New York’s cocktail crowd received shocking news in September when the @SeedLibraryNYC account appeared on Instagram an announcement: The city finally got its own bar Ryan ChetiawardhanAlso known as Mr. Lion. Chetiavardhan’s bars in London, Amsterdam and Washington DC are famous for their madcap mixology, so, unsurprisingly, the news was met with breathless media coverage that had been anticipated. Seed Library of New York Like now, the door is opened and drinks are poured. What did Mr. Lian enthusiasts expect?
Fans expecting a wild ride of ingredients filtered through familiar cocktail styles will not be disappointed. I was one of the first to experience New York Seed library; I attended a preview party the day before it opened to the public on November 5th. The bar itself is an underground space. Hotel Park Ave (formerly the Mondrian), its entrance at 51 East 30th Street is marked by an orange door. Its basement location helps cement the feeling that you’ve snuck into a glitzy, raucous party where you can crash. Bianca Jagger or Paloma Picasso—In this present-day preview, instead of filling the room, the VIPs were some of New York’s elite bartenders, as well as the city’s well-heeled cocktail masters.
Designed by Jack StraussCreative director of Lore Group, owner of Hotel Park Ave, the space leans toward a sleek, 1970s glamor that pops against its industrial bones. A warm palette of reds, oranges and browns is accented with touches of wood, velvet and metallic elements.
The menu toes a fine line between simplicity and adventure, where Chetiawardhan applies his signature stamp: classic cocktails mixed with ingredients that challenge preconceived notions of taste. For example, “Rib” blends Glenfiddich 15 with chipotle, mint tea and rosewood. Is it sweet like a spiced caramel? As delicious as smoked meat? The answer is both—like a chipotle barbecue sauce, bolstered by woody notes, then lightened and opened by herbaceous mint.
Then there’s the BC3 Negroni with Ford’s gin, Ceylon arrack, pollen-infused vermouth, propolis (a resinous substance produced by bees) and aged honey. The drink showcases the storytelling Chetiawardhan is known for; The Negroni is an obvious homage to bees, and less overtly, New York State agriculture, as the honey used here—as well as the beeswax used elsewhere in the Old Fashioned—is locally sourced. It’s a brilliant riff on one of the most popular cocktails, balancing sweetness with acidity and dancing with grassy, floral notes.
Spritzy refreshers go down easy, but their ingredients demand a second look, such as Mexicano, made with rum mezcal, Campari, vermouth, straw and cherry soda. Traces of smoky, farmy funk mingle with botanicals and a rounded cherry sweetness, while bubbles pick up the whole profile and finish it on a dry note. Native New York State purple carrots are featured in the Blue Hill 75, a twist on the French 75 with Hendrick’s gin, champagne, and Chetiavardhan’s Per Chetiavardhan, which turns carrots into a type of grass. He added that “Blue Hill” does not refer to the specific origin of the carrots, but to Blue Hill Farms and its co-owners. Dan is the barberWay to rethink what a seemingly ordinary vegetable can be.
Whether your go-to drink is a martini, margarita, negroni, old fashioned or spritz, Seed Library’s menu has a version that feels reimagined through the looking glass, pulling in culinary and local agricultural influences to push the envelope of what ingredients can create what flavors.
Martini connoisseurs should try the silky and decadent coriander seed gimlet, which is ever-so-slightly sweet and spicy. On the other hand, the unfiltered martini is a rare weak spot on the menu. Billed as “Haku Vodka, really great potato,” it was cloudy and sweet—where one might associate “potato” and “martini” with a bracing potato-based vodka, this martini tasted like biting into an actual raw potato. McGeolly fans may recognize and appreciate the funky profile, but it won’t scratch the itch for martini purists.
Chetiawardhan also takes a refreshing approach to non-alcoholic cocktails Instead of creating a separate menu of afterthought mocktails and sweet juices, he offers several standard Beer Library options non-alcoholic. The aforementioned Gimlet is available with Everleaf Mountain alcohol-free aperitif and coriander seed cordial, while a Pear + Apple + Tonic using Christian Druin white Calvados, pear brandy and tonic water is also presented with Almave non-alcoholic agave spirit, pear and apple and water cordial.
For his foray into New York City’s cocktail bar scene, Chetiawardhan could have chosen to import his existing ideas—London’s. lionessAmsterdam’s Super Lion, or DC’s Silver Lion-or create something entirely new. Chetiawardhan decided that a second location of the Seed Library, opening in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood in 2022, made the most sense for New York. But he explains to the Observer that he doesn’t see this new location as an exact replica of London’s Seed Library; Rather, it is a template that he will use to create with local references such as those agricultural elements.
“Our venues focus on an idea born out of their place,” says Chetiawardhan. “With the Seed Library, we’re responding to where the world is; it seems like things are becoming too plasticized and moving away from nature and being with people” When the Seed Library opened in London, the idea was to encourage people to come together, especially in post-pandemic times. A warm space and cocktails incorporating local produce, time-consuming preparation methods and storytelling all led to that mission – a “seed library” as an organization that cultivates and then shares seeds for the community, which can make arguments in the form of acting ideas or nurturing Shagaric products in the bars of Chetiavardhan. He felt the idea would resonate in New York as well. But, aside from a few Mr. Lion classics, the drink menu had to be built from the ground up to cater to New York tastes and incorporate New York ingredients.
To bring the concept to life, Chetiawardhan worked with Hotel Park Ave owner Lore Group and Renwick Hospitality Group, who were hired to design the hotel’s three food and beverage spaces.
“When it came down to the space, we knew we needed something unique and special,” says co-owner Renwick. Gary Wallach Tells the observer. “[Lore] Ryan had a relationship and introduced us. We got to know each other, and decided it was the perfect place to bring something iconic with this level of detail to New York.”
For Chetiawardhan, the key was finding the right partners to finally open in New York.
“New York was always on the cards. When I lived in Edinburgh and my sister lived in New York, we were planning to open our first venue in New York. But we both moved to London and opened there. DC came to town almost by accident, from making natural connections…and now we have the local partners we need to make something happen in New York.”
While cocktails take center stage, Seed Library offers a beer and wine list, which Chetiawardhan said will evolve as the bar settles into its New York digs and learns what locals like. The food menu includes items such as whipped feta with salsa verde and crispy naan, seasonal crudités, oysters and chocolate chip cookies. A potato roll and tater tots loaded with pancetta, pecorino and spicy herb aioli capture the high-low feel of a burger seed library with aged English cheddar, gherkin and bacon – comforting, but a little fancy.
This contrast encapsulates Chetiawardhan’s goal with New York’s Seed Library: to be present at the overlap of the city’s cocktail bar Venn diagram, both glitzy and cool. It’s an especially important balance to nail at a hotel—how do you appeal to jetsetters flying through town and wanting to be wowed by a cocktail, but also build a loyal crowd of locals?
“We are going to piggyback on the hospitality that a hotel provides,” says Chetiawardhan For him, the beauty of a hotel bar is the international crowd you’ll mingle with, but the best hotel bars in the world also keep their communities in mind. By maintaining quality and comfort while simultaneously embracing a touch of shock and awe, a hotel bar becomes a destination in its own right. “We try to welcome everyone,” he says, “whether you’re into the weird and wonderful things we do from a technical standpoint, or you just want a gin and tonic, which we still have a lot to offer.”
