"new york public library" news and stories

New York City isn't about to forget its cocktail roots.

The wild popularity of New Orleans' Tales of the Cocktail has prompted imbibing New Yorkers to get into the cocktail conference game. Enter the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, which held a preview session over the weekend in anticipation of a full-blown, five-day cocktail conference next May 14-18. Lucky attendees to the preview seminars were taught cocktail lessons from behind the bar at swank locales throughout the city.

The cap to the weekend was a wild party at the main branch of the New York Public Library on Oct. 4, complete with a Prohibition-style "Free Lunch," cocktails from more than two dozen bartenders and a live band that made the place jump in "Great Gatsby"-like fashion. Check out Slashfood's photos after the jump.