I first found myself at Milk and Honey one random night back in 2000, at the behest of a friend who couldn't stop raving about a weird new speakeasy her high school pal had opened. Getting buzzed inside from a desolate block of Eldridge Street felt like falling through a rabbit hole into an enchanting alternate reality. The vibe was like an old library that had been secretly turned into an atavistic opium den, an exotic candlelit warren where ludicrously specific rules forbid speaking to a woman you didn't know unless she initiated the conversation, where "fighting, play fighting" and even "talking about fighting" were forbidden, as were "name dropping and star f**king."
Old-timey jazz music flickered in the background, and when the gorgeous no-nonsense cocktail waitresses in vintage threads came to take your drink order, you realized there were no menus—you simply explained the kinds of spirits and flavors you preferred, and the bartender riffed, sending you back something invariably spectacular, usually with a giant single ice cube. There was a very scientific reason for that, but by the next day I could never remember. And the cocktails were expensive—$15 a pop, a princely sum back then—but you savored them more and saved the place for special occasions.
The little oasis felt like it had been there forever, but it was new, and Milk and Honey's fastidious, borderline comical homage to pre-Prohibition cocktail preparation quickly spawned a new era of bar culture in New York City, which we're still living in (and rolling our eyes at) today. We are all Milk and Honey's now, and it's been years since I visited the Source, which finally closed after 13 years in business, relocating to the Flatiron District. (The original Eldridge Street location has been taken over by two longtime Milk and Honey bartenders, Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy, and they're reopening it as a bar called Attaboy.)
The new home of Milk and Honey has done away with the onerous reservation policy and will now accept walk-ins, and the atmosphere has shifted from dark speakeasy to dark Art Deco lounge. (They bumped up the lights for our photo shoot, but owner Sasha Petraske says it's still a work in progress, and it will certainly not be bright like this.) In keeping with tradition, the cocktail menus will still be intangible, but unlike the original you'll be able to pair your libations with a variety of sandwiches and other bar snacks.
Reservations are recommended, but not required, and can be made by emailing [email protected]. The new location is currently open most nights from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m, and cocktails run $16.
30 East 23rd Street // [email protected]
