Hit FiDi Bar the Dead Rabbit Adds 30 Cocktails and New Room

The Dead Rabbit debuts new cocktail parlor

Very critically acclaimed Financial District bar the Dead Rabbit keeps on growing. Following the addition of a taproom downstairs, the bar opened a new extension this week that accommodates 25 more people on its second floor at 30 Water St. The new parlor room comes at the same times as a new menu series for the entire bar — created by beverage director Jillian Vose — called “Darkland” and featuring dark themes in its branding and the cocktail names. There are 30 new cocktails on hand, including the “stun grenade,” made with Irish whiskey, a Cuban rum blend, sweet vermouth, carrot, pineapple, sumac, and tarragon. The new drink menu is available throughout the bar, and the new parlor room is open Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Premixed martinis spark rift in bartending world

Premixed martinis straight from the freezer are on the rise at craft cocktail bars, and people are not happy about it. Premixed freezer cocktails have popped up all over in the name of efficiency, but giving this treatment to the martini seems especially egregious given the drink’s simplicity. According to the Times, most of the drinks on longtime Greenwich Village bar Dante’s martini hour menu are pre-made, batched, and chilled. The same goes for the house martini at Sauvage and Mister Paradise’s take on an old-fashioned. Proponents of the practice cite greater productivity and also the ability to make a very cold martini this way. Critics contend that it takes away the service aspect and renders bar programs robotic.

Praise for simple Greek food in Astoria

In the latest Hungry City column at the Times, newer critic Marian Bull visits Taverna Kos in Astoria, highlighting an off-menu plate of cheese, a Greek salad with “hyper-creamy” feta, the tripe soup, and the seafood, like a whole grilled branzino and fried calamari. The restaurant has been open to the private club in its building for 11 years, but it opened to the public three years ago. Meals end with complimentary dessert, and Bull writes that the best is the “galaktoboureko, a thick custard baked under phyllo whose wrinkly top glistens with syrup.”

More praise — and some criticism — for Rocco DiSpirito’s restaurant return

Following a two-star review from Pete Wells, Hannah Goldfield at the New Yorker also turns to Rocco DiSpirito’s cooking at the Standard Grill and is slightly less impressed. “At the Standard Grill, he seems to be tripped up by his desire to pay homage to his early career — and to a style of cooking based on fairly outdated ideas of luxury — while also playing catch-up on some of the trends he missed,” Goldfield writes. Still, while she finds a lot of the menu dated, there are things to enjoy, like the Italian parsley fregola with water chestnut and chickpea flours, served on steamed Manila clams. She calls it “delightful.”

Coffee and tea comings and goings

Cafe Petisco in the Two Bridges area of the Lower East Side is shuttered temporarily after a basement wall collapsed due to nearby construction. “We caught the matter quickly and are trying to fix it as fast as we can,” a note on the building reads. Meanwhile, the Flushing-based mini chain of tea houses Price Tea House will expand to the Lower East Side, set to open at 134 Bowery. It will serve hot and cold teas alongside pastries. And a new Blue Bottle Cafe will open at 2 Astor Pl.

Toby’s Estate has a new name

The Brooklyn-based coffee company Toby’s Estate is officially rebranding as Partners Coffee starting tomorrow. The name is meant to shout out the partnerships the company has cultivated, including with farmers, wholesalers, and customers. The rebrand comes with a new look that channels throwback New York coffee counters.

Kate Hudson dines out in West Village

Movie star Kate Hudson ate at the West Village Italian restaurant Via Carota, and the Post is on it. In other recent sightings, Marie Kondo dropped by Sakagura East Village, and record producer Clive Davis was spotted at Patsy’s Italian Restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen.