My 2009 Favorites - Happy New Year!

Continuing a little tradition, here are my favorites for 2009:

Favorite Bar: Bar on A

No change here. Bar on A continues to be our favorite place for all situations.

Favorite Bartender: Amanda at Bar on A

With Yvette being a very good friend more than anything else, we enjoy drinking time most with Amanda, the inventor of the Hendricks and cucumber-based gin & tonic variety.

Favorite New Local Artist: Kendra Morris

There's a lot of great talent working in Manhattan's bars. Here's one of them: Soul singer Kendra Morris.

Favorite Restaurant: Festival Mexicano

We haven't discovered many new places, so this one goes to a restaurant that gives us unpretentious comfort since the first day we've moved to the Lower East Side. It also offers pretty good South Mexican Food.

Favorite Album: Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Who would have thought that?

Favorite Song: Fever Ray - Seven

And that?

Favorite Concert: Fever Ray at Webster Hall

Besides the fact that I love Fever Ray's music, she also staged an awesome concert with very unusual, nightmarish visuals.

Favorite Movie: Avatar

We haven't been to the movies very often, but here's finally one big theatrical release that blew me away.

Favorite TV Show: Mad Men

This show continues its greatness. Nothing else makes me watch TV regularly.

Favorite Moment: Wasting an afternoon at Schiller's

This year was full of great moments (I had the sneaky feeling that it wouldn't turn out as bad as expected) and it's very difficult to pick one. Since I have to, I choose the one when Elke, our friend Lesly and I spontaneously went to Schiller's on a Friday afternoon, after shopping for the Fourth of July BBQ. There we burned through various cocktails, carefree like in times when we were much younger. Unfortunately this is unrepeatable, the check in the end alone is prohibitive.

Favorite Vacation: Summer Weekends on Fire Island

We did the QM2 again this year and it was awesome by any means, but by a small margin Fire Island was my favorite this year. From boarding the train with a glass of wine, over riding the ferry, meeting good friends and hanging out at the beach to the delicious meals, every weekend was again a blissful experience.