Free Bonus Chapter: The Cocktail Parlor Guide to New York City
Chapter illustration by TJ River
A walking tour of Manhattan’s iconic cocktail parlors,
and the women who hosted in them
A short stroll through New York City today will usually lead in short order to one of its many famous drinking establishments. From the rooftop bars of its modern skyscrapers to the basement speakeasies of its landmarked hotels, there is little square footage left in the city that has not been a venue for cocktails at one time or another.
Indeed, taking a walk through the streets of New York City is much like taking a walk through the history of the cocktail itself. While there will always be debate about where the first cocktail was originally mixed, it’s fair to say that New York City is the place that made it famous. And in spite of the fact that the mixing of cocktails has always been assumed to be men’s work, the women of New York have left their indelible mark.
From the first private women’s clubs of the Upper East Side at the turn of the last century, to the women-run speakeasies of Midtown in the roaring twenties, to the intrepid bartenders and entrepreneurs of today, New York women have not only shaped the city’s cocktails but fought for their right for inclusivity along the way…