Dear Grant Achatz, Please Bring Aviary To New York City

The New York City bar scene is already an embarrassment of riches, it's true. But if there was ever an occasion to be greedy, pushy, gotta-have-it-all-and-now New Yorkers, well... this is it, folks.

Tuesday, Grub Street reported that New York City was among the handful of cities that Grant Achatz and business partner Nick Kokonas were considering for the next location of their sensational cocktail bar, Aviary. Explained the chef, "Nick and I looked at 2012 and made a list of place where we'd want to open, including New York, Miami or South Beach, L.A., Shanghai, Singapore, and Las Vegas." So there you have it — the mixology equivalent of the intercity battle to host the next Olympic Games.

Too far? Yeah, OK, maybe a dash. But if the outpouring of glowing reviews since the Chicago bar's opening last spring is any indication, the hyperbole is not unwarranted. The Daily Meal's own Arthur Bovino called it "one of the country's most interesting cocktail pilgrimages," after a visit last June.

Check out his virtual tour of the bar and tell me you wouldn't be willing to fight to have that in your city, too.