There’s nothing like the bright blue skies, turning leaves and crisp breezes of autumn in New York. With conditions outside ideal for Scotch-drinking, I find myself eagerly tucking into single malts in cozy, warm and welcoming watering holes all over the city.
One favored venue is St. Andrew’s Restaurant & Bar, a little pocket of all-things-Scottish in the Theater District. Occupying two-stories, St. Andrew’s still maintains an intimate feel that seems worlds away from the brightly lit, Disneyland-like, camera-toting tourist Mecca that is Times Square, which is just at the end of the block. With its dim lighting, heavy-on-the-wood decor and plaid banquettes, St. Andrew’s takes a relaxed, unassuming approach to Scotch. Its kilted bartenders serve an impressive selection of single malts, along with an extensive list of beers and ales, to a convivial bar crowd. Then there are the tasty eats, from the St. Andrew’s burger to the homemade haggis with neeps and tatties (it’s the only place in Manhattan that serves the traditional Scottish dish).
The ample drams, savory bites and informal yet spirited atmosphere makes St. Andrew’s an excellent spot for a first meeting with a potential suitor. And, girls, just in case your date ends up being a drag, the male-heavy clientele serves up enough business-casual eye candy to go with your Scotch of choice.
While I hadn’t discovered it because of a date or my Scotch passion – I’d first gone for a happy hour Belhaven with coworkers long before I became a whisky hound – St. Andrew’s had become my go-to digs for first date drinks. Over the years, it had seen some of the less than stellar first (and last, in many cases) meetings. There’d been Boring Queens Guy, who it turned out still lived at home with his parents and who wouldn’t even taste my Aberlour; Cute Sports Writer, who won points by ordering a Belhaven and then swiftly lost them with his just-sucked-a-lemon-wedge face after taking the tiniest sip of my Benriach; and Gay Back-Up Dancer, who kept up with me on my Arran intake, who’d met Madonna at Danceteria before she became famous, and who’s been so named because, as Alexei, my gay boyfriend, astutely noted, “There were no straight men at Danceteria in 1982 queen!”
There had indeed been many a bad one. But the Award for Best First Date at St. Andrew’s goes, hands down, to Williamsburg Photographer, with whom I spent a long, lazy Sunday afternoon sipping our way through Islay Malts, comparing, discussing and going back for more. Sadly, a few non-Scotch-drinking dates confirmed that we had little in common beyond Bruichladdich, disagreeing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Beatles-Rolling Stones debate (I fall on the Israeli and Beatles side). Not to mention he was a bit too much of a hipster for me. What can I say? I wanted to wear the skinny jeans in the relationship.
As I continue to date my way through NYC, St. Andrew’s will always be my first choice for fall first dates. I’ll continue to wonder what the waiter who bears an uncanny resemblance to James McAvoy thinks as he serves my single malts while I sit at the bar with a different dude each visit. Someday I may even ask him for his opinion on the guys – or ask him out.
St. Andrew’s Restaurant & Bar is located at 140 West 46th Street, New York, NY.
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