After being home to James Duane Bar & Grill and before that, Juniper, 185 Duane may have found it's best fit yet with Hideaway. Chef Alex Oefeli (Jasper, Raoul's)wasn't on the lookout for a new home when he heard about the space and didn't come in with crazy ideas, just added a great wine list, some Stella and stout on tap and some upscale bar food. The $6 smoked deviled eggs with lox go well with the Cote de Rhone (also $6) but are too good to wait til your trashed to try.
On the weekday we visited, diners ate at the bar, oblivious to the flat screen TV where sports are on occasionally, though you'd never know it from the beautiful red walls and classic music prints (the Rolling Stones peacefully coexist with Jerry Garcia in the bar). The look of the bar is a labor of love, as much as the perfect martini the bartender prides herself on- the design was done by the chef's wife, Sheryl Kasak, an architect. The bar's swoon worthy aesthetic may have changed but the mystery is still there, to wit; two owners ago, the manager fell through the basement only to find a subbasement full of large liquor bottles, with no end in sight. Whether the address was home to a speakeasy or bootlegger we'll never know but we're glad the place survived.
Try Hideaway for a full dinner in the gastroppub tradition or romantic drinks, just as long as the Yankees aren't playing the Red Sox.
Hideaway
185 Duane Street, between Hudson and Greenwich Streets
(212) 334-5775
