The Carnegie Club

In a city where indoor smoking survives only by grandfather clause, this is the room the clause was worth writing for.

Steps from Carnegie Hall since 1996, the Carnegie Club rode out the 2003 smoking ban with its license intact and its standards untouched. Twenty-foot ceilings, a stone fireplace, hand-carved eighteenth-century bookcases lined with leather-bound volumes — it reads like a private library that happens to pour a flawless Manhattan.

The Show

Saturday is the institution: Steven Maglio fronting the eleven-piece Stan Rubin Orchestra through the Sinatra songbook — billed as the longest-running cabaret in New York, three sets a night. Fifty-dollar cover, two-drink minimum, and worth both. A cigar, a scotch, and "Summer Wind" with live brass is a New York evening nothing else on this list can print.

The Bar

Full liquor under a grandfathered license — the rarest pairing in the city. The single-malt list runs deep, the classic cocktails are made with care, and small plates keep the evening from ending early. Last call for tobacco comes forty-five minutes before close; plan the last stick accordingly.

The Room

Dress for it — business casual is enforced, and the room rewards the effort. This is where you bring the out-of-towner who thinks New York cigar culture died in 2003, and watch them understand.

Why We Picked It

Because nothing else in Manhattan combines legality, liquor, live music, and grandeur at this level. The license made it possible; the standards made it No. 1.