Fifteenth floor of a hotel, big windows over the city, drinks loud enough to talk over — Opera is what you reach for when a tasting bar isn't the right shape for the evening. It runs closer to a clubby lounge than a speakeasy, and the cocktails know it: clean, photogenic, designed for a group that isn't all here for the program.

Useful as a first stop while the room is still buzzing, or as the place you finally end up after the small bars have closed and you still don't want the night to be over.