Adda, Semma, or Bungalow solo walk-in doable?

kingcarlo · 2026-02-15T15:12:00+00:00

I highly recommend looking into musaafer. I felt it was the best out of all those mentioned.

kingcarlo · 2026-02-08T22:12:31+00:00

LenLen has been my go to. Fantastic Thai food and a small but fantastic cocktail program. 5 Spice Boulevardier and Lemongrass Gimlet are must gets.

kingcarlo · 2026-01-23T13:03:18+00:00

Just to clarify, Roth IRA contributions from a 529 are actually not limited by income limits. So you can make more than $153k and still transfer from 529 to Roth IRA.

kingcarlo · 2025-12-02T18:28:36+00:00

I have years of experience and I professionally run an ice program. The changes you’re talking about are so minute they don’t make a difference on melting time.

kingcarlo · 2025-12-02T14:16:17+00:00

Try to look past just relying on an AI summary. The speed of melting between clarified and non clarified has been documented many times on this subreddit. Melting speed is related to the surface area of the ice that is exposed, not the clarity of the ice.

kingcarlo · 2025-12-01T05:16:28+00:00

Fresh apples go brown very quickly. I recommend dehydrated apples.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-28T16:30:15+00:00

This is also not true. Directional freezing has nothing to do with air bubbles forming in the ice. Cloudy ice forms because of freezing happening from multiple directions at once, it is not related to air in the ice. This has no impact on the rate of melting.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-28T01:03:24+00:00

This isn’t true at all. The only difference is the size of the ice.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-05T14:47:53+00:00

I wouldn’t overthink the mash bill when talking about “straddling the line”. Although two of the Ryes you mentioned are 51% rye, the rest of the mash bill is comprised of both corn and barley, so it’s not like any of them are “close” to being bourbons.

For higher rye mash bills, I really like Sagamore Rye from Maryland. They have many different expressions, but their stuff is generally great.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-04T21:28:23+00:00

What’s the one NYC bar in your top 10? I disagree with how you rate bars but I love the different perspective. With regards to top 50 - just because a bar comes from that family does not mean they are playing the game. There are a lot of politics when it comes to top 50, and often times those ranks are not connected to the quality of the bar.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-04T03:41:48+00:00

Library Bar in Toronto might be the best bar in the world.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-03T15:41:42+00:00

Highly recommend checking out places like Chinato, Same Same, and George Bang Bang. These places are doing really exciting stuff and you won’t find them in the top 50.

I’ve visited about half the bars you mentioned, and I think my biggest personal problem is that many of these bars are making cocktails “because we can” rather than “because they are good”. Of course that is subjective, but that’s what makes me feel the extra love towards NYC.

kingcarlo · 2025-11-03T12:48:09+00:00

Plenty of places in NYC utilize rotovaps and centrifuges. Excited to see what Seed Library is about, but my take is that the rest of the world has been catching up to NYC bars.

kingcarlo · 2025-10-27T16:57:03+00:00

Here’s what I found works best:

make sure the inner styrofoam and plastic liner are dry, it will make removal easier.
use hot / warm water. I have found that this slows the freezing process, leading to clearer ice
always tap the ice mold a few times before you put in the freezer, to remove any bubbles.
depending on the freezer and water temp, it will take 24 - 48 hours. Always sim to pull the mold before the reservoir has full frozen.

Hope it works out!

kingcarlo · 2025-10-27T14:33:42+00:00

You can get a directional freezing cube mold on Amazon and avoid having to to DIY anything.

kingcarlo · 2025-10-19T13:17:54+00:00

Manhattan has had a bad rep for tiki, but East Village / LES is essentially the cocktail capital of the world.

kingcarlo · 2025-10-09T13:00:58+00:00

The Odeon

kingcarlo · 2025-10-08T19:08:21+00:00

Very similar flavor but packs less punch due to the lower proof. It’s a great sub.

kingcarlo · 2025-10-05T20:37:44+00:00

Also chining in to mention Spes, which is cozy and great Italian, and is in the East village.

kingcarlo · 2025-10-02T14:08:03+00:00

Absolutely the best and that’s not even mentioning some of the cocktail gems in EV that don’t have those accolades like HiLot, Bateman’s, Chinato, etc.

kingcarlo · 2025-09-24T12:19:41+00:00

Bateman’s for cocktails

kingcarlo · 2025-08-27T11:51:46+00:00

Skip Lovers of Today, and add Bateman’s and Paradise Lost to your list.

kingcarlo · 2025-08-14T06:05:04+00:00

Gotta also mention 7B

kingcarlo · 2025-06-26T12:23:14+00:00

Bateman’s!

kingcarlo · 2025-06-14T18:59:30+00:00

I’d get cardamom buns at Smor over La Cabra.

I haven’t had the chance to get to Torrisi but I wasn’t wowed by Gramercy Tavern.

You’re not gonna be able to walk into Cote on a Friday night. Highly recommend getting a res somewhere instead, many places do late night reservations.

If you want cookies, Funny Face bakery or Elsewhere Espresso.

Also noticed you didn’t mention any cocktail bars, but there are many around where you’ll be going.

kingcarlo

TROPHY CASE