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OUTSIDE He wanted to open the speakeasy
to provide something different for the
community.
“Brooklyn and Manhattan have them,
and we wanted to bring something new to
Astoria,” McSorley said.
He thinks the new outdoor space will
bring more people to Astoria, and make
going out to a speakeasy-themed spot
more convenient for Queens residents.
The themed bar will have drinks and food
that will go with the times. The gastropub
already has more than 40 beers on tap –
they serve many specialty beers including
Lagunista: Born Again Yesterday, Victory:
Golden Monkey, Montauk Watermelon
and Allogash White to name a few. But
for the speakeasy, McSorley also wants
to “change it up and have more authentic
drinks to the ‘20s and ‘30s.” They will serve
themed cocktails, such as old-fashioned
dry martinis, gin and tonics and Canadian
whiskeys. Katch is also working on a menu
to go with the food fads of the time period.
The outdoor speakeasy will have seven
televisions to show themed movies.
McSorley plans on “sticking to movies
from that time, not just set in that time
period.” (He won’t be a stickler to the
time period all the time, though; he said
he wants to show “The Untouchables,”
even though it’s from the 1980s.) All of
the movies will be black and white to go
with the black and white decorations.
Katch will be decorated with black
and white table covers. The servers
will be wearing black and white, too.
McSorley wants everyone to have the
full experience, to make the courtyard
feel like “a throwback to that time of the
world when alcohol was prohibited,”
when people had to “make an effort to
get into a place to drink.”
McSorley hopes that the speakeasy will
become the neighborhood’s Thursday
night spot. He wants people to have fun
and enjoy the outdoor space: “We’re
inside half the year anyway,” he said. And
he’s confident that Katch has transformed
this little corner of Astoria so well that
visitors will be taken back in time to the
Prohibition.
“No one will be disappointed,” he
promised.
KATCH GASTROPUB AND EATERY
31-19 NEWTOWN AVE., ASTORIA
718-77-2230
Astoria
Photos courtesy of Katch