Inside Bars

Ice Bars

thewanderplan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:44:56 +0000

What began as a feature of the Ice Hotel in Sweden about 20 years ago has now become a full-fledged, albeit odd trend. The ice bar has branched out of its Arctic homeland and sprung up in places like Quebec, Dubai, Orlando, and unsurprisingly, Las Vegas. Here’s a roundup of some of this year’s ice bars. Most of them will be melting away soon so if you can get to one, do it now.

Ice Hotel Bar, Sweden

Hotel de Glace Bar, Quebec

Lumilinna Snowcastle, Finland

ICIUM, Finland

Ice Bar, London

Chena Hot Springs Resort, Alaska

Blu Ice Bar, Minnesota

photo courtesy of NY Times

Norwegian Cruise Lines Epic Ice Bar

Ice Bar, Orlando

Location Unknown

Spotlight: VOC London

thewanderplan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:35:14 +0000

The VOC here stands for Vereenidge Oost-Indische Compagnie, better known as the East India Company. This bar is a modern interpretation of at 17th century punch house inspired by the VOC and located in King’s Cross, London. What does that mean? That means a menu consisting of cocktails, barrel-aged libations and punch. It’s designed to make you feel like you are drinking in another era, with decor and beverage echoing a style from the 1700′s. Don’t plan on eating dinner as the choices for nibbles are limited to olives, cheese and anchovies on toast, but this is a place for drinking, not dining.

photo: the Telegraph

Canal House, Amsterdam

thewanderplan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:38:44 +0000

The canal houses of Amsterdam are famous for being famously narrow and colorful. The Jordaan district is one of the city’s more popular destinations and seems the perfect place for a boutique hotel, which this bar is part of. Comprised of three 17th century merchant houses, it’s perfect home base for touring the city, or for getting some refreshment from the sightseeing.

Hemingway’s Bars

thewanderplan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:45:16 +0000

The East coast of the United States is full of places touting that George Washington once slept there. It seems to me that what Mr. Washington is to this country, Ernest Hemingway is to bars in other countries. It seems that any place Papa stopped in for a beer now has a bronze bust of him at the bar. And being the prolific drunk that he was, that translates to a lot of bronze. Of course, there were some bars that he spent real time in, even writing some of his books in, and fortunately (or maybe unfortunately if you’re a local) many of those bars are still around for English majors and other lit geeks to visit. I suggest any and all of the following next time you need some sinspiration.

“Don’t bother with churches, government buildings or city squares. If you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars.” Ernest Hemingway

Harry’s Bar, Venice

photo: lemonfig via flickr

photo: Arrigo Cipriani

photo: Felix Haslimeier

Hemingway Bar, Ritz, Paris

photo: Jennifer Christensen via flickr

photo: C. Madamour, Ritz Hotel

photo: Beth Arnold

Le Dome Cafe, Paris

photo curtesy of Discover Paris

photo: greentea2006 via flickr

Le Closerie des Lilas, Paris

photo: Samantha Decker

photo: Enzo dal Verme

Museo Chicote, Madrid

La Venencia, Madrid

photo: J. Labrado

photo: hey beans via flickr

photo: Michael Goard

photo: yakanama via flickr

photo: Jase Mueller

Cerveceria Alemana, Madrid

photo: loudguitars via flickr

photo: ercplus

Restaurante Botin, Madrid

Cafe Iruna, Pamplona

photo: editorlisa

photo: John Mariani

Floridita, Havana, Cuba

photo: robseye76

photo: richjp

Spotlight: Bar Bouni

thewanderplan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:11:48 +0000

Bar Bouni is located in Costa Navarino, Greece. While slogging through the rain and cold of winter it’s hard to imagine a more perfectly relaxing place to have a glass of wine than this beachside bar. Designed by K-Studio, it’s got a Japanese zen meets fishing shack vibe that makes me want to board a plane immediately.

Photos by Yiorgo Skordakis

Zinc Bars, Paris

thewanderplan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:46:14 +0000

Bistrot du Peintre

Emile Zola wrote of le zinc in his 1873 book The Belly of Paris and described it as a counter for serving customers in bars and cafes. This bar, of course, got its name from the galvanized steel countertop on which these drinks were served. Just a few years later the term was used to name the cafes and bar themselves, which almost exclusively served coffee, wine and beer with small snacks like cheese and hard boiled eggs sometimes available. They were, essentially, the neighborhood bar, the equivilent in many ways of the local pub in Britain. They didn’t always have a metal countertop, but that particular element has become symbolic of the perfect Parisian bar. Many of these bars were disrobed of their metal during the occupation of the second World War. Fortunately many survived and many new bars are incorporating this timeless style.

le Bar, Four Seasons

Bar du Central

le Pure Cafe

Les Papilles

le World Bar

Bistro Parisien. photo by gillesklein via flickr

Cafe de la Paix

Les Grand Marches

Aux Lyonnais. photo: Meg Zimbeck

Le Fermette Marbeuf

Les Fines Gueules

La Belle Hortense

Le Baron Rouge

Le Rubis

Le Grille Montorgueil

Bofinger

Cochon a l'Oreille

unknown bar. photo: DrFran Babcock via Flickr

Le Chardenoux

Au Vieux Chene

La Potee des Halles

Le Train Bleu

Spotlight: Hangar Eenenveertig

thewanderplan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:55:44 +0000

I’m almost always happy to see a new rendition of the European grand cafe and Hangar Eenenveertig, set on Antwerp’s Scheldt River, is no exception. It’s both modern and reminiscent at once. Belgian architect Jo Peeters got the style spot on, I believe.

Spotlight: Kettner’s Champagne Bar

thewanderplan — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:25:33 +0000

You’re going to be hearing a lot about London in the next few months. What you might not be hearing a lot about is Champagne Bars, which is unfortunate, and not only because I love Champagne above all else, but because it’s shockingly difficult to find a good selection at most bars. I can drink the bubbly anywhere, but it seems most appropriate in big cities. In Paris, of course it is almost as necessary as a passport but London is another city that just strikes me as Champagne appropriate. And where better to drink the fizzy stuff than a bar like Kettner’s. Originally a group of four Georgian houses in Soho, it was opened as a restaurant in 1867 by August Kettner, who just so happened to be chef to Napoleon III. Known over the years as a great place to throw a party, you can still reserve one of many private rooms, but I like the feel of the Champagne Bar itself.

Photos curtesy of Kettner's

Historic Bars: Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem

thewanderplan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:39:34 +0000

The claim of oldest bar almost always sparks a controversy, but a fascinating one. Not surprisingly if a bar or pub is old enough to even be in the running for this title it’s likely to pre-date any sort of documentation that could prove its claim. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem is among those ancient pubs of England that claim to be the most ancient and whether true or not, it does have some fantastic history all its own. What is now the public house (in a building verified to be at least a couple hundred years old) was built upon the likely site and foundations of the brew house for the Nottingham Castle built in 1068 by William the Conqueror (the brew house itself was built in 1189). Drinking water was notoriously unsanitary in the middle ages and so a brewery was often one of the first things built to support the inhabitants of a castle. There is a labyrinth of tunnels and cave rooms underneath the current pub which, of course, are filled with lore and stories of ghosts and hauntings. A few of these cave rooms are “above ground” in the side of the rock and make up part of the back of the pub.

The name is a reference to 12th century crusaders who would stop off (in the language of the middle ages when “trip” meant a break in the journey, not a journey itself) for a respite and presumably a pint before setting out for the next leg of the journey to the Holy Lands.

So, is this the oldest pub in England? Who knows, but one must also ask who cares? It makes for a great story and even better atmosphere.

photo curtesy of mugofstrongtea

photo curtesy of the English Heritage Explorer

photo from JackSim on Flickr

Home Bars

thewanderplan — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:25:56 +0000

I don’t know what your plans are for New Years Eve, but we’ve decided to stay home this year. We’d rather ring in the new year with friends and family and are throwing a party at home. Of course, what’s New Years Eve without some great drinks? This of course got me thinking about how to spruce up my home bar. I hope you find the examples below as inspiring as I have. And Happy New Year.

from: Apartment Therapy

Photo curtesy of Vogue.com

from: Decorati