Danny Meyer's highly-anticipated first foray into the world of bars, Porchlight, is an ode to the bounty of the South, from Sazeracs to Daddy Jack's fried frog legs.

Danny Meyer's list of restaurants reads like a ‘where to eat’ of New York City - Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, The Modern, and even Shake Shack - and now the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group has turned his attention to bars. Porchlight in Chelsea is a cross between a casual neighbourhood bar and cocktail places like PDT, so expect impressive drinks. Situated on the ground floor of the 1890s-built Waterfront New York Building, on the corner of 28^th Street and 11^th Avenue, this area is gradually gaining a reputation for great drinks spots, such as Gallow Green, Hotel Americano - and now Porchlight. 

The bar has a Southern bent, with drinks like Sazerac, Hurricane, and a pre-bottled Whiskey and Cola, a mix of corn whiskey, homemade cola syrup and fernet. Blue Smoke chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois is in charge of bar snacks with smoky beef jerky and 'Daddy's Jack's fried frogs legs'. Porchlight bartenders strive to keep a record of what the bar’s regulars drink. And the classics-oriented cocktail menu — put together by the bar’s general manager, Michael Shain, who served as beverage director at Blue Smoke — doesn't include the “bartender’s choice,” but instead has an item that will be “your choice”.

Ideal For

Dinner with friends

Signature Drinks

Whiskey & Cola: Mellow Corn Whiskey, Fernet Vallet and Homemade Cola Syrup ($14)