Danny Meyer's Porchlight Should Start Smoking Swordfish and Beef Jerky Any Day Now

Danny Meyer's Porchlight, his first standalone bar, is ever so close to opening in far West Chelsea. The team is hosting a press preview tonight and dropping a few photos of staff training on Twitter. Michael Shain is spearheading the cocktail menu, and Nicholas Bennett of Booker & Dax will be behind the bar offering rye Manhattans, Cognac Sazeracs, and whiskey and cola made with house-made cola.

Check out the very first glimpse inside the space. Hopefully someone turned up the heat.

Here's the @Porchlightbar taking a killer food & booze test from @Michael_Shain in prep for opening. pic.twitter.com/s3KV3iTcXd

— Mark Maynard-Parisi (@MMaynardP) February 19, 2015

Mark Maynard-Parisi, who helped found Blue Smoke is also behind Porchlight, and so is Blue Smoke's Louisiana-born chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois's, so of course there's a smoker. Bourgeois's menu, which recently went up online, promises a smoky beef jerky, smoked sword fish with "fixin's," frogs legs, and something mysteriously called Tom's Balls — no other explanation provided.

The smoking gun:

'Ole Hickory smoker @Porchlightbar - can't wait to taste the fruits of @ChefJean_Paul 's labor! pic.twitter.com/x9unXjnbG9

— John Ragan MS (@vinjohnragan) February 20, 2015