The Midtown Village corridor of 13th Street -- home to Bindi, Lolita, Tinto, Capogiro, El Vez and Vintage -- is about to get so much cooler, probably as soon as next week.
It's called Apothecary (102 S. 13th St., at the corner of Drury), and it's a cocktail restaurant.
That's right. Not a wine bar or a gastropub or a steakhouse or whatever it is that everyone else is doing.
If you fancy the notion of slamming shots or quibbling over the nuances of (insert the name of the two microbrews your buddy has never heard of but you do), you'll be in the wrong place.
The concept harkens back to the old-fashioned apothecary as the place to find cures for what ails you. Apothecary, therefore, will be a literal and figurative take on this in both the food and drinks.
Bartenders -- think of them as pharmacists -- will whip up drinks such as a RustOleo, consisting of Beleza Pura Cachaca, Flor de Caña Nicaraguan Rum, honey liqueur, açaí, fresh blueberries, lemon, with chocolate molé bitters and European bilberry extract. The fresh blueberries are antioxidants, right? And RustOleum is an antioxidant-type paint, right?
There also will be bottled cocktails -- mixed ahead and sealed into bottles. And yes, they will have a few beers on tap. They're using Kold-Draft ice cubes, a process that will make your eyes glaze over. Basically, the cubes are made upside-down, allowing air pockets and impurities to filter out, resulting in a colder, purer cube.
The food menu is similarly whimsically healthful-sounding: A panini called Dr. Cacao’s Sweet Blessing contains hazelnut chocolate, marshmallow, olive oil and salt. A snack called Universal “Pastilla” Panacea contains a few ingredients that are believed to ward off Alzheimer's: crispy phyllo, chicken custard, moroccan spice, raisin, almond. The photo shows a panini called "Centersun Supplement Secret," which has smoked salmon, caraway mustard and cranberry jam.
Prices are not fixed yet. Doubt they'll be aimed at the budget-boozin' crowd.
Owners Sam Shaaban, president of the design firm URBANSPACEDEVELOPMENT, partnered with restaurateur Bruno Pouget, brought in a duo known as the Tippling Bros. to create the cocktail list. Steve Cameron, chef at Blue in Surf City, N.J., and a partner with Pouget and Todd Rodgers in the future spot called Noble on Sansom Street, set up the food.
During my walk-through Friday (4/25), much of the place was in the usual pre-opening frenzy. In the top photo, that's Tippling brother Paul Tanguay behind the downstairs bar. The color is pretty much found throughout both levels. The construction, which included adding half the second floor, progressed amazingly smoothly; the project only has been in the works about six months.
In the bottom photos, that's a sampling of the bitters that will be used; a "RustOleo"; and a look at the upstairs bar. There's also a roof deck overlooking 13th Street.
Menus to come.