
Friday, 9pm
Weather Up
589 Vanderbilt Ave. (Dean St.), Brooklyn
Initially, upon entering this unmarked bar (589 appears above the door in sticker form), our hopes were high. We were excited by the tile and the funky ceiling and the amazing bar stools. Photos of the stools are unavailable because the lights were dimmed to the level of hallway findthebathroom nightlight. That made it hard to read the menu. Not that there was any rush for time.
Like most bars that consider their bartenders to be chefs, service is protracted here. We don't know any kitchens that would tolerate that sort of pace, not even at home, but that's another story. They were out of mint for the Old Cuban (aka a mojito with champagne) so we waited 25 minutes while the bartender made two other drinks before returning to see what was our second choice. If you can't get drinks out more efficiently, get another guy behind the bar, or let that barback girl do something more than watch. Sheesh. Confused by the business model here.
In terms of Age, the crowd was mostly Appropriate, and partially bearded. One definitely Appropriate man engaged us as we were heading out.
"You're leaving?" he asked.
We expected him to flirtily ask why or ask us to stay after we said Yes.
Instead he said, "Oh great! Can I have your seat?"
To which Sara replied, "No."
He was momentarily confused. Maybe because the acoustics in there are terrible, or maybe because he's not clever or interesting, or maybe because they slightly turned up the lights and we didn't look so good anymore. We'll never know.
In case you noticed that this picture is somewhat better than our usual..it was taken by The Tileist, one of many smart, creative, incredible friends.