A Heavenly Evening at Angels Share

Angel's Share

Angel's Share has been on my list of must try speakeasies since moving to the city more than 4 years ago. Tonight, I made that wish come true. When The Mr. announced that he was craving a lobster roll from Luke's, we jumped in a cab and I requested that we be dropped of at St Mark's & 3rd instead of 1st Ave. I identified Village Yokocho and confidently walked up the stairs. When I reached the top I spied an inconspicuous door to my left, so without pause I made a beeline there. Opening it I found a jam packed foyer to the bar. I squeezed through to the hostess and put my name on the 2 hour wait list.

We made the most of that time with that lobster roll at Luke's followed by a quick stop in to Caracas Arepa Bar To Go. When we made our way back and were immediately seated at the bar. We opened the menu and started the very difficult process of choosing our drinks. For the first round, The Mr selected the Sweet Lorraine from the cocktails made with traditional Japanese rice wine and soju. The flavors were complex and surprising, including the subtle flavor of tomato from the tomato water. I chose the Banana Old Fashioned, a rum cocktail in the style of the classic bourbon namesake. Again, I was surprised to find a lot of tastes shining through and not being overwhelmed by banana.

Angel's Share: Sweet Lorraine & Banana Old Fashioned

We were definitely interested in Round 2. I had already been leaning towards the Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, so when the bartender recommended that to The Mr. I was super excited to give it a try. Which also meant that I could order the Charlie Brown another cocktail I had spied on the menu that involved peanut butter. The bartender (who was suuuuper nice) lit a pile of spices which included cloves and other comforting twigs and then turned an upside down glass over it. It filled with smoke and he let it sit there while he made my drink. The Charlie Brown was like a creamy peanut butter dessert in cocktail form. So delicious. Then the Smoke Gets In Your Eyes was finally ready and we were both in love from first whiff. It was like being transported to a comfy leather armchair in front of a roaring fire. This is hands down one of our new favorite drinks.

Our friendly bartender was disappointed to hear that this was our last round and insisted we return and let them make us custom drinks to our preferences. We intend to do just that.