Drink of the Week

Never trust a guy who drinks a Bubble-Lee. Over the years, I've adopted a couple of clear-cut rules about guys. They must be willing to suffer through at least one theatrical performance a season and at least pretend to enjoy it. They cannot have more piercings than I do. They must have a job, even if they are painfully under-employed. They should never include carnations in flower arrangements. They don't need to like all dogs, but they must love my dog. I thought this was a pretty comprehensive list until I went to Dazzle with a date -- and he ordered a sparkling cocktail called a Bubble-Lee ($7), made with Canella Prosecco sparkling wine and Grand Marnier. While I appreciated his obvious confidence in his sexuality, I still don't think straight men should order champagne cocktails. Under any circumstances. Champagne, yes. Champagne cocktails, no. Really, they're one step up from Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers, which we all know were invented to give teenage girls an alternative to icky keg beer. But even a male Prosecco drinker couldn't kill the mood of Dazzle, a great spot for drinking and listening to jazz. So I ignored my date and instead concentrated on my cocktail, the poorly named but tasty Mojito Martini ($8). Made with Bacardi Big Apple, DeKuyper Triple Sec and cranberry juice, it tasted like an apple-rum Cosmopolitan. Drinks like this make an evening at Dazzle truly dazzling -- with or without a date.