124 Down the Rabbit Hole

Shhh... There is a cool little bar amid the college puke scented row that is McDougal St in Greenwich Village. It has no sign, nothing on tap, no hard spirits and nothing that is not from Europe. In fact, you have to buzz to be let in. Its so small, I imagine once it is full, the management used that buzzer wisely to keep the overflow out. I hope I am never so unfortunate as to receive no answer to my buzz. Our host was Drew, former manager from Death & Co who opened this gem with the help of D & Co's owner. Formerly a fondue bar, the Old Rabbit Club is more partial to European liquid beer and wine, rather than liquid food. The wine selection is small and comes in half-bottles only. For the price I would have appreciated something other than the dinky dollar store glasses it was served in. But you can tell Drew's real passion is in his beer. When you order a beer, you can be sure it will arrive in the proper glass to match the brew. I had an organic Elder Weiss that had strong hints of banana. Drew was also kind enough to give us "shots" of a Grand Cru Reddenboch made with sour yeast. The taste was tart, almost like my Grandpa's sour cherries. There are a few pretzel bread sandwiches on the menu too if you don't want to lose your precious spot at the bar. This bar is for serious beer drinkers and the price matches. That and the buzzer should keep the NYU boys out and that is OK. I met a lovely art student who appreciated my Theresa K punk rock back. Like Alice, I'll fall back down the rabbit hole again.