Gentlemen Prefer Monde

By The Editors
May 18, 2012 9:00 am

They say that a strong portfolio is a diversified one, but if that were so, why is the Financial District fully invested in Irish pubs and their risky collateralized Guinness obligations?

Giving you a new commodity to get bullish on after work: Demi Monde, a massive cabaret tucked below an unassuming coffee shop, opening tonight.

From the crack cocktail team behind Death & Co., Demi Monde means “half the world” — an 18th-century European term referring to hedonistic revelry, which clearly has nothing to do with the bar’s proximity to Wall Street.

Iniquity is the game:  blood red-lacquered wood, diamond-tufted black banquettes, and intimate seating separated by rope screens modeled on kinbaku, the Japanese art of bondage.

Exoticism continues with the 16-strong cocktail menu, which includes the Cut & Paste (apple brandy, whiskey, honey, bitters, and absinthe mist) and the Mister Sparkle (gin, sherry, lemon, bitters, and orange cream fizz).

As for bites, Demi Monde’s menu ranges from gourmet snackables like cherry wood almonds and six different kinds of caviar, to heartier fare including wagyu strip steak with rye whiskey and onion jus.

Just in case you were in the market for something different.

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