Pity the poor speakeasy: those ostensibly secret cocktail parlors that are so popular, pompous, and crowded, they’re more like speakdifficults.
Enter Pouring Ribbons — an open-to-all, second floor cocktail salon perched above a liquor store, founded on these populist tenets:
“We’re not meant to be a secret.”
“This is not your rich uncle’s living room.”
“[We play] The Kooks. The Black Keys. No jazz.”
And it’s now open. Here’s the liver-tickling menu.
Pouring Ribbons is the boozy lovechild of Alchemy Consulting (the guys behind the drinks at Chicago’s The Violet Hour) and Joaquin Simo, formerly of Death & Co. and recent Bartender of the Year.
The pre-war wood floors are stained a rich blue to match the aquamarine art-deco ceiling, and dark ash wall panels slide back and forth to conceal/reveal bits of floral wallpaper. At the bar tables: cubbies to stash menus between drinks.
About those menus: they feature a clever quadrant graph which plots cocktails between refreshing vs. spirituous and comforting vs. adventurous, including both classic cocktails and house concoctions like the “Ragin’ Glory” made with rye, lemon, pear brandy, demerara syrup and cinnamon bitters – all with baby fist-sized ice cubes and house-made syrups and liqueurs.
The only rule: patrons are limited to a manageable customer-to-staff ratio to keep the place “convivial and lively by design.”
Allowing you to speak freely.
Photo credit: Paul Wagtouicz
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