If You Build It, They Will Come :: The Breslin

Without sounding snooty, we think it’s fair to say that any side street lining Broadway from about 25th to 34th is somewhat of a taste wasteland. Bordered top and bottom by Madison Square Park and the Garment district, there isn’t much here except perfume and Hanes T-shirt shops—a sort of final frontier for Manhattan. Enter stage West (20 W 29th Street) : The Breslin in The Ace Hotel. We walked through the label-less door, hidden behind endless pumpkins and cabbage plants, and found ourselves in a pretty cool bar. Black painted wood, mirrors and taxidermy made us feel like we’d walked out of the wasteland and into…well…Hipster Brooklyn. How this demographic finds themselves in this oasis everyday we’re not sure. But we like it—a refreshing view of hipsters when we’re used to them in their usual haunts. What wasn’t so refreshing was their photography policy. Just a few snaps and we were reprimanded for taking out a camera. We tried reason, but got nowhere. So where these pictures could have continued into a beautiful lunch, we were cut off. We had to go about our way, grumbling tummies and all, since we were there to review. It’s a tough job keeping up the too cool for school attitude, but somebody’s got to do it !