Variety is key when you are testing the waters of love and lust. To some, love is motivated by how fat one's pocketbook is. To others, it's based on where one is able to get a reservation at peak time on a Friday night. Whether your leading lady is a tastemaker with a tiny appetite, or your gent is a sucker for the sauce, there’s a hotspot that’s all the bang for your buck, and a watering hole that may just lead to a bang.

● The Little Owl (New York) - Small hotspot where you can view the West Village through rose-colored window panes. A savvy choice for a date in the know, but let your date know you chose it for the greenmarket menu. Swoon.
● Mistral (Los Angeles) - Intimate space, low lighting, the smell of French cuisine, and love is in the air. Couples relish the dark corners. A vast wine list and pared-down menu means easy first date decision-making. Opt for fries over the spinach side; the soft light helps you seem sexy, but it will do nothing for a green tooth.

An evening of art, music, and drinks provided the ideal atmosphere at Bowery Hotel for Art Rocks! The third annual benefit -- hosted by John Whitledge, Arden Wohl, and DJ Berrie -- was a late starter, and many thought it was over before it even began. But the slow build created a lounge setting that put everyone in a drinking spirit. The patrons took their time perusing art and swiping snacks early on, with easy access to the bar. After around five or six stiff ones, things started to get weird.

Last night the Bowery Hotel was hopping with humane fashion folks like Nigel Barker, Victoria Bartlett, Charlotte Ronson for the Cool vs. Cruel Fashion Competition -- an annual event that gives fashion students the task of reinterpreting high-end luxury designs using cruelty-free fabrics. Ingrid Bergstrom-Kendrick was the big winner for her take on a cruelty-free Michael Kors 2009 look. Meanwhile, I tried to hide my leather Frye boots from the Humane Society hosts and ended up feeling pretty guilty, though it was refreshing to feel more aware of what I had on my body. I ended up downing one too many cocktails to drown my guilt, but resolved to try to maintain that sense of eco-awareness. Come morning, bourbon-induced eye puffs made me reach for my usual eye fixers, but I opted to try Dr. Alkaitis' Organic Eye Cream, a certified organic, biodynamic and ethically wild-crafted eye cream that made me feel a bit better about the leather boots.

It's usually nightlife that inspires a guy or gal to get made up, but this is makeup inspired by nightlife. Illamasqua, a cult favorite amongst beauty junkies, club kids, makeup artists, and celebs, was conceived amidst the dark drama of 1920s Berlin -- embraced by alternative cultures, made by a British brand, and now readily available to help you develop your nightlife alter ego. I decided to try the pigment-rich rockstar colors for Friday night's festivities, which included Mark Ronson's Gucci party at the Bowery Hotel, followed by "Whipped," Butter's hipster dance party, to find out first hand why Sienna Miller, Lily Allen, Beth Ditto, and Karen O. are rumored to be obsessed with it.

Jack Dakin and Corbin Plays are two Northern California Bay boys who came to New York City to create lounges and restaurants that combine functional design with the cool factor. They ended up working for the likes of Serge Becker, Sean MacPherson, and Eric Goode and on venues such as: Joe's Pub, The Bowery Hotel, Jane Hotel Ballroom, The Park, Dirty Disco, and Duke & Duchess. The duo plans to soon branch out to New Orleans, Dallas, and Philadelphia. We caught up with them before their national invasion.

The owners of Noho's mixed-use hotspot, The Smile, Carlos Quirarte and Matt Kliegman have done their best to turn their joint into the coolest clubhouse in town. Located in a circa-1830's Bond Street building, the bar effortlessly fuses a rustic cafe and boutique with the basement tattoo parlor of legendary ink artist, Scott Campbell. The pair may also be spotted at the the Jane Hotel Ballroom, which they run after the sun goes down.

● Casa la Femme (West Village) - The French Kiss cocktail and Mediterranean fare seem to put you in the mood, but it's really belly-dancing beauties and equally glamorous staff that produces the allure of the place. Their simple-sweet service and svelte, mannequin-like aura makes the entire experience romantic and outlandish.
● Rose Bar (Gramercy) - Whenever I see Nur Khan, he's usually with top models like Lily Donaldson. Needless to say, with the one-two punch of Ian Schrager and Julian Schnabel top design, one of the most beautiful bars in the city is staffed by the most beautiful people as well. Bartenders are the pouty, brooding type. Cocktail waitresses are classy in a dangerously sexy way -- all seem like James Bond babes, and we always leave shaken and stirred. Wins for a likewise beautiful clientele.
● Baddies (West Village) - The Kingswood Aussies bring their Aussie-ness to the downstairs party. In case you don't speak Australian, Aussie means sexy, mate. Strapping men with accents and their friends who are just as Aussie, even if they are American. Close quarters in the murky-chic basement means a lot of flirting, trust us.

I’m real sick and tired of snarky wannabes who wouldn't know what end of the bottle to pour booze from, declaring a place done 20 minutes after it's open. I saw all sorts of silly comments on my friendly neighbor Scott Solish's blog Down By The Hipster about how the Jane Hotel Ballroom is over. I decided to check out the Jane Ballroom on Friday night and see for myself. I had written about its opening but the distractions of summer have kept me away. A large crowd of attractive people were vying for the attention of the doorman. I approached James, who I didn't recognize at first and said a few relevant things and was welcomed inside with my companion.

School of Seven Bells’ performance at the Bowery Ballroom on Friday night struck gold. I knew it’d be awesome, yet the band took their music to another plateau of sonic appreciation. The powerful threesome -- Ben Curtis, Claudia Deheza, and her twin sister Alejandra Deheza -- just finished up a monthlong US tour stretching far across to California. The Bowery show was a “coming home” of sorts for the New York-based band.

You think celebrity stalker, and you think balding, stringy-haired, sexually depraved (and deprived) deluded freak. But what happens when the obsessed is a cute 22-year-old co-ed from Georgia? You turn that obsession into a pithy Q&A, of course. Here’s our interview with a BlackBook intern who moonlights by indulging her entirely unhealthy (but all too common) Robert Pattinson obsession. Lucky for her, Pattinson, happens to be in New York for the summer shooting a new movie.