Recorded live before an audience at Sunken Harbor Club in Brooklyn.

Why This Episode Matters

Gage & Tollner’s revival is more than a preservation story. St. John Frizell and Garrett Richard show how historic restaurants and classic cocktails can be restored, reinterpreted, and made relevant.

The Conversation

The live conversation opens with Mark admitting that it took him several meetings to realize writer St. John Frizell and bartender “Sinjin” Frizell were the same person. Francis recalls Garrett recognizing The Restaurant Guys at Tales of the Cocktail, back when being recognized in public was still a notable event.

From there, St. John tells the improbable story of finding Gage & Tollner’s landmarked interior beneath the remains of a TGI Fridays, an Arby’s, and a makeshift mall. He explains how 450 crowdfunding investors helped revive the historic Brooklyn oyster and chophouse and how the restaurant was preparing to open when COVID closed New York.

Garrett traces Sunken Harbor Club from a weekly pop-up to one of the country’s most distinctive cocktail bars. He explores forgotten tropical formats, historic steakhouse drinks, the challenge of creating serious non-alcoholic cocktails, and the timelessness of the Martini.

The conversation also reaches Charles H. Baker Jr., his amazing life and the idea that a great drink can be built as much on story and context as on the recipe itself.

Timestamps

00:00 Live from Sunken Harbor Club
02:00 St. John, Sinjin and a James Bond pronunciation lesson
04:00 Garrett’s first encounter with The Restaurant Guys
05:30 The opening cocktails and Sunken Harbor’s menu philosophy
08:30 Gage & Tollner prepares to open as COVID closes New York
11:00 How the Sunken Harbor Club began as a weekly pop-up
14:00 Finding Gage & Tollner behind false walls
17:00 Raising $450,000 from 450 crowdfunding investors
20:00 Reconstructing forgotten cocktails and the Cross Current
25:30 Historic steakhouse drinks meet tropical cocktails
30:30 Why serious non-alcoholic cocktails are so difficult
42:00 Martinis, Charles H. Baker and cocktails built around stories

Bios

St. John Frizell is a writer, restaurateur and co-owner of Gage & Tollner and Sunken Harbor Club in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in publications including Bon Appétit, Saveur and Punch, and he is also the founder of the acclaimed Red Hook restaurant and bar Fort Defiance and a noted authority on cocktail writer and adventurer Charles H. Baker Jr.

Garrett Richard is the Chief Cocktail Officer of Sunken Harbor Club and the co-author, with Ben Schaffer, of Tropical Standard. His career includes acclaimed cocktail programs at Existing Conditions, Slowly Shirley, ZZ’s Clam Bar and Exotica, and VinePair named him its 2024 Next Wave Bartender of the Year.

Info

Sunken Harbor Club
Brooklyn, New York

Gage & Tollner
Brooklyn, New York

Tropical Standard
By Garrett Richard and Ben Schaffer

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Reviving Gage & Tollner and Reinventing Tropical Cocktails | St. John Frizell & Garrett Richard

The Restaurant Guys

Reviving Gage & Tollner and Reinventing Tropical Cocktails | St. John Frizell & Garrett Richard