Hey, man, thanks. I, like you, am equally fascinated with the grand tradition of things, as are many of the younger bar going public I have found. I can’t tell you how our clientele has changed, especially in recent years, part of it I think is the “Mad Men” craze where old fashioned drinks are in vogue (in which we specialized), but the overall reason is to experience the way things were. Which, to quote James Wolcott when he linked my recent post Star light, star bright,.. can’t “withstand the Gucci-loafered march of progress that is cooly stamping out whatever character and individuality Manhattan has left.” And that’s sad!

“Prestige” was exactly the right word for another reason. Going back to its Latin roots, it originally meant “magic.” Sounds like Tony/Aldo has it.