This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Dead Rabbit to serve New York’s best Irish whiskey selection
The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog, a “rough and ready” saloon bar claiming to stock New York’s best selection of Irish whiskey, is set to open in Lower Manhattan, NY in December.
Jack McGarry, serves The Flowing Bowl by William Schmidt, dated1892, for The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog in New York
Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, both from the award-winning The Merchant Hotel in Belfast, have received backing from the owners of the Swift Hibernian Lounge in the East Village to open The Dead Rabbit.
Situated in a two-storey commercial building dating back to 1828, The Dead Rabbit takes its inspiration from one of New York’s most notorious 19th century street gangs.
On its first floor will be a tap room serving a variety of craft beer, an extensive selection of Irish whiskey plus “pop-ins” – lightly hopped beer combined with amari or fruit liqueurs. Ready-to-drink bottled punch will also be available by the glass or flagon.
A second-floor cocktail parlour will serve hot and cold communal punches plus a cocktail list, derived by McGarry, featuring 72 “historically accurate” drinks inspired by Jerry Thomas and his peers.
“All of our cocktail recipes have been tweaked to suit contemporary palates,” said McGarry. “I investigated thousands of recipes and more than 50 cocktail books from the era. In some cases, the recipes worked straight off. With others, it took months of experimenting with 50 to 70 variations before I chose the perfect one.”
The Dead Rabbit will also serve a food menu inspired by the era, the UK and the local area’s maritime history with dishes including Scotch eggs, Welsh Rarebit and fish & chips.
“I have, for years, dreamed of creating a mid-19th century community tavern, a rough and ready place suitable for Boss Tweed that would serve great quality drinks and food,” said Muldoon. “As much as I love everything about cocktails, I also love drinking beer in age-old taverns. The Dead Rabbit is an amalgamation of the two. We’ll have world class libations and true hospitality to match.”
The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog has been named by The Spirits Business as a bar to watch in 2013 in our November issue, out now, as we run down the up and coming bars on the horizon.