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To say that Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry received a warm welcome by New York is an understatement. When the Belfast barmen launched their Fidi bar, the Dead Rabbit, in 2013, it drew both overflowing crowds and critical acclaim, nabbing the title of World’s Best Bar at Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards only two years in.
Whereas that bar harkened back to Five Points–era New York, Blacktail, their highly anticipated follow-up at Pier A whisks guests to high-rolling Prohibition-age Cuba: The 120-seat waterfront space is named for the luxurious seaplanes that used to fly New Yorkers from booze-dry Manhattan to Havana and is period-set with Ernest Hemingway–inspired stools, Havana-sourced antiques, potted palms and live Cuban jazz performed twice weekly.
Inspired by what American travelers would have swilled way back when, the 88-page bar menu features more than 40 drinks across five categories—highball, punch, sour, old-fashioned and cocktail—each served in original glassware. The deconstructed rum and cola is mixed with Italian amaro, champagne and bitters, while the Mary Pickford is composed of a rum blend sweetened with cherry, pomegranate and pineapple. Those highballs can be enjoyed alongside chef Ryan Schmidtberger’s Latin- influenced plates like ancho-glazed chicken lollipops and sugarcane-skewered Gulf shrimp.
22 Battery Pl (212-785-0153, blacktailnyc.com)
