decent food and drink where we can get a seat right away and actually be able to hear each other talk
Dear Concierge:
I would like to know where to go for drinks and snacks -- maybe a hotel bar or comfy wine bar -- with a friend whose younger sister is in the hospital. In other words, somewhere with decent food and drink where we can get a seat right away and actually be able to hear each other talk. -- S.B.
A friend in deed. A hotel bar or lobby is a good idea crying-wise. Uptown, the lobby lounges at the Four Seasons are discreet and the tables are generously spaced. (The Carlyle wins for actual drinks and snacks, but Bemelmans is too noisy and the public spaces too face-to-face.) If you can swing it financially, the St. Regis is lovely for afternoon tea (with Champagne) in the Astor Court, or just sit in one of the little rooms off the lobby and pretend you're a guest; if you time it right, the King Cole Bar's martinis are quite soothing -- otherwise there's a wine bar at Adour. If your friend's sense of humor is intact, the bar at the top of the Hilton on 42nd Street is a place where no one knows your name ... unless you work at The Times.
Bar Centrale, 324 West 46th Street; (212) 581-3130
Bowery Hotel, 335 Bowery; (212) 505-1300
Centovini, 25 West Houston Street; (212) 219-2113
Desnuda, 122 East 7th Street; (212) 254-3515
Four Seasons, 57 East 57th Street; (212) 758-5700
Gottino, 52 Greenwich Avenue; (212) 633-2590
Hilton Times Square Hotel, 234 West 42nd Street; (212) 840-8222
Mercer Hotel, 147 Mercer Street; (212) 965-3800
Saks, 611 Fifth Avenue; (212) 753-4000
Smyth Tribeca, 85 West Broadway; (212) 587-7000
St. Regis, 2 East 55th Street; (800) 759-7550
Turks and Frogs, 323 West 11th Street; (212) 691-8875.