speakeasy (new)

speakeasy (new) is a style of cocktail bar ostensibly modeled on the Prohibition-era speakeasies of the 1920s, typified by a hidden entrance, a secret password or phone number, and, often, posted rules of decorum and a reservations-only policy for admission. Opened in 1999 behind an unmarked door, New York’s Milk & Honey was one of the first modern cocktail bars to borrow cues from the traditions of Prohibition-era speakeasies, followed soon after by New York’s PDT, which is entered through a phone booth at the rear of a restaurant. See Milk & Honey. Despite belonging more to the classic saloons of the years before Prohibition than to the original speakeasies, plush interiors, vintage light fixtures, and antique mirrors became signatures of the new speakeasy aesthetic. See speakeasy (old). For the first decade of the cocktail revival, these decorative touches came to symbolize the seriousness of the cocktails served within. As the availability of quality cocktails is becoming the rule rather than the exception, the need to signal their presence through a uniform aesthetic is waning.

See also Prohibition and Temperance in America.

Ross, Christopher. “Bar Design in the Post-Speakeasy Era.” Punch, January 15, 2015. https://punchdrink.com/articles/bar-design-in-the-post-speakeasy-era/ (accessed March 11, 2021).

By: Cloe Frechette

The entrance to the modern speakeasy PDT in New York.

Courtesy of Jeff Bell.

The entrance to the modern speakeasy PDT in New York. Source: Courtesy of Jeff Bell.