PDT (Please Don't Tell) -- St. Marks Place.

[BryanZ]

Trust me, I was on the top of the world. That is until I went to Bamn!.

Seriously though, it's not even the wait I mind, though I know people who can't wait more than five minutes for a drink, it's the fact that some of the craft of the cocktail gets lost or distorted when you're not directly interacting with the craftsman. I'll stop with the metaphors now.

[Kent Wang]

I went last week while johnder and donbert were 'tending. Weinoo happened to be there , too. Truly excellent. I think the Solstice was the best of the drinks I had there.

More places need secret entrances. Bars, restaurants, laundromats -- just imagine!

[eje]

Nice mention in Sunday's New York Times:

BoÎte: Dial D for Drinks*

MOST of the late-night revelers who stumble into the hot-dog joint Crif Dogs on St. Marks Place are too intent on their deep-fried franks to notice that those who slip into the vintage phone booth tucked into a corner seem to vanish into thin air...But there is no defying physics once inside. Just ask the harried hostess who peeks out from behind the false wall, jealously guarding the threshold to the latest not-so-secret bar to join the faux hush-hush bar scene, PDT (which stands for Please Don’t Tell).

*Link may require registration and/or payment.

Edited October 8, 2007 by eje (log)

[hannnah]

Very much enjoyed a trip to PDT on Friday; it's a great space, the drinks are most excellent, and the waitstaff didn't bat an eyelid when I ordered a Corpse Reviver. And, I got to play Centipede while waiting for the lollygaggers inside to vacate our table.

[Mayur]

Stopped in last night for some tasty drinks courtesy of johnder and donbert, including a preview of the fall house cocktails. If I could, I'd keep a tank of their bitters-spiced caramel syrup around to bathe in! PDT just keeps getting better and better. Congrats to the fine mixological talents that push this forward.

[johnder]

Thanks guys for the great compliments. It really is a blast working there. We are dotting the i's and crossing the t's on our new expanded drink menu. At last count we are going to have 19 drinks which are a mix of house created cocktails, classics, as well as a few "friends and family" cocktails from other great cocktail institutions.

Also we are working on the idea of having a weekly market based cocktail special that will change given availability of ingredients.

We hope to have the menu out in a week or two.

John

[weinoo]

We hope to have the menu out in a week or two.

←

Great news! And I got to try one of those market cocktails John & Don were working on a couple of weeks ago - with concord grapes - it was extremely good...

But I'm wondering what you all will be able to come up with in the dead of winter - hope you can use butternut squash, onions, carrots, or potatoes!

[donbert]

But I'm wondering what you all will be able to come up with in the dead of winter - hope you can use butternut squash, onions, carrots, or potatoes!

You can definitely expect some non-traditional purees and such but besides seasonal market ingredients we want to have a slot on the menu to showcase a variety of other drinks. Some may be drinks that would be too difficult to produce in volume for a whole season, drinks we're working on for the next menu, or experimental ideas that we want to share.

Here's a couple teaser photos of some stuff we're playing with to whet your curiosity:

Edited October 17, 2007 by donbert (log)

[Mayur]

But I'm wondering what you all will be able to come up with in the dead of winter - hope you can use butternut squash, onions, carrots, or potatoes!

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Citrus! Blood oranges, Seville oranges, and some excellent grapefruits all come at that time of year. It may not be local, but it's damn' seasonal... and perfect for cocktails!

[mjr_inthegardens]

←

Not a screwdriver!

Edited October 17, 2007 by mjr_inthegardens (log)

[weinoo]

But I'm wondering what you all will be able to come up with in the dead of winter - hope you can use butternut squash, onions, carrots, or potatoes!

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Citrus! Blood oranges, Seville oranges, and some excellent grapefruits all come at that time of year. It may not be local, but it's damn' seasonal... and perfect for cocktails!

←

Well, I was thinking more of the green market (and I would guess so are Don and John)...and most citrus is available pretty much year round.

[Mayur]

Yeah, I was assuming that too... hence my comment about "local" vs "seasonal." However, there is a WIDE seasonal variation in the availability of citrus fruits; some of the interesting ones (sour oranges, Sevilles, blood oranges) are only available (and then sporadically) in certain winter months, and others reach their peak in winter (notably grapefruit). I know I'm waiting on winter to start my own Picon (Sevilles), sour orange "grenadine," and grapefruit and blood orange bitters. Certainly a source for cocktailian innovation!

[johnder]

Some of the things that are on our idea list don't restrict themselves to fruits -- nuts, herbs are big on the list. The birch infused rye drink is a good example. Also figs and squash are something I want to play around with.

[slkinsey]

The squash idea is interesting (even though I abhor squash). I wonder if a good technique to get flavors out of something like squash might be the gelatin method.

[johnder]

That is an option -- one of the things I want to check out is 15 East 15 they are doing a "beer kir" with sapporo and honeyed sweet potato vinegar which sounds awesome.

The other option is do to some fat washing of the puree and use that in a simple syrup infusion.

[Scotttos]

Wow, you guys are making things better and better. When, if you don't mind me asking, are you (johnder, donbert) usually tending bar there?

[donbert]

The squash idea is interesting (even though I abhor squash). I wonder if a good technique to get flavors out of something like squash might be the gelatin method.

Gelatin clarification is definitely something we're already playing around with but so far it is huge pain with very low yield. (Especially when you need 5 gallons of finished product.) Using a sub 100 micron filter is usually good enough for our purposes of removing sediment and even that is a slow and tedious process.

Wow, you guys are making things better and better. When, if you don't mind me asking, are you (johnder, donbert) usually tending bar there?

We're both regularly bartending on Monday nights and Jim Meehan is going to be taking Wednesdays going forward but we're usually around in some capacity early on most nights.

[druz99]

This place looks pretty sweet. I'll be paying you guys a visit! How does it compare to Angel's Share?

[Nathan]

This place looks pretty sweet. I'll be paying you guys a visit! How does it compare to Angel's Share?

←

about 1000% better.

[Scotttos]

This place looks pretty sweet. I'll be paying you guys a visit! How does it compare to Angel's Share?

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about 1000% better.

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Depthcharges it (and almost every other cocktail bar in the city) out of the water.

[Luckylies]

*********booooommmm*********

To echo Scottos.....

[KatieLoeb]

*********booooommmm*********

To echo Scottos.....

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I'll third that.

These guys have the level of maniacal detail and science down to an art form. Love sitting at the bar and watching the lab equipment come out whenever I'm visiting...

Much respect and props from my end for taking it to the level they do.

[Mayur]

Word.

There tonight, and as usual the bomb was deployed and detonated in due course. What a staff! Y'all are doing a great job, period. PDT is starting to kick D&Co in the shins and grab its stuff for best bar ever and all the time; fortunately, styles are still very different between the two establishments.

On that note: Some "guest bartender" drinks tonight, including a 19th century from Bryan at D&Co and some other notables. Good choices (and Daniel, the handsome and soft-spoken 'tender this evening, walked me through a few), though the presentation of classics was a bit lacking, I'd like to see more "sell" of classics by the tenders. Thoughts?

[weinoo]

Word.

There tonight, and as usual the bomb was deployed and detonated in due course. What a staff! Y'all are doing a great job, period. PDT is starting to kick D&Co in the shins and grab its stuff for best bar ever and all the time; fortunately, styles are still very different between the two establishments.

On that note: Some "guest bartender" drinks tonight, including a 19th century from Bryan at D&Co and some other notables. Good choices (and Daniel, the handsome and soft-spoken 'tender this evening, walked me through a few), though the presentation of classics was a bit lacking, I'd like to see more "sell" of classics by the tenders. Thoughts?

←

I think it's going to be hard to call either of them the "best bar ever." Each has its own individual style and methodology - I happened to be at the other "best bar ever" tonight and had some quite delicious drinks made by the above mentioned "guest bartender," Bryan.

However, with D & C and PDT in existence at the same time (as well as Flatiron, Pegu, Tailor, et. al.), it may very well be the best TIME ever for NYC cocktail aficianados.

[Vinotas]

Wow!

After reading all these posts I've decided to hit PDT next Monday. The only speakeasy bar I used to hit was Angel's Share until they expanded and became a B&T hangout (though it still hits some high notes sometimes, if rarely). The reason is that I'm more of a wine bar kind of guy (Bar Veloce ranks high in my pantheon of wine establishments).

I look forward to seeing what they can do with gin (my base of choice).

Cheers!

Edited October 24, 2007 by Vinotas (log)