Raise Your Glasses to the Brass Section

There was once a chain of New York restaurants called Brass Rail. But at several new restaurants, the richly glowing golden metal is on the surface of the bar, not just the foot rail. Brass is nudging aside zinc, the traditional metal for bar tops. At Legacy Records near Hudson Yards, the main curved bar and a utility bar are both covered in burnished brass. Robert Bohr, an owner, said he wanted it for warmth and for how well it complemented the midcentury style of the restaurant, designed by Ken Fulk. At Harry’s, a venerable steakhouse on Hanover Square that was recently redecorated for about $1 million by Antonio Tadrissi of PDLab in Toronto, the 36-foot bar is covered in brass. “Brass ages beautifully and gracefully, just like Harry,” Tadrissi said, referring to Harry Poulakakos, the founder of the 46-year-old restaurant that is now owned by his son, Peter Poulakakos. At Brasserie Seoul in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, brass is the focus on a bar in the center of the room. You’ll also see brass in accents, like the trim throughout the new Simon & the Whale in Gramercy. And it’s not just a New York trend. Henrietta’s at the Dewberry in Charleston, South Carolina, is another room with brass on the bar.