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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MAY 12, 2019
Booze-free cocktail bar opens in Greenpoint
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Three sober people walk
out of a bar.
It’s no joke: a new boozefree
bar is serving fanciful
craft cocktails from its
swanky Greenpoint locale,
intoxicating patrons with
their sight, smell, and fl avor
— but not with alcohol.
Getaway, which opened on
April 9, would be indistinguishable
from a classic
Brooklyn speakeasy if not
for the stone-cold sobriety
of the bar’s clientele, according
to its co-founder.
“It was meant to feel like
a craft cocktail bar,” said
Sam Thonis, who also lives
in Greenpoint. “It’s a very
social space, with music
and delicious drinks.”
Getaway’s growing
menu currently features
nine non-alcoholic cocktails,
11 soda options, coffee,
tea, and three housemade
shrubs, made from
vinegar, fruit syrups, and
club soda.
Thonis, who favors the
Paper Train mocktail —
made from a delicate mix of
lemon juice, tobacco syrup,
vanilla, and San Pellegrino
— said that the bar’s mixed
drinks are defi nitely the
crowd favorite.
“The price point on the
mixed drinks is higher,
sometimes signifi cantly, but
for whatever reasons people
gravitate toward the mixed
drinks. Some people want to
sample the whole menu, so
they’ll get a few,” he said.
Those ordering from
Getaway’s menu of zero
proof beverages include
staunch non-drinkers,
alongside curious barfl ies
giving their livers a night
to relax, said Thonis.
“I think it’s really both,”
he said. “A lot of people
come because it’s new and
interesting, but on the
other hand, a lot of people
have told us that they’re sober,
and they’ve been looking
for a place like this.”
Thonis opened the bar,
with his co-founder Regina
Dellea, after watching his
brother quit drinking, and
then struggle to fi nd a place
to socialize in a city where
even the axe-throwing
ranges serve booze.
“My brother got sober,
or started to get sober,
three years ago,” said Thonis.
“He and I were talking
about how there’s nowhere
we can go that’s not centered
around alcohol. So, I
think we’re really fi lling a
void in that area.”
The two founders consider
themselves at the forefront
of new trend toward
nonalcoholic nightlife. In
addition to Canticles Sober
Lounge , run by a Bedford-
Stuyvesant church, hip
new hooch-nixing spots are
sprouting up throughout
the City. The founder of Listen
Bar, a monthly pop-up
that serves a complicated
menu of soft cocktails, says
that more and more people
are foregoing alcohol and
discovering they can have
fun without it.
“We’re giving people a
new face for what it looks
like to go out without drinking,”
said Lorelei Bandrovschi.
“We’re just this
idea, but it’s rapidly growing
around the world.”
Listen, which is currently
crowdsourcing
funds in hopes of opening
a permanent spot in Williamsburg,
aims to provide
the excitement of a night on
the town without the nextday
hangover.
“We have a very groovy
mood, with dim lighting
and fun music,” said Bandrovschi.
“The vibe is really
kind of fun.”
Similarly, Thonis said that
Getaway’s traditional tavern
trappings make it reassuringly
familiar to those seeking
refuge from the tipsy lifestyle,
whether for the night or
for their entire lives.
“We’re just a bar, and people
have responded really
well,” he said.
Getaway 156 Green St.
between Franklin Street and
Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint,
(929) 337–6025, www.
getaway.bar. Open Tue–Sun;
5 p.m.–midnight.
THEY GOT SPIRITS: The new tasting room in Industry City
sells its own Ginger Liqueur and 159 other New York state-made
spirits. Photo by Bill Roundy
GINGER
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whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law. Postmaster, send address
changes to Courier Life, One MetroTech Center North, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
ing an Intense Old Fashioned,
a brain-freezing
Frozen Intense Mule, and
a creamy drink called If
you like Ginger Coladas.
Customers can buy
bottles of the Intense Ginger
Liqueur at the bar —
and bottles of any other
liquor in the place, said
Morton.
“We have 160 New
York spirits, and you can
sample any bottle and
buy it right here,” he said.
“We’re halfway between a
bar and a liquor store.”
All of the spirits served
in the Tasting Room
are made from grains
grown in New York state
— which means no rum
or tequila, since the Empire
State does not support
sugar cane or agave
plants.
The Tasting Room
also offers a wide variety
of tasting fl ights, so
you can sip your way
through all nine Empire
Rye whiskeys, or sample
fi ve different varieties of
gins — fl ights are available
in “beginner” and
“advanced” versions. The
samplers can help people
to discover new spirits,
saod Morton.
“You’re drinking,
and it’s fun, and you’re
also learning about what
you’re drinking,” he said.
Barrow’s versatile liqueur
also appears in a
few dessert items, including
a ginger ice cream
from Blue Marble, and
ginger-stuffed truffl es
from Li-Lac Chocolates —
both companies located
in Industry City. The ginger
maven also has plans
to team up with other distilleries
and food producers,
he said.
“Our stuff works with
everything, so we’re very
collaborative,” said Morton.
The distillery has been
producing its ginger product
in Industry City since
2013, but recently moved
to a ground fl oor spot in
the complex’s Building
6, which also houses Big
Alice Brewing’s Barrel
Room and sake producer
Brooklyn Kura.
Barrow’s Intense Ginger
Liqueur Tasting Room
(86 34th St. between Second
and Third avenues in
Industry City, www.barrowsintense.
com). Open
Mon–Wed, noon–6 p.m.;
Thu, noon–7 p.m.; Fri,
noon–9 p.m.; Sat, noon–8
p.m.; Sun, noon–7 p.m.
Continued from cover
SPICE OF LIFE: The bar serves a Ginger Spice cocktail, made with
spicy ginger, cucumber, grapefruit juice, extra bitter tonic, club
soda, and blackberries. Photo by Julianne McShane
sion keeps all those elements,
but the cast size has
grown from 12 to 14, while
various plot elements have
been sharpened, said its director.
“The shape and feel of
the show is consistent,”
said Shira Milikowsky,
who lives in Cobble Hill.
“We’ve done a lot of streamlining
and a lot of clarifi cation.”
The extra time to inhabit
their characters has
also helped the actors perfect
their roles, said Milikowsky
“Everything gets deeper,
the timing is sharper, and
the jokes get funnier,” she
said.
With a run projected to
last at least until the end of
the summer, Mauriello said
he is excited to bring the
show to even more crowds
of Wilde fans, theater-goers,
and party people.
“We were so thrilled
that people came to the
show for all different reasons,”
said the Bushwick
performer. “It felt sexy
and exciting, but wasn’t
exclusionary — everyone
could come and enjoy and
party in whatever way they
wanted to. What I’m most
proud of that we had this
beautifully diverse crowd
coming together.”
“Oscar at the Crown”
at 3 Dollar Bill 260 Meserole
St. between Bushwick
Place and Waterbury
Street in Bushwick, (718)
366–3031, www.oscaratthecrown.
com. Previews start
May 11; opening May 30.
Fri, Sat, Sun at 8 pm. $45
($79 VIP).
OSCAR
Continued from cover