Barfly's Beat: Dutch Kills Ice and more

Dutch Kills bar in Long Island City is one of our regular haunts. The hospitality and quality of the cocktails combine with a unique ambiance that makes it a destination no matter what borough one dwells. They engaged cinematographer Shlomo Godder to put together a series of clips that truly showcase the skills, the ice, and vibe of the place. 


Dutch Kills Ice/Trilogy from Shlomo M. Godder on Vimeo.


Stay Up Late from Shlomo M. Godder on Vimeo.


Dutch Kills/Royal Smile from Shlomo M. Godder on Vimeo.


Enjoy!


Dutch Kills Bar
27-24 Jackson Avenue
NY 11101-2918
(718) 383-2724

Barfly's Beat: Barstool Poetics at Dutch Kills

Photo by R. Boccato

As the mighty DUTCH KILLS transitions from their Summer cocktail offering to an eagerly-anticipated (and much extended) Fall menu, they have for the time being replaced their back-bar presentation with a short piece written by Graeme Jamieson, one of our contributors.  

Auburn

By Graeme Jamieson

Here, where the air is cheered and being fair

Seconds live in High-Spirits;

An hour please of your time

Fond find your fortune leavening

- Caught the sun on your neck

And in mirrored walls, Look!

Match light in your eyes

Splash me a toast, here we are!

To heart shaped leaves

Winning personal bets

And faring as well as you this season!

Try the new Autumn menu and some of the best hand crafted cocktails in New York. You are sure to run into our bar stool poet.

Dutch Kills

27-24 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101

Tiki's Revenge

by Fredo

The First Wave
The first wave of the Tiki revival hit New York ten years ago with the opening of bars like Zombie Hut (Brooklyn), Otto's Shrunken Head (14th Street), the Lei Bar in Niagra's basement (Ave A),the clubby Tiki Room (Flatiron), and the kitsch 1950s Polynesian themed Waikiki Wally's (East Village). These places were heavy on retro kitsch factor and gimmicks. The worst offender was the Tiki Room, an awful nightclub in the Flatiron district that catered to the B&T. This place had wide screen HDTVs over the bar and their cocktail program was closer to a Spring Break bar than the Tonga Room. In our opinion, they were straight up poseurs more interested in capitalizing on a trend than paying attention to the history and craftsmanship of the genre. Other bars like Otto's Shrunken Head and Zombie Hut got the ambiance and inspiration right when they first opened. It seemed like they were taking pages out of the Trader Vic's play book circa 1956. Unfortunately, the same attention to detail and quality was lost at the bar. The main criticism of the first wave is the lack of fresh ingredients, proportioned pouring, and artisanal touch that has come to typify the new generation of top cocktail bars. However, in all fairness, they were not all mediocre drinks and sugary hang overs. I do thank them for putting Tiki back on the radar after forty years in the vault.

The Desert Island
In recent years, there have been some gems among the coal. A disciple of Tiki, Brian Miller of Death & Company and Joe Swifka of Elettaria preached the gospel of Don the Beachcomber in his classics. Miller slayed notions of the genre's fad with reinterpretations of the classic island cocktails. My favorite being a Gin version of the Zombie called the Winchester. This concotion stays true to the Zombie formula but uses three types of gin in lieu of rum. A Swifka original is the Black Pearl, which is Tiki-fied old fashioned using Cruzan Black Strap rum in addition Old Forester Bourbon as the base spirits. This proved Tiki was not pigeon holed. Quality ingredients and creativity kept the genra alive in the late-2000s when the trend and flavor of the month establishments like the Tiki Room and Waikiki Wally's were washed away. Thank the Tiki Gods for Elettaria's Tiki Mondays!

Tiki's Revenge
Once again the trade winds are guiding us to the Forbidden Island, so queue the Les Baxter but also add Desi Arnaz to the mix. This time around prepare for cocktails made correctly! The wave is moving from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic. In San Francisco, Smuggler's Cove which opened in December 2009, has 70 plus cocktails on their menu and top talent from West Coast bar scene rolling the drinks. In New York, Painkiller is under construction in the Lower East Side. The noticeable differences with these bars is they draw their inspiration from the Caribbean in addition to the South Seas. They should really be called Rum Bars in the tradition of Trailer Happiness in London. It is clear that the Rum Revolution illustrated in Pete Wells New York Times article is in full swing.

Dutch Kills owner Richard Boccato and award winning bartender Giuseppe Gonzalez should have Painkiller open by the Ides of March but this won't be another Trader Vic doppelganger. I'm expecting something out of Mean Streets. According to Eater, Boccato says:

"Since the team is planning to blend 1970s New York culture and 1940s tiki culture, this may just be the best-ever tiki bar. Even the address is cool."

That cool address is the former East Side Company space on Essex and Grand. Expect freshly squeezed juice, an ice program par excellence, lots of falernum, private reserve rums,the classics made to perfection, as well as inventive cocktails and punches.

So until you can venture to PK NY to try the namesake, enjoy one of the British Virgin Island's most famous drinks:

The Painkiller
4 parts fresh pineapple juice
1 part cream of coconut
1 part fresh orange juice
2 oz Rum (we recommend Smith & Cross Jamaican pot stilled rum)
touch of fresh grated nutmeg

Stir the juices and creme in bar glass, then add rum, stir again. Fill goblet with crushed ice, serve the mixture, and top off with dusting of fresh nutmeg.

PAINKILLER
49 Essex St
New York, NY

(Photos of PK NY courtesy of Giuseppe Gonzalez)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from your friends at Loungerati!

Tonight's suggested itinerary:

GMT New Year's Eve party at Campbell Apartment
This is a Lounger tradition ten years in the making. A bunch of folks show up to Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station just before 7pm EST and celebrate the New Year Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)! So put on your best duds and head over now for the early show!

Campbell Apartment
Grand Central Station,
New York, NY


2010 NEW YEAR'S EVE FORMAL BALL
Once your lips are wet with the first champagne of the evening, cab it to Brooklyn for the New Year's Eve Ball at the venerable Montauk Club. Festivities kick off at 9:00PM. Featured performers include Loungerati's 2009 Best of Lounge winners of Best Burlesque act and Best Musical act, the Minsky Sisters and Michael Arenella's Dreamland Orchestra. $75 PER PERSON - OPEN BAR

The Montauk Club
25 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY
www.montaukclub.com


PLAYERS CLUB NEW YEAR'S EVE
The entire clubhouse will be transformed into the setting of one of the most elegant parties in New York!Food Stations Open All Night!Open Bar All Night Long!

Dance to the music of the JC HOPKINS BIGGISH BAND featuring QUEEN ESTHER special guest JOLIE HOLLAND

PARTY BEGINS AT 9:00 p.m.

MENTION JC AND GET TICKETS FOR $125
MEMBERS: $185 plus tax
NON-MEMBERS: $225 plus tax

BLACK TIE OPTIONAL

For Cocktail Lounge options, please visit The Dizzy Fizz. Selena Ricks highlights the main attractions for New York. One addition, Dutch Kills in Long Island City is throwing a New Year's fete, $65 open bar, Giuseppe Gonzalez and Richie Boccato behind the stick.

Finally, we are retiring the term "behind the stick" for 2010, that was the last time,no really. We promise!

(Image courtesy of Michael Arenella)

Good-bye Summer!!

by Fredo

What can I say? I am not a huge fan of summer. Sure I love baseball, Tales of the Cocktail, Gin Rickeys, Long Beach Island, seersucker, bikinis, and what not, but the heat, especially here on the East Coast makes it unbearable by the end of July. So I bid summer adieu! Arrivederci! Adios! And see ya next year! I'm ready for Autumn!

Besides a relief from the humidity and heat, the end of summer lets me indulge in the Manhattan cocktail and her Brooklyn cousins. One of my favorite variations of the Manhattan is called The Greenpoint. This exquisite libation was developed by barkeep Michael McIlroy of Milk & Honey. It brings the herbal complexity of yellow Chartreuse into the Perfect Manhattan recipe by replacing the dry vermouth. Part perfect, part classic, The Greenpoint's taste is nothing but original. Last week, I was in Dutch Kills in Long Island City and broke my no Manhattans from Memorial Day to Labor Day rule! I had to with the man himself behind the bar. And it was so good, being so bad!

The Greenpoint
2 oz Rittenhouse 100 proof bonded Rye
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
Dash orange bitters
Dash Angostura bitters
Lemon peel garnish

Combine ingredients over ice and stir. Let sit for a minute or so and stir again. Strain into frosted coupe, serve up and garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

Where to get it: Dutch Kills, White Star, and wherever Michael is behind the stick.

Salute!

Barfly's Beat: Dutch Kills

by Fredo

A low lit sign that reads "BAR" lets you know you've arrived. Once inside the Dutch Kills bar in New York's Long Island City neighborhood, the thing that hits you is that someone has been paying attention to the details. Richie Boccato and his partner Sasha Petraske have been successfully getting the devil in the details right since they resurrected the art of cocktailing nearly ten years ago. I won't list the bars they have opened - you know what they are and understand their mission. But I can tell DK (as we call it) is Richie Boccato's baby. I am talking pride and joy. And he talks about the place like a gushing father.

The Ice

It all starts with the ice. When he talks about the process, you marvel at the knowledge of a true craftsman. Boccato and company brought fresh ingredients and artisanal liquors back to the bar. Now he aims to do the same for ice, and clearly he is not relying on the magical Kold Draft machine to keep your drink cold. Each day a 30 pound block of ice arrives at DK. They take an ice pick to the block and scar into eight sub pieces, then break it down further, until one gets the hand chipped piece that ends up making the cocktail. And it makes a difference. The solid chunk of hand cut ice melts slowly in your drink and certainly does not bruise the liquor. The result - a crisp refreshing drink that isn't watered down. The ice keeps the cocktail's consistency and taste profile throughout the imbibing experience.

The attention to detail doesn't stop with the ice. You can see it in the hand typed menus. Hand typed on a vintage Soviet era East German typewriter. Yes, there is an umlaut key!

Some highlights:

Item: There is an ATM machine hidden inside a black wooden case in an alcove by the door hidden behind curtains.

Item: There is a turn of the century saloon feel to it. From the saw dust on the floor, to dark varnished wood, intimate booths, high ceilings, and low lighting.

Item: Five star cocktails at outerborough prices. Most of the specials (written on a chalk boards behind the bar) are nine semolians! That's right. Nine hundred pennies will get you a Queens Park Swizzle (Rum, Lime, Mint, Sugar, bitters)! Believe you me, these drinks are a steal.

Item: World Class barkeeps - Giuseppe Gonzalez, formerly of Clover Club and Flatiron Lounge, and recent winner of the Tales of the Cocktail 'On the Fly Competition' is behind the stick with Boccato on most nights. So is Alex Day of Franklin Mortgage Company in Philadelphia and Death & Company. The veterans and new bartenders like Amanda P and Abe keep the quality high and you staying for "one more."

Once you have sampled the exquisite special cocktails. Go off menu. Get creative. Ask for a Charles H. Baker, Jr. classic such as Turf Cocktail No. 2 and get into a discussion on whether it is just another name for the Tuxedo. These fellows know their drinks history. Further, they can take you on a historical tour that will be a treat for your taste buds.

Turf Cocktail # 2

- 1 1/2 oz Dry Gin
- 1 oz Dry Vermouth
- 1 bar spoon Absinthe
- 1 bar spoon maraschino
- Dash of orange bitters or Abbots bitters (they have it)

Stir ingredients in bar glass and serve up in cocktail glass senza garnish.

Or ask for a G. Gonzalez original:

English Dandy

- 2 oz Plymouth Gin
- 1 bar spoon Velvet Falernum
- 1 bar spoon Yellow Chartreuse
- Dash of Aromatic Bitters

Build cocktail in a chilled rocks glass, add a hand carved block of ice, garnish with freshly cut lemon peel. For the Scottish Dandy substitute Chivas Regal for the Gin.

The bar is located two blocks from the subway and many taxi depots which makes it very easy to visit..and visit..and visit...

Dutch Kills
27-24 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
Tel. 718.383.2724
Hours of operation: 5pm to 2am, Seven days a week
Cash Only
http://www.dutchkillsbar.com/

(photo of the bar at Dutch Kills courtesy of Giuseppe Gonzalez)