Mace (permanently closed)

Address: 649 East 9th Street, (at Avenue C), New York, NY, 10009, United States

Door: Open door/walk-ins
Style: Cocktail bar
Food: Tapas/plates & dishes
Established: 2015

Greg Boehm, the man behind Cocktail Kingdom barware and Nicolas de Soto, the Paris-born affable master bartender have teamed up with Zachary Sharaga to revamp his former Louis 649 site into this very 'spicy' bar. A dozen regularly changing cocktails are offered - all named and themed around spices - Mace included.

While the cocktails are named after and based around specific spices, the drinks are more complex and tend not to be dominated by their respective spice. The beautifully presented menu includes an illustration of each spice alongside the ingredients for each drink, its flavour profile (e.g. "floral + bubbly", preparation (e.g. shaken) and spice origin (e.g. Egypt).

The eponymous Mace Cocktail contains "aperol, aquavit, beet juice, orange acid, young Thai coconut cordial and mace mist" and is typical of both the drink's complexity and boundary breaking ingredients.

The décor is modern with whites and light tones making the long narrow space appear airy. Jars of spices lining the back bar reinforce the theme. The furnishings are hard and coffee bar-like. This is not a 'loungy' cocktail bar, nonetheless it's cosy and you'll feel right at home - especially when sat at the bar being charmed by Nicolas.