In Short, Katie Heffernan Crystal chandeliers, chocolate woods and shelves of leather-bound books usually translate into a stodgy establishment, but this East Village spot maintains a casual modesty. A comfortable air spreads over the crowd loosening its tie and saddling up to the bar, or gathering on the lounge's red suede banquettes to share a tasteful menu of paninis and cheese plates. Quick to befriend the neighborhood, the watering hole is welcoming--though, keeping a measure of class, not to rowdy bar-hoppers. Common Ground indeed. This isn't anything you haven't seen before, but it does offer some welcomed surprises. Peeking through big bay windows reveals a deep room of yellowed walls, red banquettes, a dark wood bar, exposed brick, and fatigued mirrors and chandeliers, implying a typical faux bistro. But au contraire--this is a bar. (Common Ground bills itself as a 19th-century American mansion, which we'll grant them to some extent; they serve salads and panini rather than fois gras and cheese, and the jukebox is more Rolling Stones than Edith Piaf.) Bookshelves hold novels and board games that aim for a sedate crowd, but flat-screen TVs playing sporting events, food-and-beverage happy hours, and a near proximity to the Stuyvesant Town white-collar housing projects scream "after-work" scene. Clearly a hang-out for grownups. A gleaming wood bar and large bay windows give this pubby East Village bar a polished feel. Spotted Pig veteran Carolynn Spence designed the light menu of appetizers, panini, and salads. You know those moments when you're wracking your brain for that place where you can drink, eat and just chill out? Check out this warm-hearted gastro pub opened in late October with a menu designed by the Spotted Pig's Carolynn Spence. Small plates cost $6 to $8, and paninis cost under $10. Alphabet City has its share of quintessential dives, but this is a throwback of a different sort, a lived-in, masculine bar that more than anything harkens to the classic literary speakeasy across town, Chumley's: The distressed wood floors, electric-candle chandeliers, and handsome back bar holding bottles of bourbon project a late 19th-century stateliness that perseveres even when Dave Matthews or the Spin Doctors are on the jukebox, and even though board games like Connect Four and Life accompany the old hunting and fishing tomes on the neatly inset shelves. Given their casual office attire, those at the bar noshing on earthy bar snacks and appetizers such as spiced pumpkin seeds and vinegar-drenched, almond-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon seem to have galloped here from above 14th Street, many of them from nearby Stuyvesant Town. Couples and groups share the plush communal banquettes in the slightly raised back seating square, using old trunks as tables for paninis that riff on classic ingredients to varying success. The roast beef and onion proves that Rochefort and horseradish aren't the best of friends and may leave you rushing to one of the many beers on tap. With its dark mahogany paneling, plush red seats, abundance of candles and book-lined walls, Common Ground -- save for the two flat-screen TVs, a few Reader's Digest Condensed Books and a name that sounds like a D.C. think tank -- might be straight out of the set from Clue. It seemed especially so when on a recent drizzly evening a group of us ordered some red wine, salads and paninis and one member of our party declared in a British accent, "I suspect Professor Plum with the wrench in the conservatory." We took in a round of the bar's sophisticated game of deduction. The East Village boite, much classier than its neighboring watering holes, features a menu designed by Spotted Pig chef de cuisine Carolynn Spence. Delightful ambience aside, the bacon, avocado, cheddar and tomato panini ($8) was not only a bargain but one of the more delicious paninis we've eaten in our short lives. The cheddar, apple and pear salad with cider vinaigrette ($6) was also divine. Bar snacks, such as tasty spiced pumpkin seeds, are a steal at $2. We almost died when we asked the French maid if there was a little girl's room in the hall. She responded, "Oui, oui, Madame," and we got to say, "No, I just have to powder my nose." No, that didn't happen. But a girl can dream.