A Quiet Drink: At Bar ‘21,’ Rubbing Elbows With History

Philip Greenberg for The New York Times

Bar "21," the less formal of the bars at the "21" Club on West 52nd Street, has Humphrey Bogart in its past and boneless chicken wings and sliders in its welcoming present.

One of the most prominent accounts of goings-on at the "21" Club bar in H. Peter Kriendler's book about that storied restaurant involves the novelist John O'Hara, who, he writes, "was bad at handling his liquor."

Philip Greenberg for The New York Times

The famous jockeys outside "21."

Philip Greenberg for The New York Times

Edward Kennelly mixes a Perfect Manhattan. 

Philip Greenberg for The New York Times

Bar "21" added the Beautiful Fool, a summer gin cocktail, to nod to the new movie version of "The Great Gatsby."

Philip Greenberg for The New York Times

The Southside cocktail has Tanqueray gin, lemon juice, muddled mint leaves and a little sugar.

Mr. Kriendler was an eyewitness, having spent more than 50 years at what was then the family business. (The title of his book is "'21': Every Day Was New Year's Eve.") He describes O'Hara picking fights with any number of customers — the New Yorker writer Brendan Gill, the actor Paul Douglas, a "distinguished neurologist" — and, on one occasion, O'Hara was seen "sprawled in a chair in the lounge, drunk and mumbling."

Based on my recent visits, there doesn't appear to be an O'Hara type in the Bar "21" these days, although there may still be a neurologist in the house.

It's a different era: boneless chicken wings, pizza and sliders are on the menu, accompaniments to first-rate cocktails that have long been a "21" hallmark.

The history of "21" can seem both intriguing and intimidating. Humphrey Bogart and Ernest Hemingway drank there; Robert Benchley quipped there.

The Frederic Remington paintings are still on the walls, but in 2013 there's nothing staid or stuffy about the place. Business casual is the rule in the bar (no jeans, no sneakers), and the room offers a grown-up brand of well-modulated liveliness.

In an age when so many of New York's best cocktail places can be found downtown, Bar "21" is the rare Midtown Manhattan drinking establishment that feels energized.

(A note: Bar "21" is not the Bar Room at "21." Bar "21" is the first space you come to when you walk in. Continuing on, you'll arrive at the Bar Room, the more famous, more formal of the two, with toys hanging from the ceiling and jackets required for men.)

The bartenders at Bar "21," who are friendly but not overly familiar, turn out excellent versions of the standards as well as cocktails of their own creation. The Perfect Manhattan on the "Classics" list is expertly balanced, made with WhistlePig rye from Vermont, bitters, and sweet and dry vermouth. (All cocktails on the menu are $15.) The Southside, a "21" invention, is made with Tanqueray gin, lemon juice, muddled mint leaves, a little sugar, a little soda. It's easy drinking, effervescent and just tart enough. Tara Wright, a bartender, keeps the Tanqueray and lemon theme going, following up with a really nice rendition of a Tom Collins.

The Iron Gate Old-Fashioned — substantial, worth savoring — includes Woodford bourbon and cherries soaked in brandy, and a vinegar-based gastrique that has orange, cherries and sugar in the mix.

The Beautiful Fool is a recent addition, a nod to the new movie version of "The Great Gatsby." It's a superb summer cocktail, composed of complementary ingredients: Greenhook gin made with juniper, cinnamon, camomile and elderflower; camomile syrup; St.-Germain elderflower liqueur; and grapefruit and lemon juices.

New drinks are "done as a team," the bartender Eddie Kennelly said. "It's kind of like a lot of head-bashing. You'll see something in the media like 'The Great Gatsby,' so you'll come up with a cocktail like the Beautiful Fool."

Mr. Kennelly is good with the bartender humor. After spelling his last name, he throws in: "Same as the esteemed senator from Connecticut."

This is a place, he said, where patrons tend to hang out.

"I've had people stay all day because they were having that much fun," Mr. Kennelly said.

Understandable. The martinis are as inviting as a lake at the end of a windless summer day.

How did this one, straight up with Ketel One and olives, get so smooth?

"Because I made it," Ms. Wright said.

We can go with that.

The particulars: Bar '21' and lounge. 21 W. 52nd St. Telephone: 212-582-7200. Website: www.21club.com. Hours: Monday-Saturday 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday 4 p.m.-midnight. (Closing time may vary depending on the crowd.) Closed Sunday.

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In Transit Blog: Climbing Everest — On Your Phone

Though the numbers of those attempting to summit Mount Everest have reached levels alarming to some, the vast majority of us have had to make do with second-hand accounts. Now there's a high-tech virtual option: the new Mount Everest 3D app offers tours of the world's highest peak from any angle.

Designed for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and available at iTunes, the free app from Germany-based 3D Reality Maps calls out various camps and glaciers as well as peaks and landmarks like the famed Hillary Step. An eight-day tour itinerary takes users on a virtual tour, from the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, Nepal, to Everest Base Camp, the starting point for ascents via the southern route.

An upgraded pro version, for $5.99, incorporates a GPS function and downloads the 3D map for off-line access, though juggling a tablet while climbing is probably not recommended.

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Q&A: How Cynthia Rowley Packs for Trips

By Kassie Bracken, David Frank, Jason Drakeford and Kimberly Moy

Can't Go Without: Cynthia Rowley: The designer describes what she brings for adventures with her family.

The designer Cynthia Rowley travels so often with her husband and two young daughters that she has packing — particularly the quick, all-in-one-bag kind — down pat. "I have a checklist I keep at home," she said. It's inside her medicine closet along with toiletries, her family's passports and a wad of cash. "It's like I'm on the lam."

Even for her, though, a recent family trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar required some extra planning and creative solutions.

Toward the trip's end, she said, everyone started borrowing clothing from one another. Her 14-year-old's top became a dress on her 8-year-old. Her husband's shirt became, with a belt, a dress on her 14-year-old.

"My husband usually gets the short end of the stick," Ms. Rowley said with a laugh.

Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Ms. Rowley on packing tips for family trips. 

Q. What's on your packing checklist? 

A. Aside from clothing, snacks like granola bars, gum and mints for my daughters' ears on the plane, toiletries, pens, pencils — all in zip-locks. Reading material. An iPad with movies downloaded. Extra chargers. A laundry bag. A small bag rolled up, in case you buy something, so you can carry it home in that. And the weather report printed out for everyone.

Q. What clothing do you bring? 

A. The essentials: sneakers, heels, flip-flops, a hat, undies, a jacket. I always bring a big scarf, and for this trip I brought a couple of sturdy cotton scarves from Feed Projects. That's my travel must, a big scarf, because on the plane I wrap it around my eyes to sleep or use it as a pillow. It's a cover-up at the beach. I wear it as a skirt, put on a T-shirt, wrap a belt around it and go to dinner. It's very Peter Beard.

These little zip leather pouches from my collection or something similar is good for organizing your essentials. You can also use them for going out at night, as a clutch, so you don't have to pack one. We also have these metallic T-shirts. They're comfy, but still add a little polish. I don't bring any jewelry, so I pack a whole bunch in different colors.

For our trip to Africa, everyone kept saying, you have your khaki, right? I'm not going to look like Steve Irwin, I'd say, but I did add a little.

Q. How do you avoid packing too much? 

A. Everyone brings one carry-on. As a family we never check bags. It's just a hassle, and I like to hit the ground running.

I use this khaki Ghurka duffel I've had for years. My kids use rollers, which are easier for them to pull. Before anything goes in the suitcase, I lay everything out in little stacks. It's all there, so you can edit it. Then I put it all in at once.

Q. Do you bring anything special for your kids? 

A. For each big trip that we do, I buy journals, these little Pearl Paint ones that come in a pack, and markers and tape. My daughters can tape in things like exotic bird feathers, maps from the guides, pressed flowers or, like for this trip, a wildebeest hair. I write on the front their names, the date, the destination. The ones from Kenya and Tanzania are still circulating show-and-tell; eventually they'll go on their bookshelves with the others.

My husband always brings a book that he reads excerpts from to everyone at night. For this trip, he brought "Green Hills of Africa" — we try to be on theme. And I always bring a DK Eyewitness Travel guide. It's all photos and illustrated on really nice paper. Every night I use it to plan what we want to see the next day, and then I save it as a little souvenir, put it on the kids' bookshelves. It's a good old-school tradition.

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From Revolutionary Hotbed to Shoppers’ Haven in Lisbon

Campo de Ourique has a long history of exceptionalism. This uptown Lisbon neighborhood survived the earthquake of 1755 and went on to become a hotbed of revolutionary thinking that helped establish the Portuguese Republic in 1910. Today, it's a district that maintains a village-of-yore ambience with safe, tree-lined streets and a leafy park. While it has never been a tourist destination, that's changing thanks to an influx of younger residents and a vanguard of shopping and dining options.
— JEANINE BARONE

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Letters to the Editor

To the Editor: Regarding "When Little Ones Take a Bite of the Apple" (June 16): New York is a city of important museums of nearly every possible size and theme, but we must take issue with Pamela Paul's suggestion — even if it was meant lightheartedly — that families with young children should skip the Metropolitan Museum of Art because it's too large and daunting. "Getting lost" is one of the great pleasures of the Met, and along the way kids will find mummies, knights, secret rooms and all sorts of big surprises to delight them: a giant Greek column, African canoes, an Egyptian temple and El Anatsui's glittering curtain of bottle caps are just some of the things that stop them in their tracks. If you want help, there are special family greeters in red aprons at the entrances and education programs for all ages and interests; over 46,000 families each year enjoy activities from toddler story time to gallery hunts and family festivals. The result is a day of discovery, with time travel, heroes and a monumental scale that no video game can match. Certainly the millions of cherished copies of E. L. Konigsburg's "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.  Frankweiler" — the story of two children who run away from home and live at the Met — are proof alone of the Met's magic for kids.
— HAROLD HOLZER, New York
The writer is senior vice president for public affairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

To the Editor: MoMath, the new National Museum of Mathematics on the north side of Madison Square, is perfect. And it's near Shake Shack and Eataly. My kids love it!
— CARIN BARBANEL, New York

To the Editor: The American Museum of Natural History is a must. It can keep your children entertained for days — possibly weeks.
— DREW KONING, San Diego

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Heads Up: In Milan, a Surge of Burger Spots

On a crisp Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, a steady stream of patrons milled about a space with red brick walls, waiting to pick up orders of towering burgers before nabbing wooden stools at the restaurant's perimeter. It was a scene that could have taken place in Brooklyn or Boise, especially given the huge American flag that hung near the doorway. But the restaurant, 202 Hamburger & Delicious, was on the Corso di Porta Ticinese, a shopping street in Milan.

It is just one of a spate of burger bars and restaurants that have popped up across this refined northern Italian city in recent years, fueled by a fascination with American comfort food and its implicit casualness — the antithesis of the lingering, multicourse traditional Italian meal. The most intriguing of these new spots use high-end ingredients that are distinctly Italian in provenance but have far-ranging results: burgers that are near facsimiles of the best across the Atlantic, some that are emphatically Italian-accented and others that touch on both cuisines.

"Milan is international compared to other Italian cities, and people are starting to move away from the classic Italian way of eating with courses like primo and secondo," said Tizzy Beck, who owns Tizzy's N.Y. Bar & Grill in the city. "They're also starting to realize that fast food doesn't have to be junk food if high-quality ingredients are used."

At the year-old 202 Hamburger & Delicious (Corso di Porta Ticinese, 6; 39-02-8366-0635; 202hamburger.com) it is not just the atmosphere but the luscious burgers that could pass for American — the result of a six-month tasting trip in New York City by its owners, Roberto Caramia and Ivan Totaro.

"We tried a different burger each day," Mr. Caramia said.

Beniamino Nespor and Eugenio Roncoroni, friends since they were teenagers, cooked in some of the world's top restaurant kitchens — Mr. Nespor at Restaurante Martín Berasategui in the Basque region of Spain, Mr. Roncoroni at Quince in San Francisco — before opening Al Mercato Ristorante & Burger Bar (Via Sant'Eufemia, 16; 39-02-8723-7167; al-mercato.it) in 2011. The two distinct concepts are at play on either side of a glassed-in kitchen. On one side, diners at Al Mercato Ristorante are treated to a more formal experience, with the option of a 10-course tasting menu. The meal is more casual at the Burger Bar, which offers patties made from Rossa Reggiana beef and other global street foods like a pork belly tostada.

"Eating a burger is fun and dirty," Mr. Nespor said. "It's not like sitting down for a traditional family meal for two and a half hours and getting uncomfortable."

Even large restaurant companies have become besotted with the burger. Gruppo Sebeto, a Neapolitan restaurant group known for its far-reaching pizza chain Rossopomodoro — which New Yorkers may know from its outpost in the Italian-food emporium Eataly — turned its sights on the hamburger with the 2011 opening of Ham Holy Burger (Via Palermo, 15; 39-02-875-510; hamholyburger.com).

"After so many years in the pizza world, we started searching for another 'food for all,' " said Franco Manna, a Gruppo Sebeto founder.

On a car-free Sunday in April, parents and their well-dressed children biked through the boutique-filled Brera neighborhood to the airy restaurant, where they customized their burgers made with Fassone beef from the Piedmont region. Toppings included Italian ingredients like the cured meat speck, smoked scamorza cheese and grilled radicchio. The concept appears to be thriving: the second Ham Holy Burger opened in May 2012 in Rome, and the third in Milan's Marghera neighborhood in November.

Before heading off to one of the raucous bars along the canals of the bustling Navigli neighborhood, young Milanese stop at Trita Tailor Made Burgers (Piazza XXIV Maggio, 6; no phone; trita.it). It's a bright counter-service spot founded in March 2012 by three friends: Riccardo Cortese, Federico Pinna and Alessandro Dalli. In addition to beef, the menu here includes Bufalo Campano, meat from buffaloes that are raised for 15 months. Through the kitchen window, cooks can be spotted cutting huge slabs of meat, running them through a grinder and shaping patties by hand.

Another group of investors plans to open Polpa, another burger spot, in the lively Porta Romana neighborhood later this summer.

A few blocks away, a hipster crowd congregates at Tizzy's, which opened in 2011 (Alzaia Naviglio Grande, 46; 39-02-5811-8227; tizzysbarandgrill.com). The flavorful patties are ground and blended by a mom-and-pop Italian butcher shop, said Ms. Beck, a New York native, but are accompanied by Americana — toppings like Cheddar cheese, desserts like banana splits and Brooklyn Brewery beer.

Already armed with an arsenal of favorite burgers in her hometown, including those at Shake Shack and at Little Owl, Ms. Beck did not have to make special burger research trips.

"I'm a New Yorker just doing what I know," she said.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 19, 2013

An earlier version of this article described one of the types of meat served at Trita Tailor Made Burgers incorrectly. The Bufalo Campano is buffalo meat, not beef, and it is the buffaloes that are raised for 15 months; the meat is not aged 15 months.

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In Transit Blog: Bike-Sharing Comes to Aspen

Never one to fall behind trends, Aspen, Colo., proclaims itself the first mountain town with a bike-share program. Its new We-cycle fleet includes 100 bikes parked at 13 stations around town.

Day passes, purchased with a credit card at one of the stations, start at $7 for a 24-hour period and include unlimited rides of 30 minutes each or less. Overage penalty fees are relatively hefty – starting at $2 for 15 minutes and escalating to $5 per quarter hour thereafter – and are designed to encourage cyclists seeking longer rides on the many bike trails outside  town to rent from a town bike shop.

While hard-core cyclists are known to switch their own rides up with snow tires come winter, the We-cycle program will be suspended once the snow flies.

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The Getaway: Finding Deals With Paid Upgrades

With all the complaints about escalating fees that travelers have to pay, another pricing trend is on the rise that some customers may actually like: paid upgrades.

Hotels, airlines and car rental agencies are more aggressively promoting the chance to upgrade your room, seat or set of wheels for a price that is often (but not always) less than you would have paid if you had reserved that business-class ticket or hotel suite in the first place.

Usually, these offers are presented at check-in, when travel companies figure it's too late to sell their premium inventory to somebody else. But sometimes the upselling begins just after you've booked.

Elite members of travel loyalty programs are not necessarily happy about this development, because it can mean fewer free upgrades for them, although some companies are figuring out ways to keep these perks in the mix for their most loyal customers. Below are more details about who is offering paid upgrades, and how to decide if they are worth the price.

A Bigger Room

I stumbled onto a hotel upgrade last year in Hong Kong, after finding out the $250-a-night room with a harbor view that I had reserved was opposite the elevator bay. A trip back to the front desk to request a quieter room led to an offer to upgrade to a suite for an extra $12 a night. It was definitely a good deal (normally a suite would have cost at least $30 extra), and it made me wonder if I had been missing out by not bargaining more often at the front desk.

It turns out most travelers don't ask for upgrades, and many clerks don't offer them, so a company called Nor1 (nor1.com) has automated the process, essentially letting computers handle the negotiation. Working with chains like Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Carlson and Fairmont, as well as independent hotels, Nor1 e-mails an "eStandby Upgrade" offer to some guests who already have reservations. The deals vary based on how full the hotel is, the type of room booked and variables like loyalty membership, but a typical upgrade invitation might offer a bigger room for an extra $10 to $30 a night.

Jason Bryant, Nor1's founder, said the standby upgrade generally costs 25 to 40 percent less than booking the better room in the first place, since accepting the offer doesn't guarantee you'll get the upgrade (hence the word "standby" in the name). But if the hotel doesn't sell that nicer room to someone else for the regular price, your upgrade will be confirmed when you check in. Not everyone who books a room will automatically get an upgrade pitch, Mr. Bryant said.

"We don't want 20 guests stacking up for the same offer if we know only one guest is going to get it."

Elite members of a hotel's loyalty program may still be offered a free upgrade, Mr. Bryant said, but could also see a paid upgrade option for an even better room, or an offer of a discounted spa treatment or dinner instead of a room upgrade.

John Ollila, who tracks loyalty programs at LoyaltyLobby.com (and has elite status with the major hotel chains), said he usually tries his luck by asking for a better room when he checks in. But for travelers without elite benefits, he said, Nor1's eStandby upgrades can be a reasonable deal.

"Check how much the upgraded room would have cost you in the first place," Mr. Ollila said, adding that it might still be worth bargaining to see what you could get without charge.

A Better Flight

Airlines are also more aggressively selling paid upgrades, although their business model seems to be more varied than that of hotels.

For instance, Alaska Airlines offers paid upgrades within 24 hours of the flight's departure through Web check-in, airport check-in kiosks, the ticket counter and even at the departure gate. For a one-way flight of 1,250 miles or less, the cost is $50 to upgrade to first class, which increases to $200 for a flight of 3,751 miles or more (with other price points in between). The savings can be $300 to $400 for domestic flights.

Delta's "same-day standby upgrades" start at $50 for flights of up to 500 miles and increase to $350 for flights longer than 3,000 miles, but you must be traveling on an eligible fare (K or higher) to qualify for a paid upgrade. For a flight from New York to San Francisco, the price difference between an eligible economy class fare and business class is more than $1,500 one way, versus $225 for a same-day standby upgrade, if one is available the day you fly.

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In Transit Blog: Your Tips for Tackling New York With Kids

What are the best ways to negotiate America's biggest city with little (and even not-so-little) children?

We asked you to share your advice and experiences in advance of a new series on traveling with your children that begins today.

Below are some highlights. If you'd like to add to the conversation with your own tips, please leave a comment.

————

Restaurants on the Upper West Side and in Park Slope in Brooklyn are a good bet for being child friendly since so many families live there. And both are adjacent to big parks in case you want to picnic. – Bulmal, New York

Enjoy Central Park. Play on the rocks, stroll around, take a horse-and-buggy tour. – Boston Transplant, Boston

Spend half a day at the Museum of Natural History, especially if the weather isn't good. I have yet to meet a child that has not found something to love there. – Evangelina Cifliganec, New York

On a recent trip I planned the morning at the Met to show the kids art from some of the cultures they'd studied in school. I expected we'd be in the museum for an hour or so and then decompress in the park. To my surprise, we ended up spending four hours there because the boys were enjoying the audio guide so much. – Jess, Washington, D.C.

We let my son stay up as late as he wanted since he was in the city that never sleeps. He loved telling everyone when he got home. – EH, Pennsylvania

Bathrooms, bathrooms, bathrooms. Know where the cleanest and most accessible are at all times. – MMom, New York

Find a balance between what the child wants to see and do and what you think s/he should see and do. I'm a quilter and my granddaughter's a budding fashionista. Visiting Mood Fabrics and the City Quilter were pre-planned destinations. – Bobbie, Berkeley, Calif.

Tackling New York City with children I think depends more on a playful attitude than any logistics. My favorite way to tackle the city is by selecting a neighborhood to get lost in for the day, and allowing the strange people or interesting architecture to inspire you and the children. Setting creative games like, "Who can see the most red things?" is free and more interesting to children than standing with other tourists at a historical landmark. For example: the East Village is great for sidewalk art, Central Park is exciting for foliage, SoHo is fantastic for looking at people. – missfitness, New York

I trained my grandsons to look up when we are on the streets (and stop walking when looking up) to notice the interesting architectural designs. The area around Grand Central is a good example. When you are short, you see only the boring parts of buildings. – GM, New York

Don't forget that sometimes for kids the journey can be part of the fun. My boys love riding the buses because they can watch the business of the city. – Sam Raider, Scarsdale, N.Y.

When we go, we strategically schedule long train rides for midday naps. (The kids LOVE the subway so this is not seen by them as a chore at all.) Also, for all activities that require very good behavior, we follow up with going to a big park where they can just run and play without worry. – aml, Baltimore

I highly recommend a subway ride out to Coney Island. The aquarium is wonderful. – Please, Brooklyn

We took a ride to Queens on the 7 train and introduced the kids to authentic Chinese food in Flushing. The kids were amazed by the ride on the subway, the sights and sounds and the interesting foods they tasted. – Kara, Washington, D.C.

Go across some of our more thrilling bridges, like the Verrazano and the Brooklyn. It's breathtaking. And if the kids are not too young, do it at night. – SRF, East

Visit the Bronx Zoo in the colder months. Many of the attractions are indoors, anyway. – Anna, Georgia

Note: Comments have been edited for length and clarity.

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In Transit Blog: Enjoy Venice; Please Don’t Swim in the Canals

In case you were considering a dip in one of Venice's canals, don't or expect to pay fines up to 500 euro. The city of Venice recently released a list of 10 no-nos aimed at tourists in a new campaign entitled "Venezia è anche tua, rispettala!" (Venice is yours too, respect it!).

Among the prohibitions are picnicking in the area around St. Mark's Basilica, feeding the pigeons, wearing bathing suits in public or appearing bare-chested, littering and being loud after 11 p.m. In addition, the posters, which appear in seven languages around town, politely advise walking on the right down the narrow calli or lanes to avoid pedestrian collisions.

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