Tea at Trianon: The Best Piano Bars in New York City

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, June 6, 2022

The Best Piano Bars in New York City

From Town and Country:

When restaurateurs Tom and Anthony Martignetti were preparing to take over the old Lexington Bar & Books space on the Upper East Side, they understood that customers were looking for live entertainment they did not have access to during the pandemic. "Listening to music in one's apartment is good," the Martignetti brothers said in a joint statement, but "listening to a live jazz trio in an intimate setting surrounded by one's friends swilling cocktails into the wee hours is a great, memorable experience."

That experience is now a reality at Melody's Piano Bar, which opened in early April—joining the ranks of classic and new piano bars that are experiencing unprecedented demand. The Martignettis say their goal is to create "nightlife for adults—a place where adults can listen to great jazz music while letting their hair down a bit."

Isn't that the quintessential piano bar? An elevated, grown-up environment with a musical act that transports you to another place. Here are the some of places that do just that, giving New York the most exciting nightlife in the world. (Read more.)