Business in the Front, Party in the Back

The thrill of the secret speakeasy lives on in New York City, with hidden bars behind ice-cream shops and coffee shops

Source: WSJ

By Jeanette Settembre

Feb. 26, 2018

The scoop at this Manhattan ice cream shop is knowing there’s a speakeasy in the back.

A bright pink neon ice-cream cone lures stroller moms and the pint-size crowd to UES on Second Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets to enjoy a variety of flavors including salted caramel and cookie dough. But come 5 p.m., people in the know start making their way toward the back of the shop where there’s a wall festooned with ice-cream cartons.

Ask the doorman if you can help out in the storage room and you’ll be directed to a hidden switch on the wall that opens a door. From there, a velvet rope barrier leads to a dimly lighted drinking den filled with black leather banquets, gilded columns, chandeliers and a waitstaff decked out in red silk bow ties.

At UES, a Manhattan ice-cream shop, a hidden switch on a back wall opens a door leading to a nighttime bar. Owner Courtney Bond says about 75% of her revenue comes from cocktail sales and 25% from ice cream.

A dress code is strictly enforced-no T-shirts, jeans or sneakers allowed-at the bar called Storage. The menu features $15-and-up cocktails named for the neighborhood such as Tea at the Carlyle, or rhubarb-infused gin, aperol, sour cherry and blackcurrant curd, matcha tea and tonic. Other sips include the Community Board 8, made with whiskey, amaro, spicy jalapeño jam and blood-orange ice cream, and the Dogs And Bears In Carl Schurz, a scotch, wheatgrass juice, seaweed syrup and pear cider combination.

UES has the feel of a proper prohibition-era establishment: The dual business juxtaposition of having an open ice-cream shop serving sometimes until 3 a.m. is a refreshing front compared with others that have a fake facade.

“Every single cocktail bar becomes a speakeasy. We don’t use that word,” owner Courtney Bond said. “The front is baby pink and as soon as you transition it’s sexy; it’s dark gold. The element of surprise continues the entire journey.”

Ms. Bond, who owns UES and Storage, said about 75% of her revenue comes from cocktail sales and 25% from ice cream.

A coffee shop typically is a more popular front for downtown speakeasies. Last month, Patent Coffee opened in the Nomad area of Manhattan, serving pastries by day before its main event-Patent Pending, an underground cocktail bar-opens at night. The West 27 Street location in the Radio Wave Building once was the hotel where inventor Nikola Tesla lived and experimented with radio waves. At the radio-themed speakeasy, a drink called Radio Waves is made with tequila, mescal, Rhum agricole, Thai chili and cucumber.

Ryan McKenzie, who owns both businesses, said 80% of his revenue comes from the bar and 20% from the coffee shop.

In the Chelsea neighborhood, meanwhile, Bathtub Gin surreptitiously is tucked inside Stone Street Coffee. The small bar offers gin-based cocktails and small plates. Owner Dave Oz said 5% of his revenue comes from the coffee shop and 95% from Bathtub Gin.

“What makes it interesting is the businesses in the front that are still revenue-generating tools that attract a different kind of customer,” said Art Sutley, publisher of Bar Business Magazine, a trade journal. “It plays into the real speakeasy experience.”

While the prohibition-inspired trend is nearly as old as bars, there’s still the thrill of the spectacle that keeps New Yorkers coming back for more.

“We’re in an Instagram world where people want to take pictures and say that they’re at something secret. I don’t think that trend is over by any means,” Mr. Sutley said.