Milk and Honey’s Magic touches down in Long Island City
Posted in Cocktail Dens, Recipes, Sasha Petraske on May 6th, 2009 by halw – 1 Comment
The Exterior of Dutch Kills.If it wasn't for the bar sign would you know what awaited you inside?
If Milk and Honey had existed circa 1880, Dutch Kills is what it might have looked like.
Sasha Petraske and Richard Boccato have brought their seasoned skills to Long Island City. The two master “barkeeps” behind the infamous Milk and Honey, Little Branch, White Star and East Side Company have brought that same amazing jaw dropping cocktail goodness to Dutch Kills.
After coming across what was once an old fish market, in August of 2007 Sasha and Richie signed the lease and broke ground on the building in December of 2007. After two years of building and obtaining all the necessary licenses, Dutch Kills opened shop to the public on Friday May 1st.
The Booths at Dutch Kills share that same vibe as Milk and Honey and Little Branch.
This 1800’s influenced cocktail den seats about seventy people spread across three rooms, and includes a ragtime band on the weekends.
The Back Room, where on weekends the ragtime band plays.
Not to leave out any detail, Dutch Kills also includes an antique cash register behind the bar.
Along with fresh ingredients such as freshly squeezed juice, hand cut ice, they’ve also made all cocktails $9. So think of this place as Milk and Honey’s Long Island City’s younger cousin.
One of the key components that all good “barkeeps” or mixologists will mention is the ice you use. And just as is done at Milk and Honey, Little Branch, and White Star the ice is hand cut on a drink by drink basis to fit the cocktail.
The Ice behind the drinks.
While Dutch Kills might be the new kid on the block, in terms of cocktail lounges. The roll call of “barkeeps” reads like a who’s who of the cocktail industry. Along side Sasha and Richie, are Giuseppe Gonzalez (Of Flat Iron Lounge, The Clover Club and Little Branch), and Alex Day(Of Death and Company).
As I spoke to Richie, I took the time to also sample a few of the menu items for this month. Engulfing two thirds of the wall space behind the bar a, chalkboard sprung to life with the names and ingredients in the featured cocktails of the month. The plan is to rotate these every month.
The Bar Spanning Cocktail Menu of Dutch Kills.
Don’t worry there’s also a portable version available for those not seated at the bar.
Richie mentioned that this version of the menu was researched at the New York City Library and the design is also based on a bar menu's from the 1800's.
No visit would be complete to Dutch Kills without mentioning the cocktails.
My first cocktail was the Steinway Punch.
The Steinway Punch. A combination of Rye Whiskey, Lemon, Curacao, and Soda.
To continue my research on the cocktails of Dutch Kills, I decided to try the Netherland.
The Netherland. A combination of Cognac, Curacao and Orange Bitters.
For my last experience of Dutch Kills, I decided to go for bartender’s choice.
Giuseppe Gonzalez was behind the bar at this time, and asked for my ingredient of choice. As I still think Absinthe gets a poor rap, I’m always curious to see what a master like Giuseppe is able to create.
He suggested the Robert Burns, which is based off the concept of the Manhattan only replacing the bourbon with Scotch.
The Robert Burns. A combination of scotch, sweet vermouth, absinthe and angostura bitters.
He was also kind enough to provide the specific recipe-
2.5 Oz Famous Grouse Blended Scotch
¼ Oz Sweet Vermouth
¼ Pernod Absinthe
2 Dash Angostura Bitters
Note: Guiseppe was serving Kubler Absinthe to a few customers the traditional way. However he chose to utilize Pernod in the Robert Burns. As to why, he felt the Kubler would be to dry to work in the cocktail.
As A Muddled Thought is based out of Astoria, finally having a cocktail den about ten minutes is a nice change. Having one of Dutch Kills caliber, with near perfect drinks might even keep us out of the city for a while. Located only a few blocks from Queensboro Plaza in Long Island City, and accessible by N,W or 7 Trains the location is convenient enough for even downtown cocktail fans to swing by and check out . Dutch Kills is worth every second of your trip to experience and then some.
A final shot of Giuseppe Gonzalez creating a perfect cocktail at Dutch Kills.
