Can you keep a secret? New York\u2019s stylish speakeasies have stealth appeal and artful drinks. Here\u2019s a look at five new hotspots, from an exclusive East Village gin joint to a clandestine cocktail house in Williamsburg. <\/p>\n
Prior to the pandemic, the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental was already home to two of the city\u2019s most prestigious, picturesque and critically praised libation locations: the avant-garde Aviary and the businesslike Office.<\/p>\n
COVID cleared them out, until last fall when a new, salubrious speakeasy-style sip-tuation set up shop, confidently called The Bar. Moody, in moments masculine, the 45-seat lounge is now mixing up transporting tinctures drawn from stops along the Silk Road.<\/p>\n
The Bars\u2019 drinks are silky as the road that inspired the lounge. Mandarin Oriental, New York<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll drink a Ginza Line in Tokyo (Hibiki Japanese Harmony whisky with walnut-infused maple) and a Night Market Bloom in Taipei (nigori sake, Roku gin, yuzu, lime and oolong tea presented in a teapot), with tastes of Singapore, Bangkok, Muscat and Istanbul along your way back to Europe.<\/p>\n
Asian heritage mixed with the best of the West? That\u2019s just the MO of the MO.<\/p>\n
Highball is inconspicuously located steps from Grand Central Station. Eric Medsker<\/p>\n
Nearly 20 years ago, PDT (Please Don\u2019t Tell) shook up New York\u2019s cocktail scene when it opened a bar behind a telephone booth within an East Village hot dog shop.<\/p>\n
Now, PDT owner Jeff Bell has launched a concept for the 2020s, a new speakeasy-style cocktail destination discreetly domiciled beyond the service entrance of an office building.<\/p>\n
Bell\u2019s new shake, stir and strain station evokes \u201cthe golden age of luxury train travel\u201d (it\u2019s next door to Grand Central after all).<\/p>\n
The menu serves up complex combinations of liquor and soda (like the Fresa Fizz: rum, strawberry, lime, mint and soda), as well as concoctions that chug along like luxe locomotives. Settle into your seat with the soothing knowledge that you\u2019ve already arrived.<\/p>\n
Stop by this Hong Kong-rooted bar for atmospheric elixirs.<\/p>\n
Most modern speakeasies nod at secrecy but bank on popularity. Officially opened in July, The Collectors Bar is a Hong Kong-rooted speakeasy and cocktail house that goes boldly in the opposite direction, blending exoticism, intimacy and mystery into a potent grog.<\/p>\n
Per its website: \u201cThe collectors, they do not introduce themselves. They do not answer questions. They ask them.\u201d Managing partner David Chen says the name is inspired by the idea that \u201cevery story has a flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those tastes are a la Hong Kong as is the design, which draws from \u201cthe layered visual and social history\u201d of the city. Stop by for evocative sips like the Lan Kwai Fong \u2014 Brut prosecco, yuzu sake, oolong tea syrup, club soda and lemon juice.<\/p>\n
A journey in a glass.<\/p>\n