Lower East Side nightclub attracts both Manolos and moccasins.