CHRISTMAS SPIRITS
Holiday bars pop up across Brooklyn
ABy Bill Roundy re you feeling the holiday
booze?
Four Kings County
watering holes are serving up a
special dose of Christmas cheer
this season! These holiday pop-up
bars have created Yuletide-themed
menus, tinsel-covered interiors,
and adopted seasonal nom de
sugar-plums that will last until
Dec. 25.
Trees of Greenpoint
In Greenpoint, bar The Springs
has become the Ho Ho Holiday
Lounge. The bar has decked the
walls with wrapping paper, tuned
each TV to a burning fireplace,
and hung streams of garlands and
Christmas lights overhead. The
bar’s owner said that she couldn’t
resist turning her tavern into a
glowing Christmas carol jukebox
for the third year in a row.
“I don’t get tired of Christmas
music — it puts you in a good
mood, and everyone loves it,” said
Irene Reyes.
The Holiday Lounge has also
teamed up with Christmas tree
vendor Greg’s Trees, which sells its
evergreens on the sidewalk outside,
to turn its extensive backyard into
its own holiday extravaganza.
“They put up a little winter
wonderland out there,” said Reyes.
The patio holds a decked out
tree, a Santa-style sleigh that can
fit six, a 12-foot-tall reindeer,
and a giant figure of Frosty the
Snowman with holiday cartoons
projected on his stomach. The
man behind the decor said that he
wanted to make Instragrammable
moments for holiday tipplers.
“We want to make it a fun
place for people — a place to take
pictures,” said Greg Yalsh.
Ho Ho Holiday Lounge (224
Franklin St. at Green Street in
Greenpoint, www.thespringsbklyn.
com). Open daily, noon–2 am.
Snow big deal
Restaurant and beloved
Williamsburg brunch spot
Sunday in Brooklyn has turned
its bar area into “Snowday in
Brooklyn,” an Alpine skiing lodge
with wreaths on the windows,
holly jolly ceramic figures on the
bar, a snow globe on every table,
and ornaments dangling from the
ceiling. But it’s not the decor that
calls for the Instagram — it’s the
drinks!
Open your Christmas card
menu to discover more than a
dozen delectable winter cocktails
(mostly $14–$16) with elaborate
presentations. Highlights include
COURIER L 48 IFE, DEC. 13-19, 2019
the tropical, tequila-based
Partridge in a Pear Tree, served in
a bird-shaped glass with a bouquet
for a cock-tailfeather, a frozen pina
colada-like Polar Bear Club served
in a bear-shaped former honey
container, and the knock-you-over
strong and spicy Bad Krampus,
served with a tiny stocking filled
with coal.
The cozy spot fills up quick, so
either make a reservation or plan to
stop by late in the evening.
Snowday in Brooklyn 68
S. Second St. at Wythe Avenue
in Williamsburg, (718) 360-
9875, www.snowdayinbrooklyn.
com. Sun–Thu, 5–11 pm; Fri–Sat,
5 pm–midnight.
Merry Miracle
The holiday pop-up craze
started on the distant island of
Manhattan with “Miracle on
Ninth Street,” which has expanded
into an annual franchise with
branches across the country —
and in Brooklyn! Hoyt Street bar
Livingston Manor has become
Miracle at Livingston Manor for
the Yuletide season, adopting the
drink recipes, fanciful glassware,
and decor suggestions from the
Miracle mothership.
The Downtown bar has
adopted “Bad Santa” attitude
along with its decorations, with
festive letters announcing “Happy
F------ Holidays,” pictures of
a boozy Santa in the back, and
bartenders wearing irreverent
Christmas sweaters. So you
should feel comfortable ordering
the “Die Hard”–referencing rum
drink Yippie Ki Yay Mother F---
---, or downing a Naughty Shot of
bourbon and cinnamon.
Miracle at Livingston Manor
42 Hoyt St. between Livingston
and Schermerhorn streets
Downtown, (347) 987–3292, www.
livingstonmanorbk.com. Mon–
Thu, 4 pm–2 am; Fri–Sat, 1 pm–4
am; Sun, 1 pm–2 am.
Global treats
Latin bar Leyenda has been
throwing its annual “Sleyenda”
party since before Thanksgiving!
The cocktail list includes plenty of
holiday delights: you can dabble
with a Nutcracker Old Fashioned
featuring hazelnut-infused
bourbon, pecan-infused rum, and
macadamia nut syrup; warm up
with Mexican hot chocolate, or get
blitzed with Our Vixen Blitzen,
made with rum, Irish whiskey,
banana liquor, cinnamon,
and more. Take the drinks to
Leyenda’s back yard, where a
spherical heated tent looks like
giant snowglobe filled with fuzzy
chairs, dripping with tinsel, and
with a bit of mistletoe for holiday
date nights.
Sleyenda 221 Smith St. between
Baltic and Butler streets in Cobble
Hill, (347) 987–3260, www.
leyendabk.com. Mon–Thu, 5 pm–2
am; Fri, 5 pm–3 am; Sat, noon–3
am; Sun, noon–1 am.
The best reads
— handpicked by
some of the best
Bklyn bookstores
Community Bookstore’s pick: “Moby Dick:
Illustrated,” by Gilbert Wilson
This lovely, full-color,
illustrated edition arrives just in
time for the 200th anniversary of
Melville’s masterpiece. It draws
on decades of sketches and
paintings from Gilbert Wilson’s
archives, done over the course
of a career that saw him study
with Diego Rivera, cross paths
with the likes of John Huston
and Eleanor Roosevelt, and
always return, Ahab-like to
his obsession with Moby
Dick. The perfect gift for the
Ishmael in your life.
— Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore 43
Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park
Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.commu nityb ookst ore.net .
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “Essays One,”
by Lydia Davis
Collecting over four decades of essays and lectures, this
volume shows short fiction author
Davis intimately parsing out her
experience as a writer and lover
of writing. Full of insightful
commentary and criticism, the real
treat is watching her unpack her
own revising and editing process,
from structural evolutions to
the minutiae of working and
reworking a single sentence (on
page 169).
— Niko Tsocanos, Greenlight
Bookstore 686 Fulton St.
between S. Elliott Place and
S. Portland Avenue in Fort
Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.
greenlightbookstore.com .
Word’s picks: “How to Be An Antiracist,”
by Ibram Kendi
This book is a great mix
between personal anecdotes and
data displaying evidence that it
is not only naive but incorrect to
describe our current society or
anyone in it as “colorblind” or
“post-racial.” Kendi advises
us all to avoid the temptation
of not thinking about racism
and instead actively try to
be antiracist in ways that
do not vilify people, but
continually challenge our
own ideas of power, selfinterest,
and race.
— Amanda Rivera,
Word 126 Franklin St. at
Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096,
www.wordbookstores.com .
They go a-wassailing: Visitors get a festive round of drinks at the Ho Ho Holiday
Lounge in Greenpoint. Photo by Bill Roundy
Sweet stuff: Miracle at Livingston
Manor serves a tasty Christmas
Carol Barrel in a barrel-shaped mug.
Photo by Bill Roundy
Un-bear-ably cute: Sip the Polar Bear
Plunge at Snowday in Brooklyn.
Photo by Eric Medsker
/www.wordbookstores.com
/www.snowdayinbrooklyn
/www.livingstonmanorbk.com
/www.livingstonmanorbk.com
/www.leyendabk.com
/www.leyendabk.com
/www.commu
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.thespringsbklyn
/www.thespringsbklyn
/www.snowdayinbrooklyn
/livingstonmanorbk.com
/leyendabk.com
/www.commu
/ore.net
/greenlightbookstore.com
/www.wordbookstores.com
