It is rare to impress a New Yorker with a new bar, but Lot 15 at the Kixby Hotel near Herald Square is a Midtown-gamechanger. A good bar either invites one with a mixologist-exquisite menu or a cozy atmosphere enveloping the patron and swooning them to come back over and over (this is that ONE bar you always visit,) but Lot 15 combines both of these themes.

With head bartender Cameron Shaw up to the challenge to change Midtown’s cocktail scene, the menu is a designer’s pride and also a yummy delight. Divided into four sections (one offering two non-alcoholic options,) each part divides the cocktails into methods: stirred, shaken, and/or built. From there, the classics are listed including the martini, an old fashioned, a sour, a daiquiri, and others. Beyond those, three options of specialty cocktails are suggested as variations of the classics. The result is that in case you like a Martini but prefer it with a bit of extra flavor, the bartender might suggest a Vesper or a Boulevardier (whisky negroni) if you have a taste for negronis. And just like that, the complex and confusing world of mixology is simplified at the bar– straight up.

The concept was born out of the idea of a mixologist versus bartender, the latter serving the patrons rather than a chemist ego. Instead, Lot 15 combines the ideas in a velvet salon. Featuring dim lighting, cozy furniture pieces, and a 360′ bar, this is the place to come for a drink and spend four hours in conversation, and maybe even indulging on the light bites. Artwork by contemporary muralist Fumero dots the perimeter of the space. Midtown now has a newcomer ready to spice things up in a good old New York fashion.