"One of the city’s very prettiest cocktail bars seems to sail under the radar for most folks, but no one should be sleeping on Wallingford’s little floral drinking parlor after almost a decade in biz. Owners Lisa Malinovskaya and Kendall Murphy are old besties and veteran bartenders, and they use Korochka’s menu as a conduit to playfully tap into Moscow-born Malinovskaya’s cultural heritage. Bespoke cocktails like the Bonfire (400 Conejos mezcal, Orahovac green walnut liqueur, Zirbenz pine liqueur, Benedictine, Ango) are uniquely delicious, and served in what’s easily the most beautiful barware in the city. Slavic dishes like pelmeni served with smetana, Korean (but actually Russian) carrot salad, or the tall, many-layered slice of medovik (honey cake) are the perfect accompaniments to the foresty flavor profiles in the drinks. Don’t skip the N/A birch juice, kvass, and/or the sinus-clearing shots of housemade horseradish vodka." - Meg van Huygen