Bar of the Week: Honey

Scads of pedestrians stomp along 14th Street, but usually to get somewhere else -- dinner at Pastis, say, or to rummage through the boots at DSW. There�s little to tempt along the way. But the owners of Honey, a 3,000-square-foot eatery, bar and lounge that has housed a slew of failed restaurants, are hoping to change that with a handful of specialty cocktails and eats from Victor Rodriguez, former chef at Dos Caminos. Although the brick walls and chocolate-brown banquettes are warming, there�s something soullessly generic about the space. At the bar, as the music shifted from the Bee Gees to the White Stripes to the St. Elmo�s Fire theme song, we let the pretty bar staff whip us up strong $10 drinks: a muddled strawberry lychee punch, heavy on the rum; and their signature libation, A Taste of Honey, with refreshing 42 Below Manuka Honey Vodka and ginger beer. The limited menu is heavy on pricey entrees and short on finger foods, but if it�s just a nosh you�re after, quinoa chicken strips with blackberry Chipotle ($9) or Kobe sliders and homemade pickles ($17) should do the trick. 243 W. 14th St., (212) 620-0077. Alia Akkam