Sip & Guzzle opens in New York

Bartenders Shingo Gokan and Steve Schneider have reunited to open cocktail bar Sip & Guzzle in New York.

Sip & Guzzle is located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, at 29 Cornelia Street, and marks the duo’s return to the Big Apple, having spent the last decade in Asia.

Gokan is behind Tokyo bar, The SG Club, and a slew of cocktail bars in Shanghai, including Speak Low, Sober Company and The Odd Couple, which was a joint project with Schneider. He started his bartending career at Angel’s Share in New York.

Schneider, meanwhile, made his name at Employees Only in New York before opening Employees Only in Singapore, and then The Strangers Club in Panama City.

He said: “I’m stoked to be back in the Big Apple collaborating with the one and only Shingo Gokan to give New Yorkers their first-ever taste of The SG Club as seen through a New York lens.

“Shingo and I could not be any more different as people and in our bartending styles. But as we demonstrated at our first collaboration, The Odd Couple, in Shanghai, that is why the magic happens.

“I can’t wait for our guests to have a high-energy, fun experience on the ground floor with me and a slower-paced, sublime time downstairs at Shingo’s intimate bar.”

Schneider will be helming Guzzle on the ground floor – a space inspired by New York saloons of the 1860s with more classic-style cocktails and ‘crushable’ comfort drinks such as Apple Manhattans, Pornstar Mojitos and Highballs, as well as shochu-based creations from The SG Club.

An evolution of The SG Club

Gokan will be presiding over Sip downstairs, a ‘subterranean speakeasy’ designed in homage to Kanrin Maru, the ship that carried the 77 Samurai to the US.

It has a black bar with a concrete finish and oak-panelled walls adorned with Japanese art that Gokan has personally commissioned. The head bartender is Ben Yabrow, who previously held the role at Double Chicken Please.

The drinks bring back old favourites from The SG Club in Tokyo, fine tuned and updated, while referencing Japan in different ways. A few notable creations include the Wagyu Old Fashioned (made with Bourbon, peanut butter and Wagyu beef), a Champagne Grasshopper (made with cacao, mint and Champagne) and the Sixty Forty, a mix between a Martini and a Manhattan.

Gokan said: “I started my career at the legendary Angel’s Share prior to opening bars in Japan and China, so coming back to New York to open Sip & Guzzle is very special to me.

“My life shares a common origin story with the Samurai who came to the Big Apple and returned to Asia with passion and knowledge.

“Now, I’m bringing back everything I’ve learned in Asia and working with Steve Schneider, the consummate New York bar star, to share it at the first expansion of The SG Club.”

The bar programme is supported with food thought up by chef Mike Bagale, previously at three Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea in Chicago. His menu is said to add modern fine-dining techniques to traditional izakaya fare and Japanese street food.

“The incredible bar fare by chef Mike Bagale takes our original concept to a whole new level,” added Gokan.

Sip & Guzzle is open from Tuesday to Sunday.