If you want champagne, or just a nice drink in a nice restaurant. Like one of these: IN BOSTON: Grill 23 & Bar Rialto Top of the Hub 29 Newbury West Street Grille IN CHICAGO: Bistro 110 Harry's Velvet Room Shaw's Crabhouse and Blue Crab Lounge Trader Vic's Yvette Wintergarden IN NEW YORK CITY: An American Place Gramercy Tavern Grange Hall Odeon Rainbow Promenade Bar IN SAN FRANCISCO: 42 Degrees Mecca Stars Vertigo Zuni Cafe IN SEATTLE: The Cloud Room Cucina! Cucina! McCormick's Fish House and Bar Moe's Mo'roc'n Cafe Queen City Grill

Maybe Cole Porter got no kick from champagne, but the same cannot be said of the rambunctious crowd at the Bubble Lounge. In one corner an office party huddled on a cluster of plush sofas and chairs, with work-mates snuggled into each others' laps. Some of the men smoked cigars with their bubbly, while others paired it with loud cell phone chats. A bouncy brunette squealed and clapped every time someone new joined their group.

Benedictine monk Dom Perignon got excited too when he first sipped champagne 200 years ago. "Brothers, come quickly, I am drinking stars!" he reportedly exclaimed. Champagne became the drink of choice for the French aristocracy, synonymous with an elegant lifestyle--and seduction.

In 1930's movies a few sips could compel Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to get up and dance. At the Bubble Lounge, it loosened the inhibitions of a less graceful couple who awkwardly tangoed up and down a thick Oriental carpet.

Champagne used to be reserved for special occasions, but at New York City's only champagne bar, just getting off work seems reason enough to celebrate. Located in groovy TriBeCa--and perilously close to Wall Street--the Bubble Lounge plays host to a collection of trench-coats, suits and wire rims, as well as the odd Christian Lacroix T-shirt and nifty Helmut Lang outfit, which blend more appropriately with the dark, sexy atmosphere.

"This would be a great place if it weren't for the people!" roared my friend Ridgely over the din of loud music and screaming, long-lost co-workers.

It's true. The staff is lovely and knowledgeable about the pages and pages of champagnes available. We sampled a delicious $8 Bellini (sparkling wine with peach purée), a two-ounce, full-bodied taste of De Venoge "cuvée des princes" ($11), and a spectacular tear-drop flute of Krug grande cuvée multi-vintage ($15). That may sound expensive, but when you consider that a whole bottle runs into the hundreds, it's a steal.

Things calmed down the later it got. The fatcats went home and more cool cats arrived. The music softened. We checked out the subdued downstairs area, which resembles a comfy bomb shelter. "Maybe I like this place after all," Ridgely said hoarsely, having lost her voice from shouting. I had to agree. That was, until we got a whiff of our cigar-smoked clothes when we stepped back out into the cool, starry night.