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Alibi
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Alibi, the new lobby bar at The Liberty Hotel, takes full tongue-in-cheek advantage of this building's
former status as the Charles Street Jail, as do the hotel's restaurants, Clink and Scampo ("escape" in Italian). The walls are
lined with mug shots of famous felons (such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Frank Sinatra), while criminal acts of the cocktail
kind include the Divine Brown (named after Hugh Grant's close friend) as well as Mel's Gibson, the Cool
Hand Cuke and Doing Thyme.
- Annie B. Copps
Alibi at the Liberty Hotel, 215 Charles St., Boston; 857-241-1144; alibiboston.com (reviewed W&S 6/08)
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Bar Chloe
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Bar Chloe is an unexpectedly upscale hideaway in beach-casual Santa Monica that manages to be at once elegant yet unaffected. Check out specialty
cocktails like the ethereal Lavender Gimlet, with Distillery No. 209 Gin, lime, sugar and lavender essence, or the Sweet Ginger–Belvedere Vodka,
Cointreau, cranberry, ginger syrup and fresh lime–alongside the simple-but-delicious small plates menu (think rice balls, crispy artichokes).
- Maria Vitulli
Bar Chloe, 1449 Second St., Santa Monica; 310-899-6999; barchloe.com (reviewed W&S 6/08)
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Los Dados
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Los Dados is the latest roll of the dice by Sue Torres, chef/owner of the Chelsea restaurant Sue–os, and partners David Rabin and Will Regan,
the hospitality veterans behind Ÿber hip Lotus and The Double Seven. The restaurant and adjacent taqueria boast a broad selection of regional
Mexican dishes, celebrating simple recipes and everyday life in Mexico, as well as 50 Tequilas–all 100 percent agave–and hard-to-find mezcals.
The very respectable house Margarita is made with Herradura Silver, Cointreau and properly handmade sour mix, but the Lagerita, made with
Cazadores Blanco, Dos Equis beer and fresh lime, might be better-tuned to Torres' bold, fiery, chile-centric dishes. Purists, of course, can
quench their thirst with a neat shot of Del Maguey Tobula Mezcal, a Gran Centenario Leyenda or a Don Julio Real.
- Anthony Giglio
Los Dados, 73 Gansevoort St., NYC; 646-810-7290; losdadosmexican.com (reviewed W&S 6/08)
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Orson
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Orson is the latest from Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake: Here, she serves "edgy Californian cuisine" in a built-for-buzz two-level warehouse
space in SoMa. Cocktails, designed by Jacqueline Patterson, formerly of Le Colonial, are edgy in their own right. Served at the 30-seat bar-in-the-round,
they include innovative touches like osmanthus flower foam along with Bluecoat gin, passion fruit puree, and ruby red grapefruit juice (the "Lady From Shanghai")
and rhubarb syrup with Bulleit Bourbon, mint, lemon juice and absinthe ("Touch of Evil").
- Camper English
Orson, 508 4th St., San Francisco; 415-777-1508; orsonsf.com (reviewed W&S 6/08)
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