Milk & Honey, Cocktail Mecca, Goes from Secret to Private

Milk and Honey, the dimly lit railroad bar on Eldridge Street with the fastidiously-prepared cocktails, "reservation only" policy, and unlisted number, blazed the trail for the city's current wildfire cocktail craze and speakeasy-style bars. In recent years, as owner Sasha Petraske has expanded his footprint with Little Branch, The East Side Company, new absinthe-centric White Star and that Community Board pariah Mercury Dime, Milk and Honey has also only gotten more popular, with the secret phone number posted on message boards and blogs as fast as Petraske can change it.

The secrecy, it should be noted, wasn't so much born of snobbish exclusivity but because Petraske's landlord/friend lives upstairs and only agreed to lease the space to Milk and Honey if Petraske would promise to maintain pin drop silence. Now, in an email, Petraske say's he's gotten his first noise complaints from the landlord in almost nine years of business, and though he changed the reservations policy again just a few weeks ago, "with the advent of blogging, there is no chance for that to work. Since the number change...my staff actually report an increase in first time customers, who have evidently never heard that it was a quiet bar, merely that it was a trendy one."

So now, as previously predicted, he's turning the place into a private club to weed out some of the obnoxious tools and bring back the clientele who know "how to drink and remain polite, to each other and the residents of Eldridge Street." (And follow the rules, pictured here.) He's even going so far as to get a Social Club Charter by New York State. So how much is membership in a club where the drinks are already $15 going to cost? Click through for Petraske's email (which included the addresses of all recipients, oops!) and the details.

Hello again. Sorry to email again so soon, but it seems the new phone number has already made it's way onto the internet.
When I opened Milk and Honey in January of 2000 it was not reservation only, and had no lock on the door. It was open to anyone who knew the address, and attracted a community of people with one thing in common: knowing how to drink and remain polite, to each other and the residents of Eldridge Street.

The barrage of constant write ups forced us to start running reservations, in order to prevent crowds outside from bothering our landlord (who lives directly upstairs.) Changing the number each time it was published worked for several years to keep the chain of word of mouth relatively strong.

Now, however, with the advent of blogging, there is no chance for that to work. Since the number change of a few weeks ago, my staff actually report an increase in first time customers, who have evidently never heard that it was a quiet bar, merely that it was a trendy one. The landlord has given us his first noise complaints in almost 9 years of business, all regarding the conversation of smokers outside or people exiting loudly.

Over the years our "first call, first serve" policy, while being fair on the face of it, I now realize was quite unfair to our regulars. The people were awake at 9 AM to send in the earliest text message and people who quietly exit the bar at 2 AM seem seldom to be the same people. In an effort to get back the small, like-minded community that we had in the beginning (and regain the quiet that we need to get our year-by-year lease renewed,) I am taking steps to convert Milk and Honey into a private social club.

This process will take over a year, involving the granting of a Social Club Charter by New York State.

In the meantime, we will adopt a half measure that allows us to remain within the law. If membership in such a program interests you, read on. If not, for the next year or so, reservations will still be available on [REDACTED].

M&H Regular Program

Four of our six tables will be allocated to our regulars, who may make an advance reservation, call twenty minutes prior, or just stop by without calling. Regulars will be given a key to the front door. If there are no seats available, you may lock up the next table, and go to White Star or another nearby bar and we will call you when the table is ready. There will be no standing room, and no more advance wait list.

Cocktails will be priced for regulars and their guests at $9, Regulars may bring up to 3 guests., and the key is non transferrable. There are three types of key available. A Standard one, which is $300 a year plus tax. ($325) To renew the membership at the same rate, the regular must have attended at least 10 weekdays the previous year, defined as Sunday through Wednesday. Everyone wants to come during prime time, but without consistent weekday business we will fail.

An Unrestricted key can be used as seldom as you like, and is 3000 a year, with tax $3250. If you have more money than time, this is for you. The Unrestricted key in no way has any advantage in service over a Regular Key. Tables are allocated first come or call, first serve. It is merely that we need each of the 250 keyholders to contribute their share into the business, one way or the other.

Lastly, an Industry key is available for people in the restaurant business. This key has no minimum visits, costs the same as a Standard key and is only valid after 1 AM. If an Industry key holder wishes to come before 1 AM on they must make a reservation, through the normal channel, for one of the other two tables, and will receive no preference in the reservation book.

The program will go into effect the first of November. Payment is by check to "M&H Concierge Services, inc". I will be at White Star, 21 Essex Street between Hester and Canal from 7-9pm starting Thursday, signing people up until we have reached 250 Standard key holders. I would like to meet each key holder face to face., and look forward to reconnecting with some old friends.

Sasha Petraske
14 October 2008

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in Food on October 17, 2008 8:49 AM

Comments [rss]

sheckys night life

I came to Milk and Honey with a group of 3 clients looking for a place to shoot a 20Â’s themed fashion ad I figured that Milk and Honey would be the perfect location with the speak easy reputation it has. ButÂ…Â… when the first impression you have of the place is a rude hostess it changes the evening for everyone. The Short Haired (brown bob with bangs) waitress was so rude to our entire table, by rolling eyes and glaring. Originally I brushed it off as a attitude problem and approached her about space for the shoot. She answered me with a rude tone the returned to her blackberry. With the reputation that Milk & Honey has I was sad to see them have such an ignorant employee. The drink are fabulous but when the person that serves you is uncouth it always leave a bad taste in your mouth.

djbeefhart

Chalk one more up for the blogs, and another interesting little bar closes/goes private/disappears.

dirty hipster

People are harping on the 3,000 figure - however the standard membership is 300. Most M&H regulars go more than 10 times a year usually during the week anyways.

MissPinkKate

I've been to M&H, and found it way overrated. And that was before this! Keys! Required attendance! Give me a break.

JacqueMehoff

who cares? but thanks for showing me what a douchey place this is. douchebag.

Teddie Boy Eddie

Sorry, I'm just too cynical to be on board with the proliferation of these types of places. Like I said, there are actually plenty of places where bartenders take their craft seriously and the bars in which they work are quite comfortable. They just do it without the noteriety of places like M&H, Apotheke, etc. And, not surprisngly, they usually aren't located in Manhattan.

Don't get me wrong, I like creative cocktails and I would rather not be around loudmouth assholes and douchebags hitting on girls in the bar. But there is something annoyingly elitist about these places.

However, the social club idea is probably a good one for people who don't know what to do with their excess cash and sense of entitlement.

ironybubble

Think that's $9 for a rack of Crystal Palace? If That price tag has middle-shelf attached to it, might not be so bad.

Speakcheesy

comment #10 is so stupid. why go out and buy a bottle of gin, some oranges, limes, sugar, ginger syrup (which if you can find, by all means tell me where) and spend EVEN MORE MONEY! People go to rooftop bars in nyc and pay $13 for a vodka soda, while at M&H a $15 cocktail costs over half that to make! People should stop hating on a bar they won't go to (or get into). Going to M&H is like going to a fine restaurant instead of a burger king.

Btw, if you get a membership and you're a douchebag, it gets revoked and you're told to leave. Money doesn't make you any better at M&H. It's all about class!

Teddie Boy Eddie

There are literally hundreds of bars in this city that have decent ambience, great bartenders and great cocktails. They're the unspectacular and decidedly untrendy ones. Putting up with noise and douchebags is part of life in NY, and just because someone can fork over $3,000 a year for the privelege to drink overpriced cocktails does not mean they won't be a douchebag.

Milk and Honey and its ilk ... the speakeasy, prohibition-era cocktails, etc., are a gimmick, a very successful gimmick for suckers.

If you are truely interested in quiet conversation and cocktails prepared exactly the way you want them, then invite some friends over. That's actually free.

dirty hipster

"$300 a year to drink $9 cocktails and you're not allowed to make any noise?

It's all the fun of sneaking booze into your bedroom at your parents' house when you're 15 with the added bonus of a huge bill!"

You wouldn't act the same way at Jean Georges that you would @ Dave and Busters. That is pretty much the best analogy I can think of when it comes to M&H vs all other bars. M&H isn't even as pretentious as a place like Per Se or JG, as you can come as you are. No one cares how you dress, or what you look like. Just that you are a quiet person who appreciates a good cocktail.

If you think of a bar as a place to get rowdy and hit on chicks, then there's an area of manhattan known as the upper east side where you can relive your frat days. But please, leave M&H to the adults

Qraymond

It's a really nice place. And it's admirable that he makes such an effort to respect his neighbors.

If more bars in NYC were like this, we would all be happier.

Rob T Firefly

I suddenly have the urge to sneak my way in, just on principle.

ganghiscon

$300 a year to drink $9 cocktails and you're not allowed to make any noise?

It's all the fun of sneaking booze into your bedroom at your parents' house when you're 15 with the added bonus of a huge bill!

Clarice City

...and I can't type "noise" either

Clarice City

typo...respects.

Clarice City

Right on. I live above a bar outside Times Square. Can't complain because the rent is cheap, but you can imagine what the niose is like. New York has noisy dive bars on every corner that really only benefit tourists and students.

Petraske has a great idea that both repsepects the neighborhood and provides an environment worth paying for.

serinde

I haven't been to Milk & Honey, but I adore Little Branch, which has the same rules; and yes, it's delightful. ...Or at least it is early in the week. Way too crowded and noisy on weekends.

The correct answer to "can I get an Aviation?" is, in fact, "would you like a standard one, or our house version with crème de violet?".

zodak

i hate going to bars but based on the rules posted, it seems like this is the kind of place i would hanging out at.

inconsiderate trendoids ruin everything.