Mother’s Ruin Alum Slides Into East Village Mainstay Cafe Orlin With New Cocktail Bar

An East Village space previously home to 36-year-old neighborhood mainstay Cafe Orlin has become a new cocktail bar, with drinks from an alum of cocktail favorite Mother’s Ruin.

Paper Daisy is now open at 41 St. Marks Place, near Second Avenue, a project led by East Village bar owners Jaime Felber and Darin Rubell of Drexler’s and the recently opened Mister Paradise. Thomas Flynn (Mother’s Ruin, Drexler’s) is behind a cocktail menu that includes his personal takes on classic drinks like an Old Fashioned, made here with Rittenhouse rye whiskey, apple brandy, and Brazilian banana liqueur. Another drink blends matcha, cucumbers, and lemongrass shochu into a gin cocktail, plus beer and a few selections of red, white, and rose wines are also on tap.

But coffee and daytime fare will also be a thing here.

The bar comes with an outpost of well-liked East Village breakfast sandwich spot C & B at Paper Daisy, which will serve breakfast and lunch fare during the day. Rubell, who used to be a regular at Cafe Orlin, says he hopes the Paper Daisy will recapture the “magic” that made Orlin a “real home” for many in the neighborhood.

C & B chef Ali Sahin (Daniel, Rouge Tomate) will be in charge of the food menu at both the cafe and bar. Freshly baked bread and elements of Middle Eastern cuisine will be a focus. At the cafe — a grab-and-go affair that mirrors the original location that opened four years ago — breakfast sandwiches and bowls will be served. There, Sahin brings on a Tunisian lablabi breakfast bowl, with chickpeas and a poached egg, and over at the bar, snacks include oysters, a duck hotdog, and sour cucumbers served with yogurt and pita.

Former Cafe Orlin owner Yosi Ohayon still owns the building that houses the new concept, wanting to pass the buck to other people from the neighborhood.

Paper Daisy has a 14-sear bar, banquet nooks, and larger high-top tables for seating, with blue and green tones splattered throughout. A 100-year-old door from India separates the bar from the cafe, and old Cafe Orlin menus are framed on the walls.

C & B opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m., when the bar kicks into gear, it will be open until 4 a.m. It’s all open now with a limited menu; the full menus (shown below) will arrive on March 14.