Restaurant: Mayahuel (New York, N.Y.)

[Update: Mayahuel has closed.]

Expectations can be a bitch. Have you ever had the perfect restaurant experience only to go back a second time and feel deflated because the second visit was only so-so? It's happened to us enough times that we have been tempted to never return to spots that deliver a perfect experience.

For whatever reason, Mexican food in New York is where we tend to experience this phenomenon the most. A few years ago we were wowed by Agave, but subsequent visits lacked the initial spark. Then we fell under the spell of Black Ant, but during or second and third visits there, the magic seemed to have fizzled. Late last year we had an excellent dinner at Empellon Taqueria; but our dinner last month lacked the consistency we'd noted that first time.

Were we tempting fate when we decided to try the menu at Mayahuel? Possibly; however, Mayahuel had already passed the first test last year by delivering a second-visit experience that was every bit as good as our first, if not better. Regular readers will recognize the name: it's the mezcal-focused cocktail bar in Manhattan's East Village that we visited last year and fell absolutely in love with. Prior to that, I was already familiar with its cocktails, which are well-known among mezcal fans. We went back again in December--twice actually, since we went before and after dinner--and continued to be smitten by its cool ambiance, talented staff and delicious drinks. During that visit, we also tried a plate of churros, and they were divine, leading us to conclude that we really should try make a point to eat dinner at Mayahuel.

I'm happy to say that our favorite cocktail bar is now also our favorite Mexican restaurant. Dinner couldn't have been more delicious. From start to finish, dinner at Mayahuel was among the most satisfying restaurant experiences we've ever had.

The first decision was whether to sit at the bar (which was shockingly completely empty) or the upstairs dining room. Although the dining room might have been a more traditional choice for dinner, we chose the bar, knowing that it provides the best seats in the house, since you can watch Mayahuel's amazingly talented (and super friendly) bartenders work their magic.

It's hard not to start a Mexican restaurant dinner with a round of chips and guacamole, and Mayahuel's traditional take on the avocado dip was quite tasty. But the smoked tomato salsa was an absolute revelation. Served warm, the salsa was intensely smoky due to the tomatoes having been charred over hickory chips. It was the best tomato salsa I've ever had and was the first of many good bites we enjoyed that evening.

From there, we moved on to the quinoa and avocado salad, a delightfully good mixture of texture and flavor with a touch of sweetness from the corn as well as a touch of heat. I particularly liked the sesame oil dressing, which added just a hint of Asian flair. Shortly after, the croquetas arrived. Mayahuel's are black-bean and roasted-corn fritters rolled in plantain crumbs and served with roasted red pepper coulis and crema. They were tasty; however, their comparatively mild flavor got lost amid all the other spicy dishes and drinks. I should mention that if you like heat, this is good place for you.

The main event was the tacos, and they were divine. A single order is perfect for sharing: it comes with four corn tortillas was your choice of two different meats. We opted for carnitas and chorizo, both of which were phenomenally good--meaty, tender and not greasy. Just excellent tacos. They arrive garnished simply with cilantro, radishes and lime wedges. We are big taco fans, and it just doesn't get any better than this. They even outclassed the tacos we had the next night at Empellon Taqueria, a well-known restaurant that's known for its tacos (its chef even published a James-Beard-award-nominated cookbook I wrote about recently).

Mayahuel offers only two choices for dessert, but trust me...it's a really really hard choice. Save yourself the pain order both of them. This visit we opted for the tres leches cake, which we are huge fans of (I made one for Chris's birthday this year and last). Mayahuel's version does not disappoint. I like that they use a fairly sturdy cake for its base, but the real treat here is the torched meringue on top. Most tres leches cakes I've had come with a whipped topping, so I loved this subtle but delightful twist. During our previous visit, we enjoyed the other option: cinnamon-sugar dusted crispy churros (doughnuts) with spiced Mexican chocolate sauce. As if it isn't obvious, let me point out that deep-fried donuts showered with cinnamon sugar and set next to a spiced Mexican chocolate dipping sauce are a pretty amazing treat after a few rounds of drinks.

Speaking of the drinks, they continue to be as fabulous as they were during our first and second visits.  I started the night with a Chabomba, a sherry and mezcal cocktail with jalapeño-infused tequila, pear brandy, vanilla and Galliano. I absolutely loved this drink. It's a little spicy and a little savory (from the sherry), and the subtle hint of vanilla gives the drink an almost dessert quality. Brandy Alejandro is more than just a mezcal twist on the brandy-and-cream classic. The drink features chocolate-milk-infused mezcal, cognac, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, cacao, mole and orange bitters. It's a very smooth drink, not creamy like its namesake nor as chocolatey as you might expect (which is a good thing; it's subtle).

Like heat in your drink? You gotta try the Puebla Drink with No Name. This drink is seriously spicy, made from mezcal infused with chile de arable and muscatel infused with ancho chiles. This drink was inspired by a mole that Mayahuel founder and owner Phil Ward tasted while on a trip in Mexico and fashioned a drink after it. It will be too hot for some people, but I loved its flavor. I might recommend not pairing this one with food, since it could overpower it (except maybe the churros, since the sugar will help cut the heat).

Chris enjoyed the Hidalgo, a nicely balanced smoky and bitter drink with tequila, mezcal, sweet vermouth, amaro, maraschino and Fernet Branca, and the Black Star, a wonderfully autumnal drink of tequila, bourbon, ginger, cinnamon, lemon and apple butter. It sparked a great conversation with a server, who said she used to make apple butter all the time and enjoys it on just about anything (she suggested cooking pork tenderloin with it, which is an excellent idea). He also revisited the Six Shooter, a drink we named our favorite cocktail of our last trip to New York. I'm now ready to just name it our favorite cocktail at the moment. It's an amazing drink featuring a split base of mezcal and two types of rum with touches of Punt e Mes (sweet vermouth), Rammazotti (an amaro), coffee, sugar and bitters. I so love it, that I tried to concoct something similar at home I call the Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter.

We never got to meet Chef Vincent Gonzalez, but we sure did enjoy his food. We did, however, get to enjoy the company of our bartender, Nicole, and a server, Rachel, who stopped by the bar often to pick up drinks for diners upstairs. These were two of the nicest restaurant staff I've ever met. I loved watching Nicole mix drinks and chat with her about them, and Rachel had such enthusiasm for the food and drinks. Food makes or breaks a restaurant, but service is critically important too, since good service shapes the experience into something truly special. We felt more than taken care of by these nice people.

Expectations, as I said, can be a bitch, but Mayahuel, as a restaurant, more than exceeded the high expectations set by our prior visits to the bar. For the last year, we've been telling people that it's our favorite bar in New York, and it's now also our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Mayahuel, 304 East 6th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), New York, N.Y. (East Village, Manhattan). (212) 253-5888. Reservations: Open Table.

Related

Cocktail: Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter

Cocktail Bar: Going Two Rounds in Mayahuel (New York City)

Dining Notes from New York, January 2016 (includes our second visit to Mayahuel)

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails (my first post related to Mayahuel featuring two of its drinks)

Getting Serious About Mezcal

Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! By John McEvoy

Mad About the NoMad Bar (New York, N.Y.)

Three years ago, we visited The NoMad for dinner. We had an excellent meal of roast chicken for two, as well as some pretty decent cocktails.

Manhattan

At the time, The NoMad had two bar spaces: the bar in the back of the dining room, now referred to as the "elephant" bar because of its statues and the nearby library space. Although the restaurant had a tremendous amount of buzz, the bar proved to be just as popular if not even more acclaimed. The NoMad Bar received a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Bar Program in 2013 and then won that award the following year. As Eater tells it, the popularity of the bar was such that hotel guests (The NoMad is a hotel after all), were unable to relax at the bar. So they expanded, creating a new third bar space, The NoMad Bar, a beautiful wood-paneled space with a large bar, booths, standing tables and a second floor of additional tables. It's the sort of setting that exudes class and good taste.

Although The NoMad Bar is accessible via a curtained hallway between the Elephant Bar and Library, it also has its own entrance, as well as its own menu, a list more akin to pub fare than the gourmet dishes in the dining room. It also boasts a massive cocktail menu, an enticing list mix of classic drinks, new creations and large-format "cocktail explosions," punch-like creations served from a giant goblet-like glass container with a spigot. It serves eight, takes two bartenders to make and costs over $100. And they sound pretty awesome. If ever we're there with more people, we're getting one. Credit for these creations goes to NoMad's bar director, the talented Leo Robitschek.

We visited The NoMad Bar after dinner, so we stuck to drinks and loved every one we tried. I've mentioned before that the Manhattan is our favorite cocktail right now; however, I hadn't yet had a really good one while actually in Manhattan (the one I had last summer at Colicchio & Son's Taproom was, unfortunately, not as good as I'd hoped). Thankfully, The NoMad rectified that oversight, as the Manhattan was absolutely perfect.

Always Betz on Black

Our favorite drink was Always Betz on Black, a drink that also appears on the Eleven Madison Park bar menu, made with Irish whiskey, rum, Islay Scotch, sherry, cold-brewed coffee and Angostura bitters. It's a dynamite good winter cocktail, all smoky, roasty and dark. Along similar lines was the Gentlemen's Exchange, a potent mix of rye, Suze, Foro amaro, sweet vermouth, cold-brewed coffee, absinthe and angostura bitters.

Dr. Feelgood

For something a little brighter, I tried the Dr. Feelgood, made with mezcal (my favorite spirit at the moment), sherry, Suze, génépy (an herbal liqueur), avocado, lemon, lime and jalapeño, beautifully garnished with a rolled slice of cucumber and a spicy rim. Another excellent drink. Our first night ended with North Sea Oil, another smoky creation of Islay Scotch, aquavit, Cocchi Americano and triple sec. Did you catch that mention of a "first night?" Yeah, we went back a second time. It was that good. Any luckily we were able to get a table both nights because the place was really busy both Monday and Tuesday nights. Despite that, we received good service, with someone nearby always coming by at the right time to let us order another drink.

People-watching at The NoMad Bar is also fun. We saw a family of foreign tourists with kids (yes kids in a cocktail bar), a young couple that couldn't keep their hands off each other and a trio of well-dressed twenty-something guys that ordered one of those cocktail explosions and left after drinking maybe a third of it. Seriously, who drops that kind of money on cocktails and then doesn't drink them? (Wall Street types maybe?) We were tempted to rush over and bring the thing to our table to finish.

Although most of our best drinking in New York takes place in the East Village these days, we were happy to discover that The NoMad Bar is an excellent place for good cocktails further uptown. With most cocktails priced in the high teens, The NoMad Bar is by no means a cheap place to drink, but it certainly is a satisfying one. I just hope we can get a table next time.

The NoMad Bar, 1170 Broadway (through The NoMad Hotel and restaurants, also a separate entrance on 28th Street), New York, N.Y. (NoMad district, north of the Flatiron). (212) 796-1500.

Gift Ideas for Food and Drink Lovers

There are 11 days until Christmas. In the age of Amazon Prime 2-day free delivery, there's still plenty of time to choose a present for that special someone who loves to eat and drink. Stumped as to what to get them? Here are some ideas.

Wine

For the wine lover, the obvious choice is a bottle of wine, but this can be a fairly tricky purchase. You want something special that will appeal to their refined palate. You want something interesting that isn't what you find at the grocery store. You want to spend enough to get something good but not break the bank. Dracaena Wines 2013 Cabernet Franc meets all of these requirements in addition to being a really delicious red wine. Not familiar with cabernet franc? It's one of the "parent" grapes (along with sauvignon blanc) of cabernet sauvignon, that ruby jewel beloved by many as the most popular red wine. Cabernet franc is generally lighter than sauvignon (especially as Chinon, which I discussed as a good Thanksgiving wine) and earthier. It's wonderful as a blending with with cabernet sauvignon--many of the best bottles I've had have 5 to 15 percent cab franc added to them. But it's also delicious on its own.

Dracaena Wines' cab franc is exactly how I like my cab franc to be: on the bigger side with subtly earthy flavors but not that "barnyard" quality of some cab francs. It's the kind of red you can sip by itself or enjoy with food (we had ours with pizza, which was a pretty perfect match). This wine is actually 85 percent cab franc and 15 percent petite sirah, another lesser known but really wonderful red wine. Dracaena Wines owners Lori and Mike Budd are active on Twitter (@dracaenawines) and MangiaTV's Monday night "vamps" (video chats), where I've gotten to know them. You can order Dracaena Wines 2013 Cabernet France directly from their website for $28 per bottle or by the case at a 15% discount.

Spice Rub

Speaking of Mangia, a bag (or more) of their Cajun-style dry rub would make a perfect stocking stuffer. These versatile spice blends--available in hot and sweet versions--are wonderful with meat, fish and vegetables of all kinds (read about how I like to use their rubs here). Mangia's Bob Heffernan hosts a weekly online video chat (most every Monday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern), a wonderful place to chat with like-minded foodies and discuss Bob's perspectives on food, community and fun. Mangia rub is available from the company's website for $6 per bag or $9 per two-pack. Become friends with Bob online  (Twitter: @mangiaTV) and you may discover ways to get occasional discounts too.

Bacon

My husband always does a nice job of buying me Christmas gifts, but last year, he got extra points for a particularly thoughtful surprise: 4 pounds of bacon. Now, we're not just talking any bacon but my favorite bacon: Benton's Hickory-Smoked Country Bacon. Bacon has been "a thing" for years now, and Benton's thick bacon has been a favorite for its wonderful meaty flavor and intensely smoky aroma--your kitchen will smell like someone has a campfire burning when you're cooking it. You can order Benton's bacon in 4-lb packs (four separately wrapped 1-pound packs) for $30 from the company's website. Also, check out my recipes from this year where I used Benton's bacon, including Cauliflower-Bacon Clam Chowder, Smoky Bacon Macaroni & Cheese, Punchier Potato-Leek Soup and Three-Peas Farro Risotto with Bacon.

Barware

Cocktail lovers can always use new and interesting barware. Arctic Chill has set itself apart as a manufacturer of innovative barware. Last year, I talked about their metal muddler. This year, I enjoyed using their ice sphere trays, which each make four 2-inch spherical ice cubes (two cubes fit nicely into a standard-size rocks glass), and their wine aerator. I'm not always sold on whether aerating is necessary or works well, but I have noticed that this aerator "softens" wines a bit, and it's very easy to use: simply put it in the top of an opened wine bottle and pour. Perhaps best of all, the spout makes wine-pouring a no-mess experience. Arctic Chill's products are available from Amazon, the wine aerator for $9 and the ice molds as a set of two for $12. [Note: Arctic Chill provided the products mentioned in this review.]

Cocktail Bitters

Lots of people have a bottle of Angostura bitters kicking around their home bar, but that's just a start to the wonderful world of cocktail bitters, which come in so many amazing flavors. Last year, I did a series of posts about bitters, which many consider to be the "salt and pepper" of good cocktails. Bitters make a nice gift because they don't require refrigeration and they last indefinitely. Some of my favorites: Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters, which add wintery-cinnamon-and-spice notes to drinks like an Old-Fashioned or a Winter Manhattan ($18 at Amazon); Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters, the spicy Mole-inspired bitters that launched the Bittermens line, which are wonderful in an Improved Tequila Cocktail or Oaxaca Old Fashioned ($21 at Amazon); and Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6, developed by cocktail legend Gary "Gaz" Regan, which are perfect for adding a hint of citrus to drinks like the Barrel-Aged Berlioni ($8 at Amazon, also generally available in most good liquor stores). Not ready to commit to a full bottle? Scrappy's sells two bitters samplers, which each contain four small bottles of bitters. Set 1 has lavender, chocolate, cardamom and grapefruit ($24 at Amazon); set 2 has orange, celery, Orleans and aromatic ($24 at Amazon, get both from Amazon for $40).

Books

I have a lot of books to recommend this year, so head on over to my related post on food and drink book gift ideas.

Exploring Austin's Cocktail Bars

[Update: Bar Congress has closed.]

The other week, Chris and I spent a long weekend in Austin. Next week, I'll fill you in on our adventures in barbecue, Tex-Mex and, a real find, breakfast tacos (clearly we ate well). But this week, I want to focus on the great cocktail bars we visited. Cool cocktails bars have been a particular focus of ours this year (see Death & Co, Mayahuel and 2 Birds 1 Stone, for example), and Austin did not disappoint. We steered clear of the 6th Street party scene to discover three fun and exciting cocktail bars working their magic with a focus on good service and quality ingredients.

Classic Setting, Creative Drinking

It's rather unfortunate that cool cocktail bars are hard to find. They're doing the whole speakeasy thing, which is fine. I honestly don't have the patience for too much of that (no passwords please). So it's nice to find a cool cocktail bar that does it the old-fashioned way: it's on the street with a sign. How novel!

CU29 (pictured above) may present a traditional front, but there's nothing ordinary about this spectacular downtown cocktail bar that's just a short walk from the Texas state capitol. The roomy space has a long meandering bar fronting a rather impressive stock of bottles. Although the name may sound like it's meant for people in their 30s, it actually refers to the elemental name of copper, which the pots around the bar are made of.

The menu is filled with original creations. The night we visited, we saw a particular bent toward bitter-and-sweet Italian amari mixed with whiskey and agave spirits. How perfect! I enjoyed the El Dueño, a smoky-sweet concoction of mezcal, Averna amaro and green chartreuse. Even better was the Friendly Stranger, a sort of fancy take on the Manhattan made with bourbon, Cherry Heering, Grand Marnier and walnut bitters topped with egg white foam and a orange peel flamed with a bit of green chartreuse. It was an elaborate and delicious drink.

But best of all was the Elijah's Railcar, another Manhattan-like drink but very different from the Friendly Stranger. I tried to approximate what we had on Monday, and although I think I came close, it wasn't quite as magical as I remember it in the bar. With a base of James E. Pepper 1776 rye whiskey, the drink also contains Meletti--another amaro--chocolate bitters, honey liqueur and a topping of freshly grated cinnamon. Wonderfully aromatic and well-balanced, it was the best cocktail we had during our time in Austin, and one of the best we've had this year.

We liked the bar so much we went back a second night, during which the bartender made us off-menu cocktails based on whatever we told him we were interested in. He hit the mark with each one. It's nice to find a place where the bartenders are as greatly skilled as they are friendly. Combine that with the classic atmosphere and the occasional live music, and CU29 is a real winner.

Park Yourself at This Bar

On our first full day wondering around Austin, we passed a nondescript down parking garage with "cocktails" written above one of the garage entrances. How odd, I thought, and chalked it up to Austin's quirky side.

Turns out, there is actually a cocktail bar in that parking garage, a rather cool one. The appropriately named Garage is built into a surprisingly roomy space near the entrance to the garage. The swanky minimalist interior has a round bar at the center with small tables along the lounge's concrete walls.

The drinks here were also very good. Cheers to bar manager Chauncy James for designing such an inventive menu. Some of our favorites were the Someday Baby, made with tequila, mezcal, honey chamomile and lemon, and the Psychedelic Fir, which combines gin, malic acid (sounds strange, but it adds sour flavor), lime and ClearCreek's Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir, a product I have in my bar but haven't been sure what I should do with it.

Classics on Congress

Amazingly, the bar hidden in the parking garage wasn't the hardest to find among these three. It was this one--a narrow bar space that connects two restaurants along Congress Avenue. We searched and searched for the entrance to Bar Congress before realizing that you must go through either Restaurant Congress or the Second Bar + Kitchen to get to the bar.

Bar manager Jason Stevens designed the menu with classics in mind. Most of the drinks date back to the late 19th or early 20th centuries. Chris had the Tequila Daisy, a 1930s-era tequila cocktail with Marolo Chamomile Grappa, honey wine and citrus. I chose the Queen's Park Swizzle (pictured at right), a refreshing blend of rums, lime, mint, bitters and sugar. So if you're in the mood for something old-fashioned, this is definitely the spot.

Austin isn't Texas's largest city, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it's become the state's best-known destination for good food. With great cocktail bars like this, I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's the state's best drinking destination as well.

Bar Congress, 200 Congress Avenue (enter from either Restaurant Congress or Second Bar + Kitchen), Austin, Texas. (512) 827-2760.

CU29, 720 Brazos Street, Austin, Texas. (512) 474-0029.

Garage, 503 Colorado Street (inside a parking garage--no joke--between 5th and 6th Streets), Austin, Texas. (512) 369-3490.

Cocktail Bar: Going Two Rounds in Mayahuel (New York City)

There's not a big sign announcing the entrance to Mayahuel.

[Update: Mayahuel has closed.]

The way people feel about agave spirits--I'm talking about tequila and mezcal here--reminds me of an incredible Neil Leifer photograph we saw recently in the Soho Contemporary Art gallery. The one boxer is raising his arms in celebration of victory. The other's been knocked on his ass.

I know far too many people who have sworn off tequila due to bad memories of excessive low-quality tequila shots in their early 20s. They haven't tried or even heard of its smoky cousin, mezcal. They need an education. They need to visit Mayahuel.

Agave spirits aren't for everyone. And that's a shame, for I think cocktails made from tequila, mezcal and other Mexican spirits are incredibly good. Sure, margaritas are awesome, but everyone knows them. At Mayahuel you won't find a margarita on the menu, and that's a good thing, for this wonderful cocktail bar in New York's East Village is about all the other amazing things you can do with these spirits, especially mezcal, which is the foundation of most Mayahuel drinks.

I've made cocktails with Mayahuel recipes before and ever since hearing about the bar I've wanted to visit it. Last time we were in New York, we tried to stop in, but they were full. This time, I hatched a plan to show up right when they opened, hoping we could snag a couple stools at the bar. And it worked! We were among the first people in the door and had a front-row seat to watch Mayahuel's cocktail creators at work.

Left: The Division Bell. Right: Herb Alpert.

Round 1

For our first round of drinks, I asked the bartender for recommendations of drinks he particularly liked with Mezcal. Chris ended up with The Division Bell, a wonderful welcome to Mayahuel's mezcal-forward menu. The drink is similar to the Naked and Famous at Death & Co., except that Mayahuel's drink uses Luxardo maraschino liqueur instead of yellow Chartreuse. It's a nicely balanced sipper: a little smoky, a little bitter, a little tart and just sweet enough. The recipe for this drink, which I found on Serious Eats, appears below.

My drink was the spicy Herb Albert and wow, what a way to start. I absolutely loved this cocktail. The jalapeño-infused blanco tequila definitely had a kick, but it wasn't too much to manage, balanced as it was just right with lime juice (and some agave too I think) to take the sting out. Mezcal gives the drink a smoky profile, while fresh oregano gives it a hint of herbal flavor.

We had dinner reservations elsewhere, so I'd only planned for us to have one drink. But the first round was so good and there were so many more interesting options, so onto...

Left: Ready to Depart. Right: Dijahbone.

Round 2

Here's where it gets really interesting. A couple days prior, I had enjoyed my first taste of sotol at the Flatiron Wine & Sprits shop. Never heard of sotol? It's another Mexican spirit, although made with a plant called the "desert spoon" instead of agave (My Poor Liver did an excellent podcast on it recently). I'd never seen sotol on a cocktail menu, so I asked the bartender if they were working with it. Of course, they were, and he made this incredibly good drink for me.

The Dijahbone was really something special, a blend of sotol, duck fat infused Grand Marnier, carrot juice, lime juice and cumin. Although this was not a drink he'd created, he knew that his coworker who'd invented it used the duck fat and carrot juice to underscore the savory and earthy notes of the sotol. The drink was a real knockout. Anyone interested in sampling the potential for sotol in cocktails should try this.

Chris had the Ready to Depart, a refreshing and delightfully summer drink made with reposado tequila, sherry, orgeat, lemon, mole bitters and banana liqueur. The bartender built the drink in the glass with crushed ice and swizzled the drink (with a real swizzle stick). None of the modifiers were overwhelming, even the banana liquor.

In many ways, Mayahuel reminds me of our recent trip to Death & Co.--the dark, intimate setting, the delicious and well-crafted drinks and the attentive service--but with a focus on Mexican spirits. Perhaps its no surprise that Mayahuel's head talent, Phil Ward, used to work at Death & Co., where he originated one of that bar's most popular drinks, the Oaxaca Old Fashioned.

Mayahuel also offers a selection of food, mostly snacks and small plates, but as we were (finally) headed off to dinner, we had to pass this time. We emerged feeling high on the amazing drinks we'd just enjoyed. Definitely more Ali than Williams.

Cocktail: The Division Bell
I found the recipe for one of the drinks we enjoyed on Serious Eats, which I adapted below from Phil Ward's recipe for Mayahuel

1 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. maraschino liqueur (such as Luxardo or Mariska)
3/4 oz. lime juice

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist a piece of grapefruit peel over the glass, rub the peel around the glass's rim and then discard the peel.


Mayahuel, 304 East 6th Street (just east of 2nd Avenue), New York City, NY (East Village). (212) 253-5888.


Related

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails

Bar Talk: A Conversation About Death & Co.

Cocktail Bar: 2 Birds 1 Stone (Washington, D.C.)

In addition to the increased availability of fantastic drinks, another great perk of the modern cocktail renaissance is the emergence of better-quality bars. In addition to the usual iterations: hotel, dive, sports, gay, etc. (here's a cheeky post on 14 variations), we now have cocktail bars, places that serve custom-made, quality drinks with fresh, interesting ingredients. Some people like to call them "speakeasies," but that label is too pretentious to me (except, perhaps, among those cocktail that really do fancy themselves as "speakeasies," which I try to avoid). To me, they are cocktail bars.

On the recommendation of the Washington Post restaurant critic, we made our way to 2 Birds 1 Stone after a recent dinner on 14th Street. Our first challenge: finding the place.

I knew that 2 Birds, I Stone was underneath restaurant Doi Moi, but I didn't know how to get in. We walked back and forth near Doi Moi's 14th Street entrance a couple times before heading down side street S. Behind Doi Moi's outdoor seating area, is a brick staircase leading down to a below-ground entrance. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll see a sign (pictured above) pointing the way.

Unlike the darkened interiors of similar bars I've been to (Pepe le Moko or Death & Co., for example), the interior of 2 Birds 1 Stone is bright and inviting: well-lit and predominantly white interior punctuated by exposed brick. The long centerpiece bar is surrounded by small seating nooks. Although it was busy when we arrived about 8 p.m., it wasn't crowded, and we were able to get two seats at the bar immediately.

Devil's Grin cocktail at 2 Birds 1 Stone

The bar, as well as the bars at restaurants Estadio and Proof are managed by Adam Bernbach, one of D.C.'s leading names in good cocktails. In 2 Birds I Stone, he's created the kind of cocktail bar I love to frequent: an inviting space with delicious, original drinks.

The frequently changing menu is hand-drawn (a gallery of previous menus is available on the bar's website) and features a mix of classic and original drinks. Chris ordered the Hideout, with with Za'atar-spiced bourbon, Aperol and dry vermouth. I love the idea of infusing spirits with Za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend that commonly includes sesame, thyme and sumac, and the Hideout is a delicious drink.

I had the Devil's Grin, a tart and satisfying blend of High West Silver Oat Whiskey (a white, i.e. unaged, whiskey), Campari, amaretto and lime. The summery drink was featured on the Kojo Nnamdi Show in 2012, about a year before 2 Birds 1 Stone opened. If you want to try making it yourself, the recipe appears below.

The Devil's Grin cocktail I made

Devil’s Grin
Adapted from a recipe as featured on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, by Adam Bernbach

1 1/2 oz. white whiskey (Bernbach's recipes uses High West Silver Oat Whiskey; I used Wasmund's Rye Sprit)
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz amaretto liqueur
1/2 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. simple syrup
Lime wheel, garish

Combine the whiskey, lime juice, amaretto, Campari and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

2 Birds 1 Stone, 1800 14th Street, NW (underground beneath Doi Moi, entrance on S Street), Washington, D.C. (Logan Circle/U Street).

Bar Talk: A Conversation About Death & Co (New York, NY)

"So, I went this really great little cocktail bar in the East Village last week called Death & Co."

"Good grief, another one of those so-called 'speakeasies' serving cocktails with 150-year-old recipes so strong you pass out after the second round?"

"Hey now, this place was the real deal. And it's not a speakeasy. It's not hidden, and there's a bouncer out front."

"You don't need to get a password from an old phone booth in some dark corner of the Lower East Side?"

"No, nothing like that, although you'll probably have to put your name down and wait for a table or spot at the bar. It's a small place, holding a maximum of about 30 people, and they don't let you stand around."

"I have to give my name?"

"Yeah, but it's not that bad. My husband and I went around 8:30 on a Saturday night and had to wait about half an hour. We wandered around the neighborhood a bit and checked out a nearby used records store."

"You don't have to stand around outside waiting in the cold?"

"No, you can leave. The guy at the door takes your cell phone number and calls you when a spot opens. I suppose if they were really slammed you might even have time to get a drink first someplace else; there are plenty of other bars and restaurants nearby."

"Huh, that's not too bad. But what's it like inside? I'm really over dive bars serving overpriced cocktails."

"It's not a dive, it's really rather nice inside: dark interior with wood paneling on the ceiling and, as you'd expect, the polished stone bar is the centerpiece of the long, narrow main room. Seating is divided between the bar and a few tables for two to four people. It strikes a nice balance of being both contemporary and classic, just like their drinks."

"Ah yes, the important part. I tell you, I'm really over all this obsession with drinks from 1890. Why can't we drink like it's 2015?"

"At Death & Co, you can definitely drink like it's 2015. The bar menu is incredible: seven of its eight pages focus on original creations, all of which are $15 except the punches. Drinks are divided by spirit: gin, rum, agaves like tequila and mezcal, whiskey, brandy and two pages of specials, with each page then subdivided between shaken and stirred drinks. A final page is for classics, but they aren't your typical old-school drinks. For example, there's the Cameron's Kick from the 1930s classic The Savoy Cocktail Book made with Scotch and Irish whisky, lemon, orgeat and Angostura bitters."

Death & Co also published a book last year, which I reviewed.

"That sounds pretty promising. What were your drinks like?"

"We liked everything we tried. Because we'd just eaten Mexican, we were in the mood for more tequila and sampled three drinks from the agave page. I started with the Sierra Madre, a drink that nicely displays the complexity of the cocktails they make. Its base is mezcal infused with coconut and green tea and mixed with lime juice, pear brandy, vanilla syrup and ginger syrup, making for a refreshing tart and sweet drink. That's a lot of flavor components, but they melded nicely. I liked how I could still discern the subtle hint of vanilla amid all the other flavors. Chris's first drink was the Fever Dream, which was mezcal infused with chiles and mixed with suze, elderflower liqueur, lime, simple syrup, cucumber and celery bitters. His drink was just spicy enough without being overbearing and nicely balanced."

"Those both sound really good. Did you get a second round?"

"Of course! My second drink was the Kinsale Cooler, a refreshing blend of gin, Manzanilla sherry, suze, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, celery bitters and seltzer. Although this drink shares several key ingredients with the Fever Dream, it was completely different--a bit bitter with the sherry really coming through. Chris stayed on the agave page and had the Age & Treachery, a wonderfully brown and caramelly mix of tequila, mezcal, amaro, apple syrup, Angostura bitters and sarsparilla tincture."

"It's amazing how many ingredients are in each of those drinks. It must take the bartenders ages to make them. I suppose they have to look each one up in some recipe book."

"Remarkably, no. Our bartender made each of these drinks from memory. I was so impressed and told him so, which elicited a big smile."

"No doubt through his waxed handlebar mustache."

"No, he didn't have that hipster-bartender look. He seemed like a pretty normal guy."

"And he provided good service too?"

"Definitely. We were given waters the minute was sat down and didn't have to wait very long for our drinks to be made. They kept the water refills coming and our second round came shortly on the heels of our first. It was a much better service experience than when we went to that other big-name cocktail bar in Soho."

"Ugh, that place."

"Death & Co. was really a fantastic bar experience in every way. Excellent, creative cocktails in a cool atmosphere with friendly, efficient service. I would definitely go back."

"And I'll be coming with you."

"Cheers."

Death & Co, 433 East 6th Street (between 1st Avenue and Avenue A), New York, NY (Manhattan, East Village). (212) 388-0882. No reservations.


Related

Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails (review of the Death & Co book with recipe excerpts)