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NIGHT+DAY Ins and Outs (IOs)

Whether you are keeping a dogeared Night+Day guide as your bible to exploring a city, or just relying on NightandDayGuides.com, you’re in the right place for the latest and greatest happenings. Herewith are hotels, restaurants, nightlife, and attractions that have been open long enough to be tested and earn our recommendation.

July’s Top 5 New Recommendations

D.C. • BUDDHA BAR • Asian
Paris-based Buddha Bar landed here with a bang in May (pause for applause). This drama queen of a restaurant-lounge flaunts over-the-top décor: glossy red walls, sheer gold drapes, 22-foot-high ceilings, gilded columns, Asian tattoo murals, and, best of all, an 18-foot-tall onyx Buddha, unflappable observer. Washingtonians are lapping it up, along with the saketini cocktails. A mixed-age (20s to 50s), intern ational crowd collects after work for happy hour and dinner of sushi and specialties, such as roasted black cod and lacquered Peking duck. When the lights dim around 7pm, the pace and music pick up; by 11pm the place is more lounge-nightclub than restaurant, especially Friday and Saturday nights, though the kitchen serves until 1am (11:30pm weeknights). Mon–Thu 11:30am–3pm and 5:30pm–1am, Fri 11:30am–3pm and 5:30pm–2am, Sat noon–3pm and 5:30pm–2am, Sun noon–3pm.
$$ 455 Massachusetts Ave. NW (Fifth St.), 202-377-5555
buddhabardc.com

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MEXICO CITY • ERAWAN • Asian
Erawan brings together a trio of international chefs: Nobu veteran Kimura Itsuroka oversees sushi, Sumaloo Boonek works the Thai, and France’s Joel Lahon bakes the pastries. A giant infinity pool greets guests with a cooling breeze, and carved partitions of Southeast Asian hardwood divvy up the 190-seat restaurant into intimate areas. While most opt for the terrace or sushi bar, groups can reserve a 25-seat, business-meeting-ready room. Start with your favorite sashimi or pan-fried rock shrimp, and continue with pad Thai, the succulent pompano, or short ribs. Top off the meal with Lahon’s lovely chocolate crème brûlée, then adjourn to the Joy Room for cocktails. Mon–Wed 2–11:30pm, Thu–Sat 2:30pm–1:30am, Sun 2–6pm. $$$ Plaza Antara Polanco 1st Fl., Av. Ejército Nacional (Molière), 55.5281.3181

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MIAMI • NORMAN’S 180 • American
Chef Norman Van Aken’s long-awaited restaurant offering a rustic and seasonal take on New World cuisine makes its entrance at the Colonnade in the heart of the buzzing Gables restaurant scene. The eclectic menu focuses on local products— Key West yellowtail and Gulf shrimp—creating playful combinations, like pizza with young mozzarella, chow-chow, and fried green tomatoes, or striped bass with black-eyed peas and ham hocks. For a treat, reserve the Kitchen Table, where up to 12 connoisseurs dine and drink on whatever the chef chooses—and knowing how inventive he is, it’ll be special. Mon–Thu 6:30–10am and 11:30am–11pm, Fri 6:30–10am and 11:30am–midnight, Sat 7–10am and 11:30am–1am, Sun 7–10am and 11:30am–midnight.
$$$ Colonnade Hotel, 180 Aragon Ave. (Ponce de Leon Blvd.),
305-529-5180
normanvanaken.com

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NEW YORK • INK48 • Trendy Hotel (222 rms)
Kimpton Hotels has done it again, creating a boutique hotel that’s both quirky and elegant. Even better, it’s one of the coolest new hotels to open near the Javits Center, New York’s largest conference center. The suites and rooms are urban loft inspired, and many are spacious, with high ceilings. Luxe amenities include iPod docks, flat-screen TVs, Aveda toiletries, and in-room coffee makers on request. If it’s views you’re after, ask for the “City View Premier” rooms, which overlook the Manhattan cityscape. The Ink Spa features East-meet-West treatments (after a long flight, the “jet lag recovery” treatment is a godsend), and a Zen garden. The restaurant, Print, serves farm-to-table goodness, including breads from that favorite of New Yorkers, the Sullivan Street Bakery. As for nightlife, flirt under the starry sky at the Press Lounge.
653 11th Ave. (48th St.), 212-757-0088 / 877-843-8869
ink48.com

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TORONTO • Thompson Hotel •Trendy Hotel (102 rms)
This trendy U.S.-based hotel chain makes its first step into Canada with a new locale on the western edge of the King West entertainment district. Although the dust has barely settled, the talk of the town is the hotel’s VIP rooftop patio area, with eastern views of the skyline and an infinity pool, which no doubt will be as much a lure to trendy 30-something guests as the rooms designed by local designer Roy Banse. Expect sleek modern interiors, with unique photographic and modern art, as well as a private screening room that will be the hot spot come September’s TIFF. This will be the first Canadian locale of a Scarpetta resto by chef Scott Conant in July, a 24-hour modern diner open by the end of June, and fashionista must-have Wabora Sushi, slated for mid-August.
$$$$ 550 Wellington St. W. (King St.), 416-640-7778 / 888-550-8368
thompsonhotels.com/hotels/toronto/

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