Manhatta to Reopen With a Focus on Drinks

Manhatta, the sky-high restaurant that the restaurateur Danny Meyer closed initially of the pandemic, will reopen on March 17. However the sprawling house on the sixtieth ground of 28 Liberty Road within the monetary district, with its breathtaking views of the town, will serve solely drinks and bar meals, no less than at first.

It’s the newest lofty perch to change into a consuming vacation spot on par with the perfect street-level cocktail bars. The Panorama Room, on the high of the Graduate Roosevelt Island resort on Roosevelt Island, opened in August. The identical month, Overstory opened on the sixty fourth ground of 70 Pine Road. (That bar is seen from Manhatta.)

Mr. Meyer mentioned the concept for the weird reboot was born on Manhatta’s final evening of service in March 2020, when the bar was 5 deep with locals even because the pandemic loomed. His reminiscence, he mentioned, was “of the perfect again bar within the metropolis, as a result of the again bar is the town.” He added, “It was precisely what we created the bar to be.”

Cameron Winkelman, who has labored at Mace, Dante and the Polynesian in New York, is the brand new head bartender. The bar space, which seats 100 and overlooks uptown, will likely be open seven days per week from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Mr. Winkelman brings a culinary strategy to the cocktails, which are supposed to evoke facets of Gotham historical past. A piece of the brand new menu is dedicated to up to date variations of drinks named after New York neighborhoods, each traditional (the manhattan, Astoria and Brooklyn cocktails) and fashionable (the Purple Hook and Little Italy cocktails). Look to the Cookie, an aquavit drink with coconut milk and a complete egg, mimics the flavour and look of a black-and-white cookie.

Mr. Winkelman mentioned he realized of the place from a Fb publish, and earlier than taking the job, “requested how bizarre would they be prepared to get with the cocktails.”

Manhatta’s restaurant will return, however not till later this spring, and underneath a special chef, nonetheless to be named. Jason Pfeifer beforehand ran the kitchen, which targeted on French meals.

“It was like ‘Cats,’ in that it by no means bought an excellent overview, however was packed each evening,” Mr. Meyer mentioned. “There was a deep affection for the restaurant.”

A bar-food menu, devised by a chef from the Union Sq. Hospitality Group, which runs the restaurant, consists of oysters, a burger, fried hen and a pretzel model of an the whole lot bagel.

Mr. Meyer is just not new to the bar world. He opened the Manhattan bar Porchlight in 2015, adopted by Cedric’s on the Shed and Anchovy Social, a rooftop bar in Washington, D.C.

The brand new Manhatta stays true to the imaginative and prescient Mr. Meyer had when it opened in the summertime of 2018, that of a down-to-earth restaurant with an distinctive view.

Mr. Meyer mentioned he wished to steer the reopening with the bar, which he considers the center of Manhatta. “If we’ve realized something throughout this time,” he mentioned, “it’s the price of doing issues layer by layer.”

Manhatta, 28 Liberty Road, sixtieth ground; 212-230-5788, manhattarestaurant.com