{"id":239110,"date":"2026-05-21T10:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/239110\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T10:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:41:09","slug":"nycs-love-thy-neighbor-celebrates-queer-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/239110\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC\u2019s Love Thy Neighbor celebrates queer community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Thy Neighbor has opened in New York City\u2019s West Village, guided by a respect for chosen family and the \u2018joys of gathering and belonging\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Love\"LoveThe bar operates on a philoshophy of \u2019no straight lines\u2019 (Credit: Alexander Tatsuto Zeren)<\/p>\n

Behind the opening is Shigefumi Kabashima, who opened ROKC in Harlem in 2016, followed by NR in the Upper East Side in 2019, and chef Elias Popa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of \u2018no straight lines\u2019 became a guiding principle for us,\u201d said Kabashima. \u201cIt reflects not only the design of the space, but also how we think about hospitality: fluid, open and without boundaries. We want guests to feel a sense of freedom here, both in how they experience the space and how they connect with others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bar has 40 seats and will transition from a daytime caf\u00e9 to an evening cocktail destination.<\/p>\n

The menus<\/p>\n

To create the beverage programme, Kabashima worked with Atsushi Suzuki, an Angel\u2019s Share and SG Club alumnus who founded The Bellwood in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

The drinks draw on \u2018Japanese bartending precision\u2019 as well as the \u2018creative spirit\u2019 of the West Village to reinterpret familiar formats like Highballs and Martinis.<\/p>\n

\"Love\"LoveThe Wagyu Coke (Credit: Aichan Mama)<\/p>\n

The menu will employ techniques like clarification, infusion and carbonation, and feature \u2018experimental\u2019 ingredients, such as hojicha-infused mezcal, house-made clarified fruit pur\u00e9es, wasabi-forward gin, and pandan cream.<\/p>\n

Cocktails include the Tokyo Banana, which blends banana-infused whisky and vermouth with milk-brew coffee, kokuto, and umami from shio koji, finished with a miso powder \u2018veil\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Wagyu Coke, meanwhile, features wagyu fat-washed Bourbon, house cola syrup, and clarified black cherry pur\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Highlights from the food menu include chicken karaage with br\u00fbl\u00e9ed lemon and burnt shishito mayo; NYC pastrami tartare with cured egg yolk cream; and a ceviche with salmon, tuna, and scallop in turmeric carrot ginger leche de tigre.<\/p>\n

In the evening, larger plates include braised short rib and miso broth mussels in a creamy ginger \u2018chowder\u2019.<\/p>\n

A full sushi programme will follow, developed in collaboration with The Bellwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cGathering around food and drink has always been one of the most powerful ways of bringing people together,\u201d added Popa. \u201cWe wanted Love Thy Neighbor to be a space where people from different walks of life can share a delicious meal, connect, and feel like they belong under one roof, at any time of day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Love\"LoveThe Genmai Mango Sazerac<\/p>\n

Honouring queer history<\/p>\n

Jun of Wild Form Design Studio conceived Love Thy Neighbor\u2019s interiors, which feature vaulted archways, soft, organic lines and curved booths. The architectural features are said to be a \u2018quiet nod\u2019 to \u2018queerness and individuality, reflecting a place designed to welcome people exactly as they are\u2019.<\/p>\n

Small features throughout the bar honour queer history and community, such as a single brick from the Stonewall Inn. A quote from Marsha P Johnson \u2013 \u201cNo pride for some of us without liberation for all of us\u201d \u2013 is set into the floor at the entrance.<\/p>\n

Yuji Kawasaki will oversee the bar\u2019s \u2018carefully tuned\u2019 sound system.<\/p>\n

Love Thy Neighbor opened for evening service on 19 May, with full-day programming to follow.<\/p>\n

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\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Thy Neighbor has opened in New York City\u2019s West Village, guided by a respect for chosen family…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[21135,9,24,56,63,65,64,8604,618],"class_list":["post-239110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-bar-opening","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-on-trade","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}