Bowls of honey-roasted peanuts and popcorn kernels tumbling out of brown paper bags were once standard-issue bar snacks — welcome but generic placeholders until dinner reservations two hours later. Now they run the gamut from okonomiyaki (savory Japanese pancakes) to pimento buns, often standing in for a casual, graze-fueled supper.

Hotel boîtes are especially astute at showcasing cocktails’ gustatory sidekicks. Sometimes they are luckily gratis, like the petite, spinach-stuffed fritters known as barbajuan that high rollers fill up on at Bar Américain in the Monte Carlo’s Hotel de Paris.

But the place I love noshing at most in between rounds of daiquiris happily involves taking out my wallet.

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In the world of cocktails, the Old Fashioned is the person who walks into a room and doesn’t need an introduction. They’ve been in the game for so long that everyone knows them. Everyone admires and respects them. As cocktail recipes pop up and disappear by the season, the Old Fashioned remains. It represents everything a well-crafted cocktail should be: balanced. It’s simply the best, and you can have the best right in the comfort of your own home.

Making the best Old Fashioned at home is really easy. Simplicity is the name of the game here. Bourbon whiskey, a little sugar, and a dash of bitters, stirred up with quality ice and garnished with an orange peel — that’s all there is to it! Let’s break it down a little bit, starting with the ingredients.

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From Apartment Therapy → 6 Stylish Ways to Organize (and Show Off!) All Your Mugs

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From Apartment Therapy → 15 Spots You’re Forgetting to Clean (and How to Take Them On)

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Unwinding in a hotel bar might be an act of comfortable convenience. If you are a weary traveler, it is surely the shortest distance from your drink to your bed. If you are lucky, you will find yourself ensconced at the likes of Dandelyan at the Mondrian on London’s South Bank, or Sable Kitchen & Bar at the Hotel Palomar in Chicago, where well-made drinks served amid swanky surroundings promise memorable imbibing experiences for locals and itinerant interlopers. But not everyone holed up in a hotel for the evening has the luxury of discovering a lauded cocktail bar just off their lobby.

Still, says Abigail Gullo, head bartender of Compère Lapin at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans — among those revered lairs turning out tipples like the bourbon-apple brandy Louisville Slugger with chicory and smoked vanilla — it’s possible to drink well at a hotel bar. With a sharp eye and a few friendly questions, a joyful night can be yours.

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The party problem: You want to serve a warm boozy (or not boozy!) drink during the span of a party.

The party trick: Use your slow cooker!

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Despite all of the different cuts of steak and all the ways you can cook and serve it, one universal rules applies to preparing steak, and it is so simple: Take it out of the fridge ahead of time.

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We love hotel bars of all ilk — fancy and not-so-fancy, wood-paneled and leather-clad, cozy and candlelit, and airy and bright — but while we have a soft spot for even middling versions, a truly great hotel bar is something rare. It’s something to be noticed and appreciated. Here’s how you know you’ve hit the hotel bar trifecta.

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Pork chops are one of the tried-and-true weeknight dinners we turn to again and again. Who can resist a plate of lean, juicy meat that’s reliable, quick, and easy to cook? But that’s just one side of pork chops. For a more luxurious dinner where pork chops are meant to really shine, you’ve got to cook them like a prized steak.

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I once believed that hearty steak dinners were a meal best enjoyed at restaurants. Oh, how wrong I was! I came to learn that cooking steak at home wasn’t just surprisingly easy, but the results also exceeded my steak-filled dreams. Here are seven helpful tips that will guide you through making the best home-cooked steak of your life.

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