NYC’s Love Thy Neighbor celebrates queer community
Love Thy Neighbor has opened in New York City’s West Village, guided by a respect for chosen family and the ‘joys of gathering and belonging’.
Behind the opening is Shigefumi Kabashima, who opened ROKC in Harlem in 2016, followed by NR in the Upper East Side in 2019, and chef Elias Popa.
“The idea of ‘no straight lines’ became a guiding principle for us,” said Kabashima. “It reflects not only the design of the space, but also how we think about hospitality: fluid, open and without boundaries. We want guests to feel a sense of freedom here, both in how they experience the space and how they connect with others.”
The bar has 40 seats and will transition from a daytime café to an evening cocktail destination.
The menus
To create the beverage programme, Kabashima worked with Atsushi Suzuki, an Angel’s Share and SG Club alumnus who founded The Bellwood in Tokyo.
The drinks draw on ‘Japanese bartending precision’ as well as the ‘creative spirit’ of the West Village to reinterpret familiar formats like Highballs and Martinis.
The menu will employ techniques like clarification, infusion and carbonation, and feature ‘experimental’ ingredients, such as hojicha-infused mezcal, house-made clarified fruit purées, wasabi-forward gin, and pandan cream.
Cocktails include the Tokyo Banana, which blends banana-infused whisky and vermouth with milk-brew coffee, kokuto, and umami from shio koji, finished with a miso powder ‘veil’.
The Wagyu Coke, meanwhile, features wagyu fat-washed Bourbon, house cola syrup, and clarified black cherry purée.
Highlights from the food menu include chicken karaage with brûléed lemon and burnt shishito mayo; NYC pastrami tartare with cured egg yolk cream; and a ceviche with salmon, tuna, and scallop in turmeric carrot ginger leche de tigre.
In the evening, larger plates include braised short rib and miso broth mussels in a creamy ginger ‘chowder’.
A full sushi programme will follow, developed in collaboration with The Bellwood.
“Gathering around food and drink has always been one of the most powerful ways of bringing people together,” added Popa. “We wanted Love Thy Neighbor to be a space where people from different walks of life can share a delicious meal, connect, and feel like they belong under one roof, at any time of day.”
Honouring queer history
Jun of Wild Form Design Studio conceived Love Thy Neighbor’s interiors, which feature vaulted archways, soft, organic lines and curved booths. The architectural features are said to be a ‘quiet nod’ to ‘queerness and individuality, reflecting a place designed to welcome people exactly as they are’.
Small features throughout the bar honour queer history and community, such as a single brick from the Stonewall Inn. A quote from Marsha P Johnson – “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us” – is set into the floor at the entrance.
Yuji Kawasaki will oversee the bar’s ‘carefully tuned’ sound system.
Love Thy Neighbor opened for evening service on 19 May, with full-day programming to follow.
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