The Letlove Inn TStory & Images by Lizabeth Nieves 27-20 23rd Avenue 32 | BOROMAG.COM | DECEMBER 2014 nightlife & entertainment Nick Cave once crooned about the torturing nature of love with his song, Let Love In. The name of the song stayed with Evan Roumeliotis for many years, and when the time was right, he used it for his latest venue, The Letlove Inn. “I was saving the name for a look I had in mind, but after building and finishing the bar, I decided it fits this look too” said Roumeliotis, owner of Sparrow Tavern and Mar’s, both in Astoria. “The bar could best be described as turn of the century elegance that has been worn out throughout the years. Like somebody found it, dusted it, and moved right in.” Stepping into the Letlove Inn is like stepping back in time. “The bar we found was underneath layers of the old bar. It was under two layers of wood paneling. This bar was originally built after the prohibition. Local legend is that the bar was the third bar issued a liquor license after prohibition. We took down the sheet rock ceiling, and it was a tin ceiling. There were plaster walls underneath the layers of wallpaper,” explains Roumeliotis. The Letlove Inn is going to be all about the music, and everyone employed there is a musician. The neighborhood can look forward to live music and playlists from a few experts. Bartenders Chris Theodorou and Hugo Gasc have a long career in playing music, and cocktail creator Joshua Everett Johnson has been writing music for over twenty years. Calling this the most traditional bar he has ever built, Roumeliotis—with Johnson—has created a playful cocktail list that will include a take on the classic cocktails. “We are going to have classic cocktails that are going to be a refined version of the 80’s cocktails, like the Woowoo, the Kamikaze, the Fuzzy Navel, and the Sex on the Beach,” he explained. Johnson elaborated further, “There are about 8 cocktails that we are working on that will be narrowed down, and we will add some classics in. We are excited about them, and excited about the opportunity to create cocktails again.” Based on experiences in Austria, Roumeliotis will also be featuring a high end schnapps cocktail selection. “We are going to introduce New York to the world of schnapps. There are a lot of beautiful, delicious schnapps that nobody knows about. Everybody thinks of the syrupy schnapps that their parents were drinking in the 70s and 80s.” As Astoria continues to grow and expand, the Letlove Inn will be able to provide what every neighborhood needs—quality cocktails and live music. Roumeliotis, a long time Astorian with instincts that have made him a trendsetter in the community, predicts “I have a feeling 23rd Avenue is going to change a lot in the next year or so. The neighborhood has been changing, as we all know, and we are here to cater to the new Astorians.” www.theletloveinn.nyc
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