B Flat (Bb) (Closed)

Address: 277 Church Street, (btwn Franklin & White Sts), New York City, New York, 10013, United States
Tel: +1 212 219 2970
Website: view B Flat (Bb) (Closed)’s website
Door: Open door
Style: Speakeasy
Food: Bar Snacks
Established: 2007

Review

The unmarked door to this basement bar lies practically opposite the Tribeca Grand Hotel at the bottom of Sixth Avenue. From it a staircase leads down to a dimly lit room with rows of intimate booth seating and an inviting bar lined with stools.

The bar's name and logo - a musical note - hint at its theme and smooth jazz fills the atmosphere. Appropriately, signature cocktails such as the excellent Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Lady (with plum wine, Campari and grapefruit juice) are called after jazz pieces.

Such creations, alongside expert classic cocktails, suggest this place has form. And it does. B Flat is owned and manned by four bartenders, all veterans of Angel's Share in the East Village. The quartet brought some of the house rules with them, and will only take orders from guests who are seated. Their attention to detail impresses elsewhere, too. Ice cubes are sized according to the glass and the drink: bartenders chisel the largest by hand from blocks of ice made from filtered water.