Playboy puts the spotlight on two new DC bars

It’s not just about bunnies. Playboy is in the process of naming its pick for the top new bar in the U.S.

Every year we search the U.S. for the top new places to get a good drink: the best spots where they take making a good drink seriously, but don’t take themselves too seriously.

Playboy’s recently released its list of the top 50 finalists includes two D.C. bars: Columbia Room and Left Door. Here is what it had to say:

Columbia Room: When Derek Brown first opened Columbia Room, it was in back of neighborhood hangout the Passenger. Its second incarnation in Blagden Alley is far grander, with a striking Italian mosaic mural behind the curved burl wood bar in the Tasting Room.

Our head bartender @jpfethers and the Decaf Cowboy! #Repost @culinaryagents ・・・ #BeverageMonth Feature: "We love this drink for a couple of reasons, but one in particular. It highlights a couple of ingredients that we find really interesting and have flavor profiles that are less familiar to a wider swath of people; cachaça aged in Brazilian amburana wood casks and an extensively aged amontillado sherry." – @JPFethers, Bartender at the @columbiaroom in DC. Decaf Cowboy Recipe: 1 oz Avua Amburana Cachaça 0.5 oz Barbadillo Amontillado Sherry 0.75 oz Lime Juice 0.75 oz Café de Palo syrup 1 oz Egg White (or the white of one large egg) 3 drops Espresso or Coffee Bitters Shake with ice, then strain into another shake; shake vigorously a second time without ice, then pour into a large chilled coupe. Using a stencil, dust half of the surface of the egg white foam with corn dust.

A post shared by Columbia Room (@columbiaroom) on Aug 3, 2016 at 1:30pm PDT

Left Door: Just off the restaurant-and bar-packed 14th Street Corridor is Left Door, the latest project from Tom Brown, proprietor of the beloved but now shuttered casual watering holes Hogo and Passenger. This lair is a little more serious, highlighting elevated Pimm’s Cups and Yellow Chartreuse Sours.

New cocktail: don't cross the streams!!

A post shared by Mick Perrigo (@leftdoordc) on Jul 2, 2016 at 11:20pm PDT

 

Until August 31, you can cast your vote for which of these two bars (or one of the other 48) deserves to be named the country’s top new watering hole for 2016.