MANHATTAN BARS

East Side Company Bar

East Side Company Bar
Thanks to a brushed-aluminum front bar, cozy wood booths in the middle room and a shabby-chic rear lounge, ESCB feels like three separate spots. What the trio shares is a menu of creative cocktail selections that have come to be expected from owner Sasha Petraske (Milk & Honey, Little Branch and White Star, below). Be sure to check out the ceiling: Workers put up sheets of the stamped tin, and then realized they were crooked, and had to take them back down again. 49 Essex St between Broome and Grand Sts (212-614-7408)

White Star
Co-owner Sasha Petraske (East Side Company Bar, above) also maintains his signature discreetness with this unmarked hot spot. White Star is the Shangri-la you hear of in country songs and old stories about newspapermen: a whiskey bar. No mixers, no Red Bull, nothing Dad wouldn’t drink. Well, with one big exception: milky-white absinthe, dispensed from fountains called “auto verseurs.” Even cooler, the Sheetrock at the back of the bar sports a piece of graffiti believed to be by seminal New York street artist Lee Quiñones. The signature, lee, is still visible, according to part owner Richard Boccato. 21 Essex St between Canal and Hester Sts (212-995-5464)

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