June 6, 2011

Last week I went to Painkiller for swizzle stick night. While they didn’t have the elusive glass swizzle stick, they did deliver the goods with this killer of a swizzler.
I also found out that they have added some drinks to the menu since the last time I was there. They now have 110 custom made drinks to choose from! As soon as I found that out, I knew what needed to be done. I had to drink the entire menu! Not all at one sitting, but I’m going every Sunday until I drink my way through the list. Why? Well, to quote a certain Lucas Jackson, it’ll be something to do.

And here we are at Painkiller. I love the fact there's not some flashy sign outside, jut the words "Tiki Bar" on the door. It kind of gives the place a clubhouse feel.

Here we are inside the bar...hey, that looks like a familiar fellow at the bar...

It's Shawn Chittle who accompanied me to Coney Island the other week!

And here's another familiar face, Val the bartender! This guy's a real pro and one of the best bartenders I've ever seen.

And here's the first drinks of the evening!

Cheers!

Kigan was one of the bar back's on duty this Sunday evening...

And Colin was the other bar back assisting Val in bartenderly duties.

And here's drink number two from the menu, a Spiced Duke. It was delicious. I'll list all the drinks I had this evening at the bottom of the post.

Part of the fun of hanging out at Painkiller is watching the making of a drink. It's a complex thing and kind of performance art. Here's Val and Kigan making my third drink.

And the finished product, the Papa Dobie. Great work, guys!

Here I am with Ian, one of the owners of Painkiller and a real nice guy. Ian's also one of the owners of Hundred Weight Ice.

Here's a classic New York photo of Ian's mom and some of her friends at a club in the '70's. Ian wasn't sure which one it was, but I'm betting money it was Max's Kansas City.

Val took a shot of me chatting with Dasha and Robert who were having drinks at the bar.

Here's Val making a flaming Scorpion bowl for a party in the back.

Wow, the fire is really crackling. Fire!

It's ready for delivery!

And here I am sampling it with the pretty ladies in the back booth who ordered it. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.

The Drink List
What I had from the menu.

1. Bermuda Swizzle
2. Spiced Duke
3. Hemmingway
4. Papa Doble
5. 1958 Zombie
Next week I’ll try to make more of a dent in the menu!

Painkiller
49 Essex St. (between Grand & Hester Sts.)
212-777-8454

Further reading: NY Eater, NY Times, Grub Street and Tiki Central.

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June 1, 2011

I think I may have thought of a place that will have the elusive glass swizzle sticks! I was looking over last year’s bar list and I noticed the bar Painkiller, which was bar number 184. They have some real exotic tiki drinks and stuck all kinds of fancy doo-dads in them and the place is kind of pricey, but the drinks are worth it...this just might be the place that houses the ever-elusive glass swizzle stick! Let’s find out!

It's a nice night out and the Empire State Building is Mellow Yellow.

And here we are at Painkiller. No fancy sign, just a painting on the door that you have arrived at a Tiki Bar.

Ahhh, nice and dark inside. Al will approve. Let's find a seat at the bar.

Mike and Pooja were seated next to me and were trying to figure out what to order from the cocktail selection. And that's not an easy task, there's 110 drinks on the menu!

Fancy bottles on top of the bar.

And there's a familiar face behind the bar. It's Valentin, who I met last July while visiting Painkiller on the bar crawl.

I ordered the 151 Colada which is one of the STRONG drinks in the bar. They only allow you to have one of these per visit.

Valentin is swizzling the drink together, but what sort of swizzle stick will get? The tension mounts!

Holy shitballs, he's putting a metal swizzle stick in the drink!

And here's the drink and the metal swizzle stick! Nicely done, Valentin! So far, Painkiller is the bar to beat in this swizzle stick contest!

The drink is strong and mighty potent, so in-between sips (sip ahoy!—patented catchphrase courtesy of Uncle Waltie!) let's take a look around.

Rescalla and Kaina were on duty at the end of the bar. They're both fun and nice people and Rescalla is a musician with a CD coming out that's a theme CD all about bars. We'll keep you informed about that, it sounds interesting!

A tiki goddess on the bamboo wall opposite the bar.

And another tiki lovely on the bar.

A longshot of the railing opposite the bar.

Three tiki gods hang on the wall in the back room.

And a vintage Ballantine Ale ad featuring "Papa" Hemmingway hangs on the brick wall up in the front of the bar.

The ceiling is bamboo, I think the only bamboo ceiling in Manhattan.

Okay, the drink is done, let's take a closer look at that fine swizzle stick we scored!

The end of it is a spoon...hmm...it makes me think of the early '80's for some reason...

Memories! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.

If They Do Say So Themselves!
(Two paragraphs from the “Aloha” page at Painkiller’s website.)
We believe that the tiki bar should be a place where one can always see a sea of smiles. The bartenders are glad to be there. The guests are happy. The cocktails, the island dress and the music aren’t necessarily the only elements that make a tiki bar a place where we all want to go for an “escape.” The PEOPLE make it great. YOU make it great. We are carrying on a tradition. This bar will be doing things differently but by no means not showing respect and reverence for those bartenders that came before us.  We are attempting to do just as Trader Vic and Donn Beach did before us…Make beautiful, delicious cocktails.

We hope that we will be welcomed into the fold as an island outpost amongst the many within the pantheon that we all look towards for an “escape.” We promise to always make sure that everything that we prepare for you is made with respect and care. Our vision is practically the same as any of the great tiki bars: we hope that people will leave our bar with a smile and a sense of happiness. We want people to remember that the island of Manhattan, to us, is the greatest island on Earth. When you are at PKNY, we do not want to provide you with an escape from where you are; we want to remind you that you are where you want to be.

Painkiller
49 Essex St. (Near Grand St.)
212-777-8454

The Swizzle Stick Collection So Far

Further reading: Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, Grub Street, Esquire and Examiner.

You might also like: Fancy Cocktail Glasses, Fancy Glasses and Fancy.

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Heroin
Budweiser

Whatever Lola wants,
Lola gets.

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