The classic negroni, served up. Image via Negroni Week.
The classic negroni is a classic for a reason. With equal parts gin, campari and sweet vermouth on ice with an orange peel, sipping it makes me feel like I’m zooming around the Italian coast on a Vespa in perfect 72-degree weather while shouting “ciao!” at passerbys (even if I happen to be in a dark Brooklyn bar on a cold night). The bitterness hits you first, and then you start to experience the sensual bed of sweetness, which is what fully transports you to a specific time and place. This week, June 5-11, more than a dozen local watering holes are participating in Negroni Week, in which specialty negronis are sold to benefit charities of the bar’s choosing. Here’s who’s participating in the ‘hood, and the negronis and specials they’ve got going.
A couple of weekends ago, Diamond Lil quietly opened its doors at 179 Nassau Avenue. The bar takes its name from a risqué Broadway play by former Greenpoint resident, playwright, Hollywood star and sex symbol, Mae West. This is just one of the ways the space pays homage to strong women. The bar is co-owned by John Wright and Tim Murray, who is the same owner of Broken Land (105 Franklin Ave.) which hosted several fundraisers for Planned Parenthood leading up to the Women’s March earlier this year. There will likely be fundraisers in the future focusing on local organizations. Continue reading →
Crank up the heat on a cold night with some of these classics. There’s a reason people have turned to these drinks to warm-up for hundreds of winters. Step out from the cold and into one of these inviting bars for a drink that will make you want to curl up in a wool blanket or break our the bubbles to celebrate the end of 2016!
Hot Toddy – The Topaz. Photo by Desirée Flores
The Topaz
251 Bushwick Ave., East Williamsburg
Hot Toddy $11, $8 at Happy Hour M-S 5-8 p.m., all night Sun.
The “best dressed” hot toddy in Brooklyn. This holiday favorite is mixed to perfection featuring the flavors of the season. Allspice Dram, pimento bitters, lemon and honey accompany Lairds & Co. Five Star Whiskey. This cocktail is sure to warm your heart. Continue reading →
Though it pains me as a proud Brooklynite, the Greenpoint is a variation on the famous cocktail the Manhattan. The drink, created by Michael McIlory at NYC’s legendary Milk and Honey, gets it name because the Chartreuse that is its main ingredient creates a green hue.
So, what goes into a Greenpoint? The drink consists of two ounces of rye whiskey and a half ounce of yellow Chartreuse. Then add another half ounce of sweet vermouth. The last two ingredients are pinches of angostura bitters and orange bitters. Take all the ingredients and put them in a mixing glass with ice. Next, stir and strain it into a cocktail glass. Finally, top it off with a lemon twist garnish. Continue reading →
Does the end of summer have you feeling blue? Unfeel all your feels and keep that summer vibe going with these tasty frozen cocktails served long after your tan fades.
Frozen White Sangria $12
Enjoy this frozen White Sangria with a killer view of Manhattan from this north Brooklyn rooftop. Additional frozen cocktails on rotation.
New bar openings in the Greenpoint neighborhood are always exciting for us. Being the men-about-town that we are, we’ve hit up nearly all the hottest and hippest spots from Driggs to Ash. Yet ever since the closing of our perpetual ride-or-die watering hole, Greenpoint Heights, we have been searching for that “everybody knows your name” kind of place.
At long last, we may have found our home away from home once again.
Nestled in what should be called “The Little Steak-Shop That Could,” Delilah’s Steaks (55 McGuinness Boulevard), sits the delightful new seven seater bar with the unbearably appropriate name: Samson’s. Yet unlike the Biblical frenemies, Samson’s is the perfect complement to owner Tommy Ferrick’s cheesesteak mecca—the first step in his risky but ever-so-admirable master plan to battle the lumbering titans that are Seamless and other services like it. Continue reading →
Last week, the owners of the James Beard award-winning cocktail bar Maison Premiere, Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka, opened their new restaurant opposite McCarren Park, Sauvage (on the corner of Lorimer Street & Nassau Avenue/Bedford Avenue). With this new project came a full kitchen allowing the restaurateurs to expand their menu offerings in the gorgeously renovated space. The interior evokes a French Art Nouveau cafe with many decor pieces supplied by local artisans and the food thoughtfully balances old and new sensibilities. Continue reading →
When conjuring images of legendary bartenders, you might be reminded of Tom Cruise doing the Hippy Hippy Shake in Cocktail. While their scene is more chic and the cocktails are more artfully crafted, the bartenders at The Regal in Williamsburg are having no less fun (and are arguably no less charming) than Tom Cruise’s character in that film.
Bartender Adam Lipiec at The Regal. Photo: Will Star
We stopped by on a Sunday night a few weeks ago to meet and drink with Adam Lipiec, one of The Regal’s star bartenders. Adam’s a native of Poland and had bartended in Europe—in his home country, Ibiza, and London—before coming to New York. Aside from immediately noticing that Adam’s a genuinely friendly tall drink of water, you’ll spot him mixing drinks with incredible flair. He gracefully tosses a napkin and twirls it around to have it touch down delicately on the back of his hand as if it’s a butterfly landing on a flower petal. Drinks get shaken with a vigorous flourish, and shakers flip in the air and get thrown behind his back with the ease of a master juggler. Some of the cocktails require use of a blowtorch; if you’re in a fiery mood, get The Spitfire—sotol, pineapple, lime, jalapeño infused agave, for $10. Continue reading →
Pisco, in case you didn’t know, has inspired a war in South America. Chile and Peru both claim the tart, delicious pisco sour as their national drink, but the piscos of each country are different.
This Saturday (2/6), KAPPA Pisco, created by the folks at Grand Marnier, is sponsoring Pisco Sour Day across Brooklyn so you can taste this war-worthy spirit in a variety of exciting cocktails. Grab a group of drinking buddies and check out these destinations, or sample their pisco cocktail recipes below.
‘Tis the season for new restaurant openings, and last week Greenpoint had three*. One of the tastiest additions to our burgeoning dining scene is a delightful French Catalonian eatery called Cassette, whose name roughly translates as ‘little box’. Don’t let the name mislead you though, as the space is anything but small. Positioned on the corner of Kent and Franklin streets, the front of the restaurant takes up at least a quarter of the block, which it comfortably shares with Ramona, Kennaland and the former Lulu’s.
Cassette is adjacent to the Kickstarter HQ on Kent, which is somewhat convenient since one of the partners is Kickstarter founder Perry Chen. In creating the new restaurant, Perry teamed up with Henry Rich, owner of Boerum Hill’s popular neighborhood Italian Rucola. Also hailing from Rucola is head chef Joe Pasqualetto whose passion for good, simple food means that Cassette’s veg-focused menu is primed for success from the word go. Continue reading →
