Though New York City has plenty of restaurants and bars that claim to have a “serious” cocktail menu, there’s a magical feeling you get when you step into a place where Don Lee and Dave Arnold are overseeing the menu. The mad scientists of NYC’s cocktail scene, this team along with owner Greg Boehm created a space called Existing Conditions where it was okay to get weird with your drinks. In fact, getting weird here isn’t just limited to booze, as this writer can confirm seeing at least one bartender rock a hot dog outfit during pre-shift during a media interview. It’s a rarity in this world for such a modern place to be so comfortable that you could come as you are: serious cocktail nerd, casual out of towner, or hot dog aficionado. Yet there it was, a bar not afraid to dream big. A place for the weirdos, the date nighters, the people who wanted to experience a cocktail bar but were put off by pretentious behavior everywhere else.

Existing Conditions was known for many things. The repurposed soda vending machines dispensing bottled martinis thanks to tokens you’d have to insert through a slot. Giant nitrogen tanks supporting said vending machines. Random inventions created by Arnold like “The Spinzall” that make for great conversation with your bartender. But as exciting as the place was, it had a sense of intimacy you don’t always find in such lively places. We’ll miss those booths where you could unwind with a group of friends (the thing we all had before Covid hit) where staff would take the time - sometimes lots of it - to explain the cocktail list. And maybe you didn’t remember every single ingredient in that purple drink with flower petals floating inside, but you knew it was delicious and memorable and very unlikely to find anywhere else.

While you can’t replace any spot - which I’ll probably mention in some form or another every time I make a contribution to this series - you can find places that remind you of the dearly departed. My suggestion: if you’re missing an inventive cocktail, why not pull up a seat in an unlikely spot: Felix Roasting Co. an over-the-top coffee bar. Listen, if you appreciate well made cocktails, you have to love a great cup of coffee. What else is going to sober you up and make you feeling good for at least 45 minutes? And lucky for us, they just opened a NEW spot in Soho to accompany their Park Avenue location in Kips Bay.

Felix Roasting Co. is not the grab and go coffee joint you might be accustomed to. It’s the type of spot you want to relax in for awhile, and not with a laptop either. They’ve got drinks like espresso tonic and chai lattes served in pretty glasses with tender love and care. They also just unveiled food, like whipped ricotta with sour cherry compote, fresh fig and Italian prosciutto which is then topped with lemon thyme, Maldon salt, and a dash of white truffle oil because why not? Most importantly, like Existing Conditions, it’s not afraid to make us all rethink the simple pleasure in life of what it feels like to bring something delicious to your lips. We know there’s plenty of places to grab a cup of coffee in the city. But a place where you feel transported? They’re experiments that are too mesmerizing to pass up.

For Fans of is a new editorial series dedicated to the restaurants we’ve come to grow fond of over the years that recently said goodbye. Like a bad break up, we’re gonna need some time to get over this, which is why we’re including a newly opened spot we think captures the spirit of our dearly departed.