If you are ever in the neighborhood, I highly reccommend McSurley´s.  Not only does it have a really cool atmosphere, the bartenders are professionals, all about service.  In addition, they make their own beer, which is a secret recipe.  The light is an amber, tasty but not stupendous.  The dark is wholesome and light on the palate, with a really clean finish.  Tastes like they use chocolate malt with some light malt, lightly hopped, and with a hint of spice in it.  Anyway, it´s really good and comes in 7 or 8 ounce glasses, so order 2. As we got in the cab and rode uptown Eric started telling stories of the buildings we passed, the ones he sold and why the purchases were good or bad.  He was telling of which neighborhoods had been hot party spots and the politics behind why they flourished or decayed.  I felt like time as well as space was zooming by in the ether of the night air, and got a glimpse of the complex layers of history and geography that shape the character of the city, and New York as a pulsing, breathing entity.  I will always be grateful to Anne-Lise, her friends, Eric, and his partner for showing me just how wonderful New York City can be to it's children.  Mind you, I still haven´t figured out whether or not I like the place....