Aalto Lounge   

Belmont is the sort of street that doesn't give a damn what other people think is trendy, which, of course, is exactly where it gets its cachet. Take as example the Aalto Lounge. Most people end up sitting in this groovy, laid-back haunt longer than they might have thought they would. It's a campy place, made to look like the living room of someone who never got over disco. But the place works, like the neighborhood, by not trying too hard. That's the heart of cool: not trying too hard. -- Joe Kurmaskie