Pittsburgh, Part 2

COVID wasn't kind to hotels and their classy wine bars. Masks and social distancing is not conducive to the mingling of old men with money and middle-aged women that we saw chatting each other up at the Fairmont's wine and jazz abode named Andy's in pre-COVID times. The Fairmont, a Four Diamond, 185-room hotel in Pittsburg's downtown cultural district, shares a contemporary art and industry design theme with its downstairs bar. Although the Fairmont has reopened, Andy's has remained closed since COVID struck; it claims, though, like Douglas MacArthur, that is shall return!

When we visited, Andy's was awash in the sounds of piano jazz and the murmurs of the crowd in its expansive glass and industrial walled space. The cocktails smacked of over-the-top swank. We won't recreated them for you, because the Lounge Lizards cannot abide the pretension or time required for these pinky-in-the-air draughts. Cindy selected one of Andy's 'simplest' cocktails, a Smoked Caipirinha which consisted of cachaca, lime, and smoked cilantro syrup. I ordered up a Japanese Garden, an overwrought combination of dill-infused Tanqueray Ten, cucumber-infused sake, maraschino, and fresh-squeezed lime. And while the cocktails were good, we decided to move on to a different atmosphere.

We walked a couple of blocks closer to the confluence of the three rivers to Market Square and wandered into the champagne bar Perlé (now the Metropolitan Club), a wannabe club/wedding venue that was crazily schizophrenic enough to have $500 bottles of classy champagne but also served the cheaper stuff on tap!

Cindy and I scored seats on the back sofa and ordered our champagne concoctions- the classic Bellini for her (peach puree and champagne) and a Manhattan Noir for me- a combo of Dickel, cherry juice and champagne. The Noir is not complicated and gives you that excuse to buy that bottle of Dickel you know you wanted. Here's the recipe-

Drink: Manhattan Noir
Establishment: Perlé
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
First Connoisseur: Holly

1/2 ounce Dickel 12
1/2 ounce chilled cherry juice
Champagne

Prior to making the drink, chill your Dickel in the freezer and your Champagne and cherry juice in the fridge. In a large Champagne flute, add the Dickel and cherry juice. Top with Champagne.