Bemelmans Bar: الفيلم

At five-thirty, this bar starts charging you just to sit.

Blame the piano. Here's your evening, round by round.

Bemelmans Bar, inside The Carlyle, a block from Central Park.

Round one, four-thirty. Take a stool at the counter.

Order a classic martini. Watch the red jackets make it.

Then look up. You've got an hour.

Ludwig Bemelmans painted these walls. He wrote and drew Madeline.

Behind the bar, rabbits row a boat. Another one takes aim with a rifle.

Turn around. By the banquettes, a man hands balloons to a boy.

Five-thirty. A pianist sits down.

From the first song, your seat has a price.

Twenty to twenty-five dollars a person at the counter. More at a table.

So keep your stool. You face the murals, and you pay less.

Round two: Madeline's Vesper, with a twist that carries the bar's name.

Our verdict: two drinks, one on each side of five-thirty.

No caps, no sneakers. Book for the music, or walk in early.

Four-thirty for the walls. Five-thirty for the piano.