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NoMad has no shortage of places to drink well, but a new hotel bar opening next week is taking a notably disciplined approach.
Stone & Soil, which will debut inside the Park South Hotel on February 3, is built around the rigor of Japanese bartending, where precision, restraint and hospitality matter just as much as what’s in the glass.
The project comes from a deep bench of hospitality heavyweights: Jimmy Rizvi, the restaurateur behind Bungalow, and Kanvar Singh, of Midtown’s ever-popular Elsie Rooftop, lead the partnership along with beverage director Hirotomo Akutsu, formerly of Tokyo’s Bar Trench (ranked 94th on the World's 50 Best Bars 2025) and creative director Rio Azmee of Shinka Ramen. Every detail, from the way a cocktail is built to the way the room feels, is deliberate.
The cocktail list spans 22 drinks and leans hard into Japanese bartending principles like balance, clarity and respect for ingredients without tipping into preciousness. Many cocktails take days to prepare and rely on fermentation, infusion and the reuse of byproducts that might otherwise be tossed.
Take the Pink Tango, a mezcal-based cocktail that takes a full week to make. The entire pineapple—skin, flesh and leaves—is fermented with koji before being blended with Campari, lime and pink grapefruit soda for a drink that’s both layered and light. Or the Black Boulevardier, a darker, more savory riff on the classic: fig- and spice-infused Woodford Reserve meet Cynar, sherry and balsamic vinegar before being garnished with a crisp tuile made from the leftover infused fruit.
Even the snacks follow the same low-waste logic. Lemon sake lees, which are often tossed during sake production, are turned into a tangy cream cheese served with milk bread, while wagyu trimmings become deeply rich beef rillettes. Everything on the plate or in the glass is meant to be eaten, not admired and abandoned.
The space mirrors the menu’s philosophy. Designed in a Japandi style—Japanese minimalism meets Scandinavian function—the room uses recycled wood and leather, hand-applied finishes and sculptural clay installations to create a calm, tactile environment. There’s no plastic anywhere and even the custom ice is hand-carved daily to fit Japanese glassware.
Stone & Soil will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 5pm to midnight and Fridays and Saturdays until 1am, with reservations available via Resy. For anyone who likes their cocktails precise, thoughtful and quietly obsessive, this one’s worth a seat at the bar.