New Portland Bar Too Soon Pays Homage to the New York City Cocktail Scene | Eater Portland
"Conceived by bartenders Adam Robinson and Nick Flower, the cocktail bar at 18 NE 28th Avenue aims to evoke the early-aughts New York City craft-cocktail scene: the owners collected roughly 3,500 recipes over two decades and pared them to a catalog of 1,000 for an involved bartender’s-choice program. Guests pick one of three categories—stirred/spirit-forward (think Manhattans, Old Fashioneds), citrus/refreshing (sours, tall drinks with soda, or drinks with champagne), or sweet and creamy (coffee, chocolate, honey, or even a whole egg)—and the bartender asks follow-ups to match a tried-and-true recipe to the guest’s tastes. The bar is tinged with bisexual lighting and art-deco-ish flourishes that nod to West Village spots, and its highball program uses a Suntory highball machine dispensing chilled soda and/or Haku vodka with sessionable drinks served in frosty beer mugs (a mango and chile highball is billed like a refined mango White Claw). Too Soon intentionally limits its beer selection (no draft) to steer drinkers toward cocktails, leans into savory touches (cocktails rimmed with artichoke salt and dirty martinis with blue-cheese–stuffed olives), and pairs drinks with a tight selection of snack-y plates overseen by Jon “Bones” Anderson—wild mushroom fritters, poached prawns with crispy polenta, and apple-cheddar beignets served with Luxardo maraschino caramel—with complimentary freshly baked chocolate chip cookies handed out at last call." - Janey Wong
