Author: Kevin Crossman

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Winter Cocktails at Wilfred’s Lounge in Napa

There are some interesting winter cocktails at Wilfred’s Lounge in Napa. I tried and liked the Hot Buttered Rum, a lighter spin on the cocktail and without a ton of thick batter like you sometimes see (I acknowledge that could be a plus, or a minus, depending on your preference). I liked the warm rum cocktail on a rainy day (a coaster-related accident prevented me from taking a nice looking photo). We also heard great things about the Flora’s Holiday with mulled wine.

We were also pleased to see a hard-bound menu this visit, replacing the old floppy leather binder we had to use perviously. So much nicer in this format, but still plenty of space for pages of cocktails, rums, food, and even a section of available merchandise. The merch shelves inside the restaurant are looking nice these days.

We enjoyed our lunch last Sunday. I tried the burger for the first time and found it to be quite the delight. It comes with sweet potato fries, which isn’t really my thing but might be for you.

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TWA Hotel at JFK Airport: Incredible Mid-Century Themed Travel Experience

We completed our NYC trip with a stay at the TWA Hotel ahead of our early morning departure from JFK. Morse has repurposed the 1962 TWA terminal and turned it into a hotel complete with a restaurant, a small food court, a couple lounges, pool, and tons of historical displays. Plus more midcentury eye candy than any airport hotel I know of.

We arrived in mid-afternoon, plenty of time to wander around and look at the displays. There’s really a lot of cool stuff here, with historical background on the terminal and several set pieces that you can explore. We enjoyed the Blue Christmas display. Music inside was a mix of 60s favorites and vintage holiday songs.

The hotel buildings are brand new and well appointed. Plenty of vintage style touches and a very nice bed and bathroom. The desk behind the bed in our room was a cool touch. And you can’t beat these huge windows that overlook the hotel or the runways.

The pool was on the roof of our wing and the pool bar is enclosed for the winter with a Swiss Chalet theme. The bar serves food and airplane-related cocktails. I had the Paper Plane.

The hotel connects to Terminal 7 (Jet Blue) at JFK and is obviously handy for flights in or out. But I think locals would have a blast spending an afternoon here and doing dinner and drinks. Or just check out the hotel during a layover. Either way, every midcentury fan needs to visit the TWA Hotel.

Paris Café at TWA Hotel

The Paris Café by Jean-Georges serves upscale breakfast, lunch and dinner. The hotel wasn’t too crowded on our visit so we rolled in and had a great dinner. I absolutely loved my Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast.

We had an interesting experience with the cocktails. There’s a Black Mission Fig Colada on the menu, featuring rum, Velvet Falernum, fig, toasted coconut, and lemon, so this is right up Mrs. Mai Tai’s alley. But when she ordered it the server said she didn’t recommend it because customers don’t like it. We said we’d take the chance, but once it was served we found that the “colada” was served up and had a weak but unpleasant taste. It was really terrible.

Our server replaced the drink and the Pomegranate Storm was much better. Lesson? Listen to your server! My Concord Whiskey Sour was pretty good, featuring grapes as a garnish.

The Paris Café is located on the second level up a flight of stairs and give a great view of the main terminal/lobby area as well as the surrounding grounds and hotel wing.

We went down to the Food Hall for desert. This is a sort of food court and features booths from some local businesses, plus seating. Just steps away from the Sunken Lounge seating area that’s also a cool place to hang out. A nice option if you’re looking for something quick.

Connie Cocktail Lounge at TWA Hotel

A key feature of the TWA Hotel is a vintage 1958 Lockheed Constellation “Connie” airplane turned into a cocktail lounge. The Connie was an important airplane in the the transition to jet-powered airplanes, and was even used as Air Force One for President Eisenhower. It was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use and the TWA terminal was built with this airplane in mind.

Sadly, by the time the TWA Terminal was completed in 1962, the airplane was nearly obsolete. This particular aircraft was repurposed as an Alaskan bush plane and later used by drug runners before being restored for the hotel.

The entire aircraft is now a lounge and you can order airplane-related cocktails in the back. Aside from the Paper Plane, each cocktail is a renamed version of classic. I enjoyed the “Eero Dynamics” (Whiskey Sour) and Mrs. Mai Tai enjoyed the “Control Tower Sour” with Amaretto. I also tried the “Mile-High Margarita” but asked to sub rum for the Tequila.

Because there are no overhead storage bins, there’s plenty of headroom and the music inside is all vintage era-appropriate. There are a few TWA-branded snack packs available for purchase as well. Connie is open from 4 pm to 10:30 pm every day.

I know that people can order drinks on real airplanes, but this lounge is still totally a hoot. After several days walking around Manhattan, relaxing with drinks was the perfect transition for the flight back home.

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Woody Miller Mug Release at Wilfred’s Lounge

Fantastic new mug from Woody Miller made in the likeness of his huge carving at Wilfred’s Lounge in Napa.



We didn’t do the signature cocktail but it seemed like it was well received by those in attendance. Wilfred’s made it easy to buy a mug with lunch and Woody signed the mug and posed for photos with good cheer. Another fantastic mug release for Wilfred’s in Napa.

I always feel great when I get a woody.

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Happy Birthday Trader Vic

Victor Bergeron was born on this day in 1902. Life was tough as a child, including stints in the hospital, losing a leg to TB, and surviving the 1906 SF earthquake. But by the mid-1930s, “Trader Vic” Bergeron was making a name for himself as a restaurateur and mixologist.

I had a great lunch at Trader Vic’s Emeryville to celebrate Vic’s birthday, including one of his most famous creations: Crab Rangoon. I absolutely love these, especially with the dipping sauces. I also had the Trader Vic Salad in an attempt to pretend I was eating healthy.

Vic’s has a pretty reasonable rum selections and wanted to try something a little different to celebrate Vic’s birthday. I noticed a bottle of the Hamilton St Lucia Pot Still rum, aged for 9 years. This is a really amazing rum that’s no longer being issued, but my Mai Tai with this rum was only $15.50! Such a flavorful rum and so great in Trader Vic’s masterpiece cocktail.

Vic’s was looking great with a little holiday decor, plus some holiday tunes playing inside the restaurant. The bartenders Troy and Saul treated me right and it was very relaxing to take a break inside from the rain. The restaurant was hosting a baby shower in the back rooms, so it’s nice to see people still seeking out the venue for special occasions. Absolutely love this Trader Vic’s location. 

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Portland Syrups Spiced Cranberry Syrup

I picked up Portland Syrups Spiced Cranberry Syrup at an art/food store in Santa Cruz last month and thought it would be a good time to try this in some cocktails. The syrup has a good cranberry and spice taste, however the syrup is very thin. Like less than a 1:1 sugar to water ratio, it seems.

I tried this in a number of cocktails, basically simple sour riffs with Bourbon, Gin, and Scotch. In no cases could I really taste the cranberry syrup, even when I used more of the syrup than I normally would use in these cocktails. The cranberry taste was totally lost.

I had the same experience when making a Spiced Cranberry Manhattan, a recipe from the Portland Syrup website. It looked pretty but tasted like … a Manhattan. Not a Manhattan with cranberry.

Bah humbug.

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Sunken Harbor Club – Best Almost Tiki Bar Experience in New York City

New York City has a notorious reputation for not being able to support true tiki bars, but there is hope that Brooklyn’s Sunken Harbor Club can combine most of the elements we seek at tiki bars while forging a distinct and slightly different path.

Located above restaurant Gage and Tollner, Sunken Harbor Club doesn’t have any totems but is otherwise everything you’d want in a tiki bar. It’s an intimate and immersive experience featuring nautical decor, exotica/surf/lounge music, and cocktails from the tiki tradition. Along with an innovative approach to the extensive cocktail list, small bites are also available. We loved the Miso Butterscotch Pudding with toasted coconut.

Aside from the fantastic Mai Tai we highlighted a few days ago, we were impressed by the cocktails. Thanks to Garret Richard and team, the cocktails use high quality ingredients and modern techniques to deliver superb cocktails. I really dug the Special Daiquiri No. 1 featuring Jamaican rum, passion fruit, honey, and falernum. Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai had the Yellow Tang with vodka, banana, pineapple, and passion fruit. This was from the “In the Shallows” section of the menu that features lighter cocktails, but was a little too light for what she wanted. She had better luck with the Ango Colada and the Bridge of Sighs, a complex blend of aperitivo, coffee, ginger, and rum.

The experience at Sunken Harbor Club was exquisite. Our bartender Dan Olivo was super friendly and engaging and watching him prepare the cocktails was like watching a mad scientist working with precision to prepare the cocktail and the garnishes. Dan also led the fire displays when customers ordered flaming cocktails such as off-menu Jet Pilots. Those are always a big hit with audiences and all the staff including Clayton (on shift this evening) and Garret and Adam truly have hospitality in mind when promoting the venue.

If you like tiki bars you’ll probably be having too much fun to notice totems aren’t there. It was very easy for us to take the Subway from Midtown to the Jay St./Metrotech station right across the street, so any tourist in the city should prioritize a visit.