With some guests gathered on throw pillows around a low table, and others on bar stools at the kitchen counter, we talked of food and travel, photography and arranged marriages (a few glasses of wine among strangers often leads conversations in unexpected directions).

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At the tiny, deli counter-style Monk Bar Chocolatiers, a diet-threatening array of treats is on display.

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After a back and forth of claims and counter claims, the Ferrell and David lowered the bar and offered to pay J.

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The bar itself has an under-lit agate counter that's flanked by a pair of Casa Pupo porcelain leopards a late 1970s byword in bad taste and a complete triumph in this room.

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Up front is a sprawling deli counter of meats and cheeses, freshly baked bread, and imported oils and vinegars, as well as a small bar that houses orange juice and coffee machines along with the hard stuff.

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Walk into a specialist bourbon bar and you will see scores, perhaps hundreds, of brands arrayed behind the counter.

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