What a find in touristy Times Square above all that neon: a hark back to New York's Gilded Age at the Knickerbocker Hotel, recently reopened after many decades. The turn-of-the-century property is said to be the birthplace of the martini in 1912, and F Scott Fitzgerald drank them, though not so many that he couldn't woo Zelda here, while Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford carried on their affair at the hotel. On the very modern menu now are Wagyu hot dogs and tuna tacos garnished with wasabi aioli, and more small plates created by chef Charlie Palmer; stogies from the Nat Sherman cigar menu, and - what else? - the Knickerbocker Martini, the renewed version of the iconic drink.
Address: St. Cloud at the Knickerbocker Hotel, 6 Times Square, New York
Telephone: +1 212 204 4980