BY SEAN CURRY
@THESANDWICHENTHUSIAST
The Highwater — the latest cocktail bar to grace Astoria’s
Broadway strip — is an oasis of summer lifestyle
as the weather gets chillier. Much like clothes on the
hottest of summer days, any scrap of pretension is
stripped away in favor of fantastic drinks, amazing
food and an inviting atmosphere. Before I could even
take my coat off and get my notebook out, I was offered
a seat at the bar and a cocktail. That’s hospitality.
Never one to say no to a seat and a drink, I happily accepted.
That’s just smart.
With a surfer vibe interior that would be just as at home at Rockaway
Beach as it is on Broadway, The Highwater drips with both
familiarity and novelty, and co-owner George Spilke says that’s
entirely the point. He wants to create a neighborhood hangout
where people can be exposed to new things in a setting that feels
right at home — a “new experience that feels familiar,” in his words.
Before I could press Spilke for what he meant by that, my first
cocktail of the evening arrived: bourbon, montenegro, ginger
syrup, lemon juice and strawberry in a glass smoked with hick-
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