You’re standing in a beautiful hotel lobby, and you’ve got some decisions to make.

To your left: drinks made with whiskey, maple and lavender.

To your right: wine and duck-egg-and-Wagyu beignets.

Now, which one comes first...

Meet Aveline (left) and The European, the new dueling restaurant and bar spots inside the redone Warwick hotel—both opening Friday.

Across from the Clift, all this beauty. One’s a restaurant, one’s a bar. But... the bar has food and the restaurant obviously has drinks. So you could just wander in without a plan and follow your gut. Or you could...

Bring your date over by the wine wall.
Start with a glass in Aveline. It’s light and airy, and a big wall of wine makes itself promptly known. Soon a dinner of crab macarons (they’re crab sandwiches, but they look like... well, you know) and beignets filled with duck egg... then covered in Wagyu... then wrapped in lardo, which just melts all over everything.

Then bring your date across the lobby for a nightcap.
The European is darker, with copper-coddled candles and the occasional dim filament bulb. Try a couple Can-Cans, with Irish whiskey, maple, lavender and bitters. If you stay long enough to want a food-nightcap (sure, that’s a thing), they’ve got beef-fat-fried smashed potatoes in here.

Or just... go where the beef-fat-fried smashed potatoes are.
See above.