Lately I’ve found myself growing increasingly impatient with overwrought cocktail lists. So it’s encouraging to see a return to a more plain-speaking style – Martini, Manhattan, Daiquiri, Cosmo. What you see is what you get. No explainer required.
Birds, the new West Village music bar from industry veteran Steve Schneider (Employees Only, Sip & Guzzle), has 20 classics on a board, all of which will be familiar to anyone who’s ever set foot in a bar. (All priced under $20, they’re also pretty affordable by New York standards.)
The Espresso Martini at Birds © Alex Staniloff
“We wanted to create a place that seemed like it had been there for a long time,” says Schneider. “Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, just straightforward, humble drinks made the way they were intended. The whole thing is about comfort, ease. Lemme just get a Martini and listen to some jazz.”
The Birds Cosmo, for example, is based on the recipe created by Toby Cecchini at Tribeca’s The Odeon restaurant in 1988. Schneider is also an unapologetic fan of the Espresso Martini, and the Cognac-based Sidecar (a rather passé classic that I sense is lining up for a comeback).
