This White Russian Got a Modern Makeover

In Brooklyn, Red Hook Tavern’s much-buzzed-about dry-aged burger regularly draws dozens of hopeful diners into a queue that snakes down the block. Those in the know will tell you that you can now order the famous burger at Tavern Next Door, the new neighboring cocktail bar run by the same team. But Tavern Next Door, which is lit with a slight neon glow that evokes an Art Deco, midcentury supper club, is an experience in its own right. There, it’s head bartender Conor Johns’ inventive, ’70s-era disco drinks that take center stage. 

On the menu, under the banners of “Strong & Stiff” and “Shaken & Refreshing” are throwbacks like the Singapore Sling and Tequila Sunrise along with the Rusty Nail and Brandy Alexander. Johns uses the original names and many of the core components of each drink as familiar signposts, but employs unexpected ingredients and techniques that would be foreign to a bartender who pulled shifts at Studio 54 back in the day. 

That many of these oft-dismissed drinks are no longer ordered by cocktail enthusiasts is what makes them so special to Johns. “Keeping the original names helps put guests at ease and not feel intimidated by the modern twists, techniques and ingredients we’re incorporating,” he says. “The best compliments we get are that these drinks remind people of their past but in a new way to experience them.” 

Over several visits I’ve had the chance to sample my way through all of the drinks, but the one I can’t stop thinking about is the White Russian. I wondered whether you could really call a cocktail a White Russian if it wasn’t made with vodka and Kahlúa, but after trying it, it instantly won me over.