A bit of a breather today as I went to only one place and that was to celebrate the birthdays of a couple of friends of mine. Prior to sitting down for dinner in the separate dinning room we all had cocktails at the bar.
397) Joseph's
Located at 3 Hanover Square in the financial district in downtown Manhattan is this downstair bar and restaurant. The bar is dimly light, but not dark. It usually is doing a good business with regulars that work in the area. Of course I almost always get here in the early evening so I am not sure what it is like the rest of the time. I have been here for lunch and they seem to do a good business then as well. It is kind of a regular meeting place whenever this group of my friends gets together. The drinks are generous (to a fault, sometimes) and the food, Northern Itallian, is very good indeed. They had very large bowls of mixed nuts on the bar that seemed to be a big hit, at least until nothing was left but the walnuts.
You enter by going down a narrow flight of stairs that enters into what appears to be a fairly narrow bar. Actually, this room is fairly narrow. The bar is a nice polished wood with a brass foot rail. Behind the bar are glass mirror backed shelves holding the bottles. Above the bar is a candy-cane striped plastic-tube light, for decorative purposes only. The whole place has a nice, soft glow to it. The wall at the opposite side of the bar and closest to the door has mirrors and at the other end curtained windows that would, if the curtains were pulled, look out into the fairly large dining area. There are doors to the dining area at either end of that wall.
I had a Marker's Mark Manhattan, very well made. The bartender usually makes a bit more than a full glass and then tops your glass off with the excess after you have taken a few sips. One of my favorite places to have cocktails with friends.
Just the one bar for the day bringing the yearly total to 397 with 603 left to go. I really am going to try to make it to Second Avenue tommorow.
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