The Philadelphia Bar Inspired By Japanese Cocktail Culture | Bon Appétit
"A discreet, apothecary-like 21-seat cocktail bar above a downtown omakase restaurant that opened in late 2024; guests are guided to a second-floor walk-up where shelves of mason jars, long pours, and precision highballs set the tone. The program is led by an ethnobotanist and a bartender steeped in ginza and izakaya techniques, combining a farm-to-glass, seasonally driven approach with Japanese rhythms tied to moon cycles. Drinks are roughly planned by micro-climates and nature, frequently using foraged, farm-sourced and fermented ingredients (house ferments, kombucha, shio koji, amazake), plus in-house tinctures, bitters, liqueurs and aromatized wines. A dealer’s-choice “omakase cocktail” prompts guests to pick a season and flavor preferences, and bartenders tailor cocktails accordingly (examples include a Penicillin riff leaning on barrel-aged spirits with honey syrup, shio koji and barley shochu, and ever-changing highballs and umami-forward martinis). Hospitality is consciously modeled on omotenashi—service starts downstairs with a host, oshibori and a tea welcome sip—and the bar has scaled from reservation-only nights to a walk-in-friendly industry hang open most evenings, emphasizing lower-proof, more sessionable drinks and a rotating menu that changes every two to three weeks." - ByAlisha Miranda
