Cocktails at Apotheke
One of the many things the Femmeinistes share is an appreciation for a night out on the town with a well-made cocktail or two. I’ll be the first to admit that when I was in my early 20s, I was pretty undiscriminating about the kind of alcohol I drank (fruity wine cooler, anyone?). Really, it just had to be alcoholic. I even drank tequila and Kool-Aid once when desperate. (I really don’t recommend it.) Now that I’m in my 30s, though, I find that I just don’t want to drink badly enough to drink crappy alcohol.
As a result, I’ve become a huge fan of the many New York bartender-focused bars that make a point of offering great cocktails made with fresh ingredients and a little thought and creativity. The Femmeinistes’ latest find is Apotheke, a bar hidden away on Doyers Street below Chinatown whose website describes it as a “19th century royal Austrian apothecary.” Opened by Albert Trummer, an Austrian-born “bar chef,” Apotheke is a great addition to the New York bar scene, with creative cocktails served in a setting that’s a cross between a speakeasy and a European salon of days gone by.
The Femmeinistes were fortunate enough to have a chance to try Apotheke out recently. The gatekeepers at the door set the tone the second we arrived. Both black (and male), one of them had a fab British accent. I didn’t hear the other speak, but he was wearing a navy suit with a scarlet pocket square, a white shirt open at the neck, and a straw hat cocked at a sharp angle. He looked like the old British Empire meets Jamaica. Completely over the top but fantastic. Hell, if I was a guy, I’d like to think I would be the kind of guy who can get away with that stuff.
Inside, the decor is a mix of damask and brocade, exposed brick, and fixtures wrought out of beakers, flasks, and copper tubing to remind you of the bar’s apothecary spiritual roots. A terrific lighting fixture made from the same flasks we used in my college chemistry classes also drips with green glass pendants and contains, well, who knows what potions? When we went to check it out, the Femmeinistes dubbed it very “pre-recession,” but if one thing remains constant in tough economic times, it’s the need to occasionally kick back with a drink and let the rest of the world be for a couple of hours.
The cocktail menu is heavy with creative drinks based on fresh juices, interesting herbs and spices, and specially infused liquors and liqueurs, and is structured by categories like “Health and Beauty,” “Pain Killers,” “Stress Relievers,” and even “Aphrodisiacs.” Going in a group is ideal — we all found the temptation to try each other’s cocktails irresistible, since not a one of them was quite like anything we’d had elsewhere. My favorite was the Heatherette, a pleasingly herbal and lightly sweet drink made with thyme, rosemary, and melon juice. If you need something specific, they’ll mix it for you — one of our number wasn’t drinking that evening, and they were happy to make her something that — well, I’m not sure what it was made of, but it was delicious and non-alcoholic.
The music was also great — a well-chosen mix of selections from the 1970s to the present, with a trippy mix of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” and 50 Cent following hard on Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” Mr. Trummer himself stopped by the table to say hello and supervise the arrival of a round of tequila-based drinks that were topped with a free-hand pour of flaming liquor that spilled spectacularly over the drinks and onto the marble table in what was easily the highlight of the evening. Frankly, it’s hard to beat the table flickering with blue flames for sheer drama during the cocktail hour.
All in all, a great place to spend a few hours. By the time we left, the bar was packed and the music was shifting toward hip-hop. Since we saw a few spectacular fashion don’ts on the way in as we were on the way out, we may have chosen a strategic moment to leave, but make no mistake, I will definitely be going back soon for a few more relaxed and well-chosen drinks. Hey, everyone needs a good “Stress Reliever,” right?
A brilliant recap of our evening. FYI, the flaming drink is called “Libby On Fire”.