Puffs, pours, and professional relaxation in Midtown

Because Jim Nantz was on the cover of the May/June issue of Cigar Aficionado, so finally they're totally cool, Midtown thankfully has The Leaf: a comfy, almost completely cedar dwelling for upwardly mobile stogie-blowers complete with a 67in TV, dual fireplaces, and a 250-face humidor, brought to you by the team behind Scottish Tobacco, who firmly believe in the FREEEEEEEDOMMMMM! to smoke wherever you want.Along with blue collar-priced sticks like Dominican Bahia Golds, multi-brand Honduran Puros Indios, and Nicaraguan maduros/claros from Drew Estates, all the top 100 brands'll be available, including rare smokes such as Arturo Fuente Opus X, and the Platinum Gurkha Triad, which runs a cool $100, plus whatever those Triads want for "protection". You can also mow down small plates (6in pizzas, calamari, cheese samplers), or take The Leaf up on its concierge service that'll whisk you entrees from neighboring restos (Apres Diem, Royal Orchid, The Independent..) while you sip classic cocktails created using housemade juices by mixologist Reggie Weeks, who's toured with Diddy and promises "no soda guns", a rule Shyne followed before settling for real ones and going to jail for a decade.Once things get rolling they'll have weekly events highlighting/discounting obscure labels, and if you hurry you can rent one of 50 personal, all-cedar lockers for the year, which Jim Nantz calls "a sound investment I'd put my 'cool' stamp of approval on. Now, would you like to hear about a tradition unlike any other?"