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Jaguars 3
You head out to Sunset Park for the authentic Mexican food, Ecuadorian ceviche, a bowl of Yunnan noodles, and increasingly, rent that's affordable with your full-time job. But rarely is it the destination for fine Italian food and dancers in bikinis. That changes with Jaguars 3, a massive restaurant/nightclub/cabaret decorated with the likeness of the third largest panthera species and its habitat. What else will you find in such a habitat? Glad you asked. For starters, an Italian restaurant cheffed by Rocco Di Lullo, formerly of Hotel Cipriani in Venice, who's setting white tableclothes with carpaccio di Cipriani (filet mignon carpaccio), crispy black Atlantic bass, and pappardelle al tartufo with porcinis and shaved black truffles. After dinner patrons can hit the big U-shaped bar for cocktails, shoot some pool, pose with faux wildlife, cut a rug on the dance floor, or head to a separate room equipped with a platform and two poles for bikini dancers. Remember to tip...the cab driver. It's a good trip back to wherever you came from. (225 47th St., Brooklyn; bet 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave; 347-457-6544)
Fonda
If Park Slope has a reputation for being the source of exportable goods and services, it's mostly thanks to 'hood's large contingent of sensitive writers and parents busting out tots. As it turns out, you can add Mexican food to the list. Slope favorite Fonda, the Mexican spot run by the former Culinary Director of Rosa Mexicano, has a second location in an area better known for culinary riches. To wit, Fonda East Village, a larger version of the original with similarly good eats: guac with hand-pressed tortillas; carne asada stuffed taquitos; flautas and Yucatan-style shrimp; ancho-braised pork shoulder; and the house burger served with sweet potato fries. Look who's hip now, East Village. (40 Ave B; 212-677-4096)
Doppio Senso (pictured)
If we said "Spicy Chocolatino cocktails on the Upper East Side?" you might say "Thank you, but I've tasted quite enough from the TGI Friday's menu." But this is something quite wholly different: Zany cocktail specialist Christina Bini, formerly of Il Matto and White & Church in Tribeca, is behind the bar at Doppio Senso, which means said chocolate cocktail is an after dinner drink made with pepper-infused rum, chocolate, Baileys, and Grand Marnier--served in a martini glass, obviously. Cocktails aren't the only thing going for Doppio Senso. The menu is modern Italian, with dishes like branzino crudo; meatballs with goat cheese flan, tomato sauce, and aged Montasio cheese; pappardelle with a veal and rosemary white bolognese sauce; and grilled sirloin steak with bagnacauda sauce (sort of like fondue). All of this is going down in an elegant brick room with leather banquettes for sitting, contemporary art for admiring, and a walk-in wine cellar for suitable wine-storing. (1626 2nd Ave.; bet 84th St. and 85th St.; 212-772-8700)
Beauty Bar
If it's dancing and martinis and manicures you're after, well, make your way to Park Slope! No, seriously, the neighborhood better known for coffee shops, toddler platoons, and Thai take-out is the second Brooklyn home of Beauty Bar, the much-loved hipster joint with 10 locations across the States. After a stint in Bushwick, Beauty Bar has taken over the former location of Ozzie's Coffee & Tea, half of which remains a coffee shop, one with brighter and more welcoming decor than the previous incarnation. What to expect? The same competition crushing—can you even get a martini at Dashing Diva?!—manicure and beverage deal as the original 14th Street location, with a slightly less pack-to-the-walls dance party vibe. Unless they allow strollers, in which case expect big crowds and lots of screaming, but less dancing. (249 5th Ave., Brooklyn; near Garfield Pl.)
Blue Bottle Coffee
Coffee freaks, I hope you're sitting down. Oh, you are? With a Stumptown cold-brew stubby? Right. Well there's more good news on the joe front, with a second location of Oakland-based Blue Bottle Coffee in New York, the first in Manhattan. It's way out west where Chelsea meets Meatpacking, and the situation looks something like this: the former loading dock of Milk Studios is now a cafe, complete with a La Marzocco Strada for espresso, two types of iced coffee, drip coffee from Blue's custom apparatus, and baked goods made at the Williamsburg location; upstairs is all the hype, though, with a 6-stool Tokyo-style bar serving siphon coffee and Nel drip coffee (Nel = flannel filter), plus brioche toast made in the image of the thick-cut white bread you've probably seen at Sunrise Market. The flannel filters will not be plaid. (450 W 15th St., bet 9th Ave. and 10th Ave.)
Reported by Jeremy Berger; photo by Sean Ellingson
