Photo by Anna Traverse Fogle
“90 in the Shade” (pepper and basil simple syrup, grapefruit, Topo Chico) and “Flowers for Hours” (Uncle Val’s gin, crème de violette, dandelion honey, lemon) at Crosstown Arts Bar. The menu changes seasonally, so you may find fun new options when you visit.
Sunday evening is underrated as a going-out night. Fridays lose their luster in busy adulthood — so much so that I’ve identified a particular varietal of exhaustion: Friday Tired. Saturdays are too popular. Maybe you enjoy crowded bars and long wait times, and more power to you — but I will not be jostling you for space any time soon. By Sunday evening, with the laundry finished and the errands run, your options are to stay home and succumb to the Sunday Scaries — or to cancel out the end-of-weekend melancholy with an evening out. Bonus: Even if you’re back home at a perfectly reasonable hour, a Sunday night out can feel slightly against the rules, in the most delicious way.
And so, on a recent Sunday evening, my husband and I briefly fled our house and our nagging inboxes and went in search of something different. Which is how we came to ascend the glowing, winding crimson stairs of Crosstown Arts and enter Art Bar. After closing in March 2020 amid the early days of the pandemic, Art Bar at last reopened in late August 2021.
Maybe it’s Sunday night, and you need to set the alarm for work tomorrow. But for now, settle in on a stylish couch and toast to breaking a few little rules.
Tucked on the second story of Crosstown Concourse, Art Bar is itself a work of art (and an impeccable portrait backdrop, if you care to create art of your own while imbibing). Furnished with colorful mid-century pieces, each room of Art Bar is decorated in a slightly different hue and vibe, and walking from one chamber to the next feels a bit like being inside a mood ring. Throughout, you’ll find vintage paintings and small ceramic sculptures of dogs and cats — just the right level of kitsch. My husband and I settled on a landing spot directly below a gallery wall of dog portrait paintings (of course).
I should mention that you’re reading a story about cocktails written by someone who doesn’t drink alcohol. (I hope you don’t feel cheated.) Here’s the magic trick: Art Bar is so pleasant a place to spend time, and their nonalcoholic offerings so enticing, that even a retired drinker like me can enjoy a lovely evening there. In fact, I even had options — pretty much the holy grail of a drinks menu to a nondrinker. Art Bar now offers Replenish Kombucha (locally made!) on tap in three flavors: sweet ginger, lavender, and hibiscus berry. I can vouch for all three, but I wanted something fancier, and Art Bar delivered. “90 in the Shade” (pepper and basil simple syrup, grapefruit, Topo Chico) arrived in a tall glass garnished with a sprig of rosemary. More sour than sweet, it presented faint vegetal notes (in an appealing way) alongside the acidic punch of grapefruit, tempered by the sweet earthy freshness of basil. The basil, by the way, was grown in the Concourse garden. For those who choose not to drink or who ought not to drink, for whatever temporary or permanent reason, being able to order a nonalcoholic cocktail that’s actually interesting is a revelation.
Photo by Anna Traverse Fogle
Furnished with colorful mid-century pieces, each room of Art Bar is decorated in a slightly different hue and vibe.
My husband gamely took one for the team and ordered a gin-based drink called “Flowers for Hours” (Uncle Val’s gin, crème de violette, dandelion honey, lemon). Served with a single golf ball-sized ice sphere (the larger the ice, the slower it melts, diluting the drink) and garnished with a single tiny dandelion flower, the pond-green potation smelled floral and tasted “very balanced,” he reported. The floral and citrus flavors were both noticeable, but “neither one overpowered the other.”
Art Bar serves several other house cocktails — one tequila-based, another Scotch-based — as well as a closely curated selection of “special stuff” (absinthe, cognac, amaro), various spirits, wines, and local beers on tap from Crosstown and Wiseacre Breweries.
Fancy a snack with your liquid entertainment? Art Bar keeps it simple, with two hard-to-argue options. In a savory state of mind? The rosemary focaccia is here for you, served with marinated olives and Montalbán cheese (a mixed-milk Spanish product reminiscent of Manchego). If you’re here for after-dinner drinks, or heck, if you decide to exercise your adulthood with pre-dinner dessert, order the chocolate ganache cake. Maybe it’s Sunday night, and you need to set the alarm for work tomorrow. But for now, settle in on a stylish couch and toast to breaking a few little rules.
