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The Bar Room

NYC

By Amelia ReilingPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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The Bar Room

It rained. All day. Now. It sprinkles. I walk with Will my new friend who I met at our Airbnb on NYC’s winking streets. It is April 16th, and we find it is late for NYC? Yes. Gasp! 9pmish and most restaurants and lounges would not take us because of COVID’s early grip on businesses.

But we persist. We manage to find a spot we had never been to on the Upper Eastside. The Bar Room.

What a name, I muse as we walk toward it. Straight. To the point. We just want drinks, we tell a server, who relays to us the kitchen is closing. No problem, we say. Just drinks. Then ordering your fries with your drinks should do, he explains. He smiles.

We walk onto tile, on an expansive black and white chessboard. I sit on dark plush leather seating. Will sits opposite of me. Behind Will, mirrors across the room smile back. I look up above the mirrors to see painted, flushed red and pink-flowered trees wind upward with grace like curly waves. Small owls sit and perch majestic on their branches. And other painted birds fly. The yellow balls of chandeliers grin beaming back at me like muted suns.

I look down at my menu. I had already made the decision to have a drink beforehand, but this place painted the prospect of enjoying a drink as ritzy AND poetic.

My eye catches a beer that has grapefruit flavor to it. Ah, a less intense version of a cosmo may be? Hmmmmmm.

Will, is this good? I ask.

I don’t know, he says.

The waiter strides over and speaks highly of the beer. I order it. Will orders a drink. And of course, we order fries. We exchange crazy stories. Will talks about a past female roommate who texted the girl he dated because she had a crush on him. And basically, sabotaged his prospect with the girl he was dating. I tell him- wait, nevermind. We will NOT be relaying my crazy stories (nervous laughter as I write here . . . ) Let’s just say I used to be in love with a man from NYC. It did not end well, but I had hopes of reconciling as friends. Is it possible? I wonder. I hope so. I hope so . . . But for now, I need to celebrate my new friend Will and I. Celebrate!

Drunk cheers erupt on the left side of me. I smile. Happy birthday! I cheer outloud along with them. As if on cue, the waiter strides over with my beer. Pink foamy liquid smoothly spills into my glass. Will and I are impressed as the foam does not spill over. It sits happily above the rim of the glass. Unafraid. Spontaneous. Spunky. Will and I raise and then clink glasses. I sip. A fizzy, tamed cosmo! How lovely! I feel excited as I sip. I am not much of a drinker, but this was perfect.

I feel chilled and sophisticated at the same time. Beer+cosmo hybrid= chill + sophisticated. I am good at math. And the fries. My guilty pleasure of junk food choices. I eat most of them.

Will and I chat until the place starts to close. The lights from chandeliers wink as we rise to leave. And the mirrors smile as I look back. As I walk over the black and white tile, I recognize that not only had I enjoyed time with a new friend, but I had discovered a new favorite spot in my favorite city in the world.

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About the Creator

Amelia Reiling

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