If the thing that brings you the most joy in life is endlessly searching for the perfect after-work bar, this will be a very bad day for you.
Because that search ends with the Sequoia, Tyler Florence’s new fourth-floor bar above Wayfare Tavern. It’s open now, and here’s the slideshow.
While it’s not absolutely necessary, you’ll probably want to make a reservation before you and your group arrive. That completed, take the elevator up from the nondescript lobby next to Wayfare, walk out onto leopard-print carpet and enter the bar you’ve wanted all your life.
Grab a seat at a table made of lacquered backgammon and chess boards. Gaze up through the skylight view of the Transamerica Pyramid. Will you get the Scofflaw (bourbon, vermouth, orange bitters) that the menu tells you was made famous at Harry’s New York Bar in 1924? The Night Owl with rye, cognac, Campari, Bénédictine and absinthe made famous at the Sequoia in 2017?
Tough call. Perhaps you’ll retire to the tiny lounge inside an old bank vault to decide. That way no one will see you pilfering snacks like prime beef tartare and the Tavern burger with Marin brie and smoked bacon.
But if you want something really private, rent out the whole space for whatever you choose. Final Four pro tip: there are hidden TVs.
Also, sorry about your bracket.