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The speakeasy trend that has recently invaded New York continues strong with PS (short for Pacific Standard), a new bar hidden inside just-opened specialty provisions retail shop Pine & Polk at 300 Spring Street by Hudson Street.
Curious New Yorkers will find the secret destination behind a shelved wall filled with chocolate bars within Pine & Polk. Inside of PS, patrons will get to order from a roster of 12 signature cocktails and six renamed classics with kitschy names (the traditional "Death in the Afternoon" is here referred to as the "PS." It's a Champagne Cocktail, for example).
The food here is also carefully presented, with five different savory grazing boards (read: charcuterie boards) forming the bulk of the menu. The Salt and Sea option is filled with potatoes and roe, grilled shrimp, tinned small scallops, hot sauce, tomato horseradish aioli and saltines, for example. The Nibble and Nosh, on the other hand, features house popcorn, pretzels, horseradish mustard, za'atar spiced nuts, hot honey chickpea mix, pimento cheese and saltines. There are also dessert-focused boards to choose from!
The venue, nestled inside the 250-square-foot retail space, fits a total of 39 people at once.
What's perhaps most exciting about the dual-concept destination is its effort to showcase women- and minority-owned food businesses all throughout.
According to owners Lindsay Weiss and Alyssa Golub, best friends turned business partners, between 60% and 80% of all in-store inventory at Pine & Polk is sourced from women- and minority-owned companies. Expect to browse through products like pickled veggies, condiments, cheese, crackers and fresh floral bouquets.
The duo has also partnered with some of the city's top female chefs to sell fare that is currently not being offered anywhere but their own restaurants. Some examples include the dips that Ayesha Nurdjaja prepares for her customers at Shuka and Shukette, Ester Choi's kimchi from Mokbar and Silvia Barban's delicious pasta—which folks can devour at her Brooklyn restaurant LaRina Pastificio & Vino.
To really drive the message home, Weiss and Golub have also assembled a team of women to lead their business. Melissa Brooke of The Musket Room serves as bar director while Misi's Ali Ghriskey is the executive chef and Aimee Ollman of Michael Mina is the general manager.
As for the name of the provisions shop, it's a call out to the owners' relationship. Weiss and Golub originally met in San Francisco while at the intersection of—wait for it!—Pine and Polk streets.