NEW YORK • Last week, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut limited all restaurants and bars to takeaway and delivery as part of the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But the New York State Liquor Authority threw some of those businesses a small lifeline in the form of "new off-premises privileges".
Translation: drinks to go.
This allowance requires drinks to be ordered with a purchase of food. According to Mr Bill Crowley, a spokesman for the Liquor Authority, a bag of chips as part of the order would satisfy the mandate.
Among the New York City bars that quickly began to offer takeout cocktails were PDT, Attaboy, Middle Branch, Sugar Monk and Angel's Share in Manhattan; Hunky Dory, Leyenda, Seaborne, Donna, Fresh Kills and Fort Defiance in Brooklyn; and Dutch Kills and Selma's Bar in Queens. Others, such as Existing Conditions in Manhattan, plan to begin soon.
Some bars are working with food-delivery services such as Caviar, but each bar has worked out a different business model and many cocktails can be ordered by phone or e-mail for pickup.
Mr Jeff Bell, an owner of PDT in the East Village, was one of the first to sell to-go drinks, including bar favourites such as a mezcal mule and the Benton's old-fashioned in sizes from individual, one-drink flasks, priced at US$12 (S$17.40), to growlers that contain up to 12 drinks (US$120). Each order came with tater tots.
For a time, Mr Bell engaged in a playful social-media rivalry with nearby bar Attaboy, which was turning out several of its most popular cocktails, including the Penicillin, a twist on a whiskey sour.
Hunky Dory in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, began its takeaway service with Irish coffees and later sold martini packages, which included three bottled martinis for two, garnishes and two glasses for US$55.
Last weekend, Leyenda sold bottled palomas and margaritas through its window on Smith Street in Brooklyn.
Several bars reported moving more than 200 cocktails a day. Drinks have been delivered in a variety of impromptu vessels, from Ball jars to coffee cups to capped glass soda bottles.
Gloves, constant sanitising and social distancing are part of every exchange of money and goods. After New York governor Andrew CuoRead More – Source
