Death & Company

David Kaplan and Ravi DeRossi opened this East Village cocktail bar on New Year's Eve 2006, and it became one of the rooms credited with starting the craft-cocktail boom — the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was invented right here. The space stays dim and gothic, with candles, a low ceiling, and a marble-topped bar that bounces the light back. Death & Co takes a limited number of reservations but mostly seats first-come, first-served, with two-hour tables capped at eight people. A short food menu of oysters, fried chicken, and arancini backs up the cocktail list.