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[title]One of the year's most anticipated dining projects throws open its doors next week, when Daniel Humm and Will Guidara unveil their blockbuster, the NoMad: five distinct spaces, lavishly decorated in rich velvet and dark mahogany, housed in a new boutique hotel. The hearth-warmed dining room will serve truffle-and-foie-stuffed chicken for two at $82, while a library lounge will showcase volumes on two stories of shelving. The cocktail program, headed up by Eleven Madison Park’s Leo Robitschek, is as ambitious as the luxe décor and food—and TONY has your first peek at the lineup.
For the head bartender position, Robitschek recruited Death & Company vet Jessica Gonzalez, who brought along two of her signature sips—the Hot Lips (jalapeno-infused blanco tequila, mescal, vanilla, pineapple, lemon, cane syrup) and the Jive Turkey (rye, bourbon, St.–Germain, amaro, dry vermouth). Robitschek also reprised a pair of his own hits for the list from EMP: the Panamericano (pisco, Cocchi American, Dolin de Chambery Blanc Vermouth) and Repossession (reposado tequila, amontillado sherry, apricot brandy, mescal, cane sugar, lemon).
However, the main inspiration for this stately bar, which will supply drinks for all five rooms, is not contemporary tipples, but the neighborhood’s rich drinking history. “In the mid-1800s, this area, the Tenderloin, was debaucherous. It was all gambling halls and saloons,” says Robitschek. “Jerry Thomas [a legendary early American bartender] had his first bar right on Broadway down this street.”
The 30-drink cocktail menu includes both classics and creative concoctions. Some libations nod to local lore, like the Satan’s Circus, a name the religious reformists gave the area, which is made with rye whiskey, chili-infused aperol, Cheery Heering and lemon. Others, like the Star and Garter (cardamon-infused Dolin de Chambery Blanc Vermouth, dry vermouth, champagne) and the Hay Market (Suze, cucumber, lime, pale ale), take their names from the neighborhood’s notorious saloons that once lured in revelers for bawdy festivities. “We [also] have a cocktail called the 1903 [cognac, Cocchi Americano, apple brandy, Cocchi Vermouth de Torino],” notes Robitchek. “It’s the year that this gorgeous Beaux Arts building was built.”
This saloon features a glossy 24-foot mahogany counter and two enormous elephants made of the same dark wood stand guard at the back bar. “We wanted to bring back a classic hotel bar in a classic hotel,” says Robitschek.