Pour One Out #2: LunÀtico

A weekly newsletter featuring Brooklyn bars to try on your way to where you're going. Written by your friend and fellow fan of nightcaps, Molly Wilcox.

“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the Bible says love your enemy.” ~ Frank Sinatra

Photo by Liz Clayman

This weekend in New York you may have found yourself wearing your warmest floor-length puffer coat, a hoodie, wool socks, a beanie, and a scarf that makes it impossible to turn your head from side to side, forcing you to pivot your entire body to the left, then the right, to check for cars. A look resembling Joey in “The One Where No One’s Ready.” You may have seen a snowball fight at Washington Square Park on Saturday, or Tai Chi in the snow, or maybe even a snowman getting blowtorched.

But there’s a special camaraderie that comes with snow in New York: you make comments to your neighbors that you’ve never met like, “Check out this snow, huh?” *gesturing emphatically towards the sky* and “Bet the grocery store lines are nuts!” You scan the sidewalk for snow-dusted dog poop as you admire the snow-covered trash bags. You celebrate catching yourself from falling with the stranger walking beside you. And if you’re a particularly brave soul, you even leave your comfy, little neighborhood block in the name of food and drink. (Pour one out for the restaurant workers keeping you and your friends buzzed and brimming amidst a frothy blizzard!)

Photos by Elizabeth Piccolo.

Bar Spotlight: LunÀtico

📍Location: 486 Halsey St., Bed-Stuy. Grub Street named LunÀtico “The Absolute Best Bar in Bed-Stuy” in 2017. It’s close to the AC line on Fulton and located on a quiet neighborhood brownstone street near the busier Lewis Ave and Malcom X Blvd.

📚 History: LunÀtico was founded in 2014 by musicians Richard Julian, Arthur Kell, & Rosita Késs, with a goal to combine the ~sophisticated~ elements of a cocktail bar with the funkiness of their favorite music spots.

💫 Vibe: This place is dinner and a show, both literally and metaphorically. It’s a restaurant, bar, and jazz club mixed into one, and I genuinely had the best possible time listening to Fred Thomas’s funk band play all night long. Thomas is an absolute legend who has played bass with singer James Brown for over 30 years and played on countless R&B and soul train hits from the 70s. While LunÀtico is a bar and restaurant, when the clock strikes 9 p.m., music takes precedent. The music is technically free but they recommend tipping at least $10 a person, which you can also add to your bill if you don’t have cash.

🍸 Taste: The staff is amazing and no one’s rushing you to give up your table (ahem, 90% of restaurants in Manhattan) — we stayed from 7:30 to 11:30, a four hour stretch consisting of mezcal/tequila cocktails, Old Fashioneds, and Italian wine (yes, I am also impressed we took the right trains home), an oyster mushroom/delicata squash appetizer served with hazelnuts and pomegranate molasses, roasted chicken with white bean ragu and broccolini, and braised short rib with fingerling potatoes. With some perfectly delicate cheesecake to top it off. 🤌 (Still salivating.)

💸 Price: By New York standards, the hand-crafted cocktails are reasonably priced ($14) and glasses of wine range from $11 to $16. Their food is perfect for sharing and range from $3 (thick sourdough with olive oil and flaky sea salt) to $21 (short rib).

🚽 Bathroom: Imagine an older and wiser, hip, single friend who gallivants around the world and has a unique and ethereal vibe that you’ll never attain. This bar bathroom feels like the powder room you’d find in her home, filled with moody lighting, interesting sconces, and artwork she’s collected from her unending travels. It’s clean and cramped, and for the amount of people crowded inside on a Saturday, there’s a surprisingly short wait.

💿 Music for your journey: Hard to Handle by Otis Redding, Bad Girls by Donna Summer, Two Bugs and a Roach by Earl Hooker, & Why I Sing the Blues by B.B. King.

💭 Final Thoughts: I can’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed live music so much. They don’t take reservations but if you’re hoping to hear music with your dinner, plan to get there closer to 8 p.m. to get a table or seat at the bar.

Photos by Elizabeth Piccolo.

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That's all for now folks. If you go to LunÀtico (which I highly recommend) and like it, tell me more and send me selfies. If you hate it, forgive me and tell me why. Catch you next week my ~S A U C Y~ friends! ;)

[Pitch a bar I should review and give me feedback, follow my poorly executed Instagram, and share my unsolicited opinions with your friends!]