The Retro Style of Honeywell
In The Honeywell, a seventies-appointed spot—think lazy Susans in back booths and a black-and-white TV playing reruns of “Family Feud”—the ebullient music is very much alive. In the bathroom, hits by the likes of the O’Jays and Donna Summer run on a loop: “Every time I go in there, I start dancing, it’s so happy!” a tattoo-besleeved patron exclaimed to his date the other day. The bar owes its name to a drunken night in Chicago, when the owners took a picture of themselves in front of a large sign for the Honeywell conglomerate; one of the servers noted, “So when they were opening a bar they thought, Oh, that’s a cool name, let’s just name it after an electronics company!” Don’t let the kitsch put you off the extraordinary drinks here, though. Among them, the Monk Fashion is the hands-down champion. First, Scotch is combined with Chartreuse; then the mixture is sprayed with a peaty tincture and placed under a bell jar, which a bartender proceeds to pump full of wood smoke. It evokes the feeling of sprawling in front of an open fire, joyful with charred goodness. A runner-up is the Tiger Beet (vodka, beet juice, mint, and lemon), whose wholesome earth tones mask the potency of the liquor. Matchbooks, each adorned with a picture of one of the owners’ mothers, line the counter. Grab one, join hands with a friendly patron, and you’ll be just about ready to start a Love Train.
From “Bar Tab” in The New Yorker; Photo from Edible Manhattan #bar #bars #cocktail #cocktails #manhattan #nyc #newyorkcity #music #dance #kitsch #disco #chicago #drunk #honeywell #story #stories #thestorybar
