30 to Midnight

Sfoglia, Upper East Side

Sunday, 9:15pm

Sfoglia
135 East 92nd St. (aka 1402 Lexington Ave.), Manhattan

Before we tell you how ideal the crowd (AA), how superb the food (and $$), how excellent the enlarged space (taking over that nail salon was brilliant), we must say - we do not think staff should have their post-shift drink at the bar while diners remain. When we're spending some $300 on cocktails, wine, antipasti (more rabbit pate please), ravioli, and spaghetti squash, we really really don't want to hear about how grueling it was to get it in front of us.

Sandwiched, Whitney Museum, Upper East Side

Thursday, 3pm

Sandwiched
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. (75th St.), Manhattan

Neither rain nor snow, nor sleet nor dark of night shall stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Yes we're talking about the snowstorm that accompanied the opening day of the Whitney Biennial and the opening day of Sandwiched, the USHG cafe temporarily filling the lower gallery (pictured right), to be replaced with a real (meaning full service) restaurant in the fall. That's a mouthful.

The biennial features such masterpieces as Wood on Pedestal. If that's too high concept for you, run downstairs to such masterpieces as Chicken Schnitzel with Black Truffle-Celery Slaw and Gruyere on Toasted Brioche (pictured left, seemingly sans Gruyere and certainly sans toasting, but satisfying nonetheless). $14.95 for that sandwich created by the chef of Eleven Madison Park. About $9 for most others - Egg, Tuna, Turkey & Gouda, Ham & Cheddar, Cured Salmon, PB&J - created by other USHG chefs. $6.50 for Brooklyn Lager, Pilsner and Abita Light (why is there no regular Abita in this town?). $2 for chips. Cash only, for now.

And who was out on this slushy day? Wet, attractive Age Appropriates not speaking English. But we're designating Sandwiched and the Whitney *Best* because we don't want you to forget how lucky you are to be in a city where you can check out art work by James Casebere and Duane Hanson. No link for Woman With Dog but we suggest you find it. Really. And we suggest you look out from your umbrella and up from the swampy curbs to catch moments like this one:

Sandwiched is open 11-5 (T-Th), 11-9 (F), 10-5 (S,S). Everything is closed Mondays. Museum galleries are open 11-6 (W, Th, S, S), 1-9 (F).

Park Avenue Winter, Upper East Side

Sunday, 8pm

Park Avenue Winter
100 East 63rd St. (Park Ave.), Manhattan

In twenty days (that's March 14th) Park Avenue Winter will shut down after brunch. They'll reopen on March 16th for dinner as Park Avenue Spring. Everyone knows that means a complete transformation - menu, uniforms, wallpaper - and almost everyone enjoys Spring best (unless it's Autumn). But we think you should stop by each reincarnation because the food is good and the company is great - almost exclusively Age Appropriate. Don't believe us? A Sous Chef tells us it's a veritable ghost town 'round midnight. It's true. We saw it happen. Packed house near 8pm; empty in the 11's (bar empty before that). Bed by 12. Perfect.

Cascabel Taqueria, Upper East Side

Wednesday, 3:30pm

Cascabel Taqueria
1542 2nd Ave. (81st St.), Manhattan

Three blocks north of the restaurant that inspired Sam Sifton to compare the Upper East Side to a second-tier city where residents have mediocre palates - MXco would be the second-best date-night restaurant in a second-tier city, a perennial readers-poll winner for best guacamole in the regional glossy magazine. On upper Second Avenue in New York City, it may do just fine. - you'll find Cascabel and what may be the City's best tacos south of Spanish Harlem. But rely on us for food judgement because Sara, the philistine, lives in the E. 80's.

Since we brought SpaHa into this discussion we should mention that pricewise Cascabel is considerably more expensive than, say, Taco Mix on 116th, but their tacos are a decent value (note: it's not really fair to A-B these two since they're not wholly the same genre). Add in a couple beers and some guacamole, however, and you'll quickly exceed $25...for tacos, per person. Gorgeous, delicious tacos, yes, but we want you to be fully prepared.

You should also be prepared to wait, not because service is slow, but because this place gets busy. With whom, you ask? Mixed Ages. We're deeming it AABM because that's our middle-ground designation and because if you do have the chance to linger here and drink through their beer list (as a little sidewalk chalkboard suggests), it's likely early enough that the place will be more AA than AI. We're also going to talk about Cascabel on ScoreboardGourmet because they have a Mexican wrestling theme and a TV showing soccer. And because we're going back.

Happy Hour on the Upper East Side

The Brews Brothers, Upper East Side

Opening Friday!

The Brews Brothers
1571 Second Ave. (82nd St.), Manhattan

Something tells us this massive place will Not be AA, but you never know. We'll report back.

Lady Gaga at Pat O'Brien's, UES

Thursday, 8pm

Pat O'Brien's Bar
1702 Second Ave. (88th St.), Manhattan

Usually we avoid Pat O'Brien's because it is a Red Sox - Patriots - Celtics - Bruins bar, and because the clientele is almost always AI (we walk by here all the time). But we were compelled to enter and give the place a fair shot because, no, not the Beer Pong sign, but the Lady Gaga Look Alike Contest sign. This is hilarious. Oh, it's AI for sure - kids fall out of here nightly - but it can't be ignored.

Blonde, Brunette and Redhead (BB&R), Upper East Side

Saturday, 11:30pm

BB&R
1720 Second Ave, (89th St.), Manhattan

In a part of a neighborhood where near-midnight is the swayingacrossthesidewalkslurredyellinghour (aka: AI) it was a real surprise to find such an Age Appropriate bar. Knowledgeable friendly bartender tells us it's almost always that way, and friendly canoodlers pulled their lips off one another to offer us a seat at the bar. We like. The Blonde-Brunette-Redhead-thing is surprisingly not off-putting, and neither is the game room. Huh. In case you can't tell by this amazing photo, the bar is entirely surrounded by 33+
It's kind of incredible.

Luke's Bar & Grill, Upper East Side

Thursday, 9:30pm

Luke's Bar & Grill
1394 3rd Avenue (79th St.), Manhattan

We've been wanting to try Luke's for some time. It was worth the wait. A completely Age Appropriate bar and restaurant with more than decent food. Yea! Of course, that doesn't mean everyone acts appropriately. We were sitting near four guys, three of them in gray v-neck sweaters over oxfords (more in that uniform elsewhere in the place too), who were loudly and proudly discussing the recent sexual near-conquest of an absent friend. Lovely. That said, we will most certainly be back to Luke's.

Jacques, Upper East Side

Monday, 7pm

Jacques
204-206 East 85th St. (Third Ave.), Manhattan

Sara used to have a post office box at the post office across from Jacques. She wondered if it was a good place. Now she knows it is not, if you're talking about food. If you're talking about a little AA bar and the look of the place, it's great. Wine by the glass? Not so great.