East Village cocktail bar Mace from Greg Boehm and Nicolas "Nico" de Soto has found a new home. Last month, the highly acclaimed watering hole upgraded to a larger space at 505 East 12th Street. In addition to craft cocktails, Mace now has a full kitchen for the first time. Led by chef Nick Sorrentino, the food menu consists of a number of small plates. Some of the dishes currently on offer include ras al hanout roasted baby carrots with yogurt, hazelnuts and black bread crumbs; pork, veal and ricotta meatballs with grilled semolina toast; and marinated anchovy, salsa verde and egg crostini.

To celebrate the bar's new digs, de Soto has created a beverage menu featuring a dozen "of the most admired cocktails that have graced the menu since it opened." These include the "Ginger," with marshmallow milk-washed bourbon, carrot acid, ginger-maple syrup and cider; "Wasabi" with wasabi-infused blanco tequila, Amontillado sherry, smoked pomelo cordial, wasabi salt, soda and pink Himalayan solution; and the eponymous "Mace" made of Aperol, aquavit, beet juice, orange acid, young Thai coconut cordial and mace mist.

Another of Mace's classic cocktails featured on the menu is "Lavender," which features brown butter- and vanilla-infused cognac, blueberry and lavender shrub, verjus and Champagne. "The original inspiration came from the flavors I experienced in the South of France when I was a kid eating bread in lavender fields," de Soto says. "I put [it] on the menu around the end of 2016." 

If you can't wait to visit the bar to sample this drink, here's how to make it at home.

Lavender Cocktail

Recipe courtesy of Nico de Soto, Co-Owner, Mace, New York City

Ingredients

1.5 ounces brown butter- and vanilla-infused Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
3/4 ounce blueberry and lavender shrub
1/2 ounce verjus
1 ounce Champagne
1 sprig lavender, for garnish

Method

Add the Cognac, shrub, verjus and Champagne to a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled and strain into a coupette. Garnish with the lavender sprig on top of the glass and serve.

Photo by Melissa Hom.

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