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In a sea of generic Union Square hotel bars, the newly opened Bar Maritime is a craft cocktail oasis. However, don’t expect island views. Tucked away on the second floor of the narrow Palihotel at the mouth of the Stockton Street Tunnel, the rustic-chic bar has floor-to-ceiling windows that offer an uninterrupted vista of a parking garage.
But the patrons sipping martinis and slurping oysters aren’t here for that. They’re here for Larry.
With a well-coiffed silver mane and thick-framed spectacles, Larry Piaskowy, 56, doesn’t look like a prototypical bar manager. Rather than a vest and handlebar mustache, he sports a striped T-shirt, a hand-made chambray apron, and the kind of wide smile usually reserved for restaurant hosts. But his lack of irony and knack for pouring crushable drinks seem to be working. Piaskowy has become one of the city’s most beloved barkeeps.
Unlike chefs, bartenders are a nomadic bunch, moving from bar to bar, sometimes working at two at once. But because of the personal rapport between drink makers and drink drinkers, it’s not uncommon for customers to follow their favorite mixologists around the city. Fans who experienced Danny Louie’s Asian-inspired cocktails at Chino or Mister Jiu’s know they can now find him at Kaiyo, where he’s slinging pisco-based drinks spiked with green Szechuan peppercorns. Elmer Mejicanos started at 25 Lusk and Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, but these days, his mad, Girl Scout-cookie-inspired concoctions and boozy slushies turn heads at Causwells and Lilah.
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Similarly, acolytes of Piaskowy have followed him from 15 Romolo to Alembic to True Laurel and, most recently, to Rich Table, where he had a four-year stint as bar manager. Now he is the star attraction at Bar Maritime.
Those in the know check his menus for a milk punch. He perfected the art of using dairy products to clarify drinks at Rich Table, leveraging his experience as a chef to create a cocktail menu that reflected the seasons, including a tomato milk punch that remains a summer staple. Because highly versatile milk punches allowed him to use excess ingredients from the kitchen, he kept three on the menu at any given time. “People were coming to Rich Table just to drink milk punch,” he says with a laugh. At Bar Maritime, the tradition continues with All That Glitters, a pineapple- and coconut-spiked milk punch inspired by a piña colada but made with scotch.
The Bar Maritime menu generally sticks to the classics, executed simply but well or with a playful twist. The Mad Macs — served with a tiny bowl of furikake-dusted figs and almonds — riffs on a classic Manhattan, blending scotch and rum with chocolatey Cocchi Vermouth di Torino and a touch of Madeira. The Honey Melon Scruff Scruff is made with sweet glutinous-rice-washed vodka, Japanese whiskey, and Jarritos lime, plus a splash of neon-green Midori. On the more restrained end, there’s the Maritime Martini, a delicate drink featuring sake, vodka, and sweet-tart plum wine.
Piaskowy isn’t the only star power behind the nautically themed bar. Owners Arda Jooharian, Andrew Pettingell, and Cari Hah also tapped former Monsieur Benjamin chef de cuisine George Dingle to consult on a simple, seafood-focused menu of small plates, including shrimp cocktail, tempura oyster mushrooms, and salty fries with Old Bay aioli. Soon, Felix Santos — who cooked at Michelin-starred Quince, Sorrel, and Atelier Crenn — will step in to run the kitchen for the long term.
But right now, most people are coming in for Larry. As long as he’s behind the bar, it’s worth sailing into Bar Maritime.
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- Bar Maritime