Don’t be a grinch. This pop-up bar in Rockville Centre looks straight out of Whoville.
Who needs 34th? Cork & Kerry is bringing the “Miracle” right here to Long Island.
Who needs 34th Street when, right here on Long Island, we’ll have a “Miracle” in Rockville Centre?
The popular Christmas bar pop-up movement arrives right here at hidden-in-plain-sight speakeasy Cork and Kerry this year, joining a list of over 80 global locations participating in Greg Boehm’s cocktail concept starting Friday, November 23—the day after Thanksgiving.
In cities as far-flung as Panama City, London, Paris and Montreal to cities big and small across the States and the original location on 9th Street in Manhattan, Black Friday gets doused with color at select bars. All will feature over-the-top decorations set to rival Rolf’s in NYC—and special-recipe drinks are just an added bit of tinsel to bring a little bit of an added sparkle to the participating venue.
The concoctions served are exclusive to Miracle-affiliated bars, and are the brainchildren of mixologist extraordinaire Nico de Soto of Mace and Danico, one of NYC’s top five “most legendary bartenders” according to Grandlife and the only cocktail slinger to make the list of Most Influential French People in Their Thirties. Back for another lap around the circuit is the Snowball Old Fashioned, featuring gingerbread bourbon, wormwood bitters and lemon zest; newcomers include Christmas Carol Barrel, a perfect segue from pumpkin spice season with its notes of pumpkin pie, vanilla, Demerara syrup and aged rum with Amaro and more. A Partridge in a Pear Tree is another drink making its debut for this year’s Miracle, offering up tequila, pear brandy and mezcal mixed with spiced Demerara syrup, lime, cinnamon, egg white, bitters, and club soda.
It’ll be Cork and Kerry’s Beverage Director Doug Brickel and his talented crew that will be bringing these whimsical drinks to Long Island, served in Cocktail Kingdom, custom Miracle glassware. Special edition mugs, coupes, highballs and rocks glasses were created just for this event, and will be available to imbibers as keepsakes with a cause, since 10% of select glassware sales will go toward Action Against Hunger.
“Miracle and the Cocktail Kingdom team were attracted to Action Against Hunger and its focus, as all programming goes to life-saving nutritional programs and 93% of the funds raised is used toward that,” says Boehm and Miracle GM Joann Spiegel.
However standardized the charitable partnership and signature drinks will be, Brickel and the Cork and Kerry crew will be putting their own stamps on the event.
“Decor varies from location to location, but we think our space”—which is a lovely refurbished Victorian home constructed in the 1860s—”lends itself particularly well to decorating. Aside from bringing the Christmas spirit inside with decorations, pictures, festive glassware and other fun touches, we’ll have the unique opportunity to decorate outside as well!” says Brickel, thrilled at the novelty of making the normally subdued bar an impossible-to-miss marquee.
“We’ll have fun things on the roof, peeking out from our upstairs windows, and lights covering as much of the building as possible,” he winks.
However, beyond decor, Brickel puts its uniqueness best. The leaders of Miracle “strive to find interesting locations with great cocktails,” and Cork and Kerry in Rockville Centre is certainly that any time of year. But now, as Miracle finally comes to Long Island, it’ll be “sharing the holiday spirit through our lens of creative, modern cocktails … drinks with amazing names and ingredients that will make all our patrons reminisce on years past,” he says.
Because at the end of the day, those moments are truly what this Miracle is all about.