Angel’s Share (8 Stuyvesant St between Third Ave and E 9th St, 212-777-5415) is just a great name for a bar: In the Middle Ages, when monks were in charge of the booze-making, they would nail up their fermenting barrels and leave ’em for a while to get going. When they opened them up again, to their surprise, a portion of the liquor had evaporated. With no easy explanation available, the monks determined the angels must have taken their share. When I was first taken to this quiet East Village institution (you can see Joey Ramone’s apartment from the window), I was told it was a secret. Considering its size (relatively tiny) and location (a second-floor walk-up through an unmarked door in the back of a Japanese restaurant), it seems like a secret. It’s not. It’s open to the public. That said—it is a bar with a simple rule: only groups of two to four. What is great about this? Everything. No lurkers, no sad drunks and no groups of advanced-beginner drinkers. This is the perfect civilized bar for thoughtful adults to enjoy each other’s company and a fine cocktail. And the cocktails are superior—a very wide selection of booze, and the drinks are all prepared with care and craft. I recommend the lychee martini. And they have good food, too. It’s not super expensive, and considering all of Angel’s Share’s built-in awesomeness, that might be the biggest surprise.