I went by the soft opening of Tradesman, a new bar at 222 Bushwick Avenue (between Montrose and Messerole) last night, and I’m here to say that it’s going to be my new summer hangout. Here’s why:
-There’s a huge (still unfinished, but it’s still chilly out) backyard.
-You can get a well made cocktail, but it’s not a cocktail bar.
-You can get a good glass of wine (many from the natural wine importer Jenny & Francois), but it’s not a wine bar.
-They have a moderately-sized selection of good whiskeys, but it’s not a whiskey nerd bar.
-They will have a smallish menu (still in the final stages of development) with snacks, and are planning on a lunch special for afternoon drinking.
-The inside is cozy and cool looking without being overly design-y.
-It’s less than a block from the Montrose stop on the L train (and very close, especially in biking weather, to my house).
Basically, it’s a bar. A place you want to go to for a drink you want to drink, to be a little bit social. It’s not trying to make you drink a certain thing–high-end cocktails, turbo-charged beer or obscure moonshine. Tradesman seems more like a place that’s there for you to enjoy yourself without telling you how to go about that. Way into it.
