This feature is part of our 2024 Next Wave Awards.
There’s no shortage of serious cocktail bars in New York City right now. At these many establishments, the builds are dialed, the vibes are curated, the menus are sharp. But at NoMad hideaway Shinji’s, there are more fantastical factors at play. Inside, you’ll find yourself submerged in a sea of whimsy, every surface alive with movement. Deep booths are swathed in luxurious crushed velvet fabrics in blues and golds stitched together; tucked into one, you’ll feel like a pearl snug in its oyster. Swirling tiles adorn the tabletops, their curvetures matching the elegant, half-moon bar. And overlooking the compact space — which can fit 18 guests, 20 if everyone squeezes — is a sprawling, gilded octopus draped over a massive Japanese whisky collection.
But what’s invisible to the naked eye are the highly technical calculations and formulas that have powered the bar, a project from restaurateurs David Hess, Aiden Carty, and Justin Hauser, since its fall 2022 opening. Here, beverage director Jonathan Adler challenges the laws of chemistry to divine drink magic — the kind that can actually be explained.
“To get guests in the door, technique was the standpoint,” says Adler, a sommelier, former chef, and veteran of esteemed establishments like Contra and Saison. Running a technique-driven cocktail bar involves passion, sure, but Adler’s years of culinary experience bring invaluable knowledge to the project.
“In terms of creating food or cocktails, it’s really about three things,” says Adler. “It’s understanding the technique, it’s understanding the ingredient, and then the rest is math.”
This thesis is a humble one, but the cocktails it’s birthed are technical triumphs. The program’s take on the famously arduous Ramos Gin Fizz employs liquid-nitrogen-flash-frozen whipped cream to save head bartender Danny Reylock precious minutes and arm strength, cutting the drink’s shaking time from minutes to just seconds. The Vesper-inspired Honeypenny incorporates beeswax-washed vodka, a housemade aperitif, and golden raisins in its build, which is then treated with ultrasonic waves to achieve the coldest possible serving temperature.
And to call the Hot Cold Toddy Wonka-esque would be a disservice, because this tongue-stumping tipple — which is effectively two loosely set gels, one hot and one cold, served side-by-side in the same cup — makes the chocolatier’s edible magic seem quaint. The science behind the cocktail is astounding (science is quite literally listed as an ingredient in the drink, as is magic), but in the end, both liquids carry the same flavor, the same sweetness level, and the same perceived acidity, leaving your brain to focus only on the mind-bending temperature difference.
All these cocktails answer a question Adler posed to himself during R&D: What is something that most bartenders would think is impossible? But they also wow guests who are entirely unaware of the mastery it takes to produce them behind the scenes, something the whole bar team — including Adler, Reylock, and bartenders Gerald Cullhai, Rafael Alvarez, and Bobbi Adler — spends hours on before service each day.
Symmetry is another core tenet at Shinji’s. With such limited bar seating, Adler says it was a priority for the experience to be equally special regardless of where a guest is in the space.
“One of the key points of our service is I never wanted anyone who was sitting at the bar to have a different experience than they do sitting elsewhere,” he explains. “We have a bar cart that comes up to every single table, and we’re able to make the entire cocktail menu off that cart.”
This means working in pleasant symbiosis with sister restaurant Noda, the Michelin-starred omakase hotspot accessible through Shinji’s that opened in 2018. Along with the bar’s cocktails and belly-warming snacks like truffle cheese toast, this cart issues high-end hand rolls, uni-topped chawanmushi, and a signature wagyu sandwich, all composed by Noda’s chef, Shigeyuki Tsunoda, using ingredients flown in from Japan multiple times a week. The restaurant’s wine and sake list is also available to the bar’s guests, and the two sibling establishments are even harmonious in form: Shinji’s bar was constructed to be identical in measurement to Noda’s chef’s counter.
Even without partaking in this movable feast, Shinji’s guests have access to more of Japan’s delicacies than most. The bar also boasts the largest Japanese whisky selection in New York City, one Adler says invites guests to return again and again for a different kind of experience, just as the enchanting cocktail list does. When magic is on the menu, who could get their fill in just one night?
