New Cocktail Bar from the Benjamin Cooper Boys Surprise Opens This Friday

In the two years it’s been open, Union Square cocktail bar Benjamin Cooper has quickly embedded itself as an essential drinking den. So it’s reason to get excited that owners Mo Hodges and Brian Felley are opening a second spot, this one in the newly-rebranded Tilden Hotel (345 Taylor St.) and called The Douglas Room.

The two met at another famed (and now defunct) cocktail bar Big, and branched out to open the creative and hard-to-find Benjamin Cooper. Now, The Douglas Room will have a similar hidden feel, but with a bit more space — 45 seats in total, to be exact. Hodges and Felley created the cocktails, and brought on Michael Carlisi and Keith Bracewell (Rx) to execute the menu, which includes cocktails such as La Di Da Di (vodka, grapefruit cordial, lime, ginger beer, and black lava salt in a metal mug) and Old and In the Way (bourbon, PX sherry, suze, and stone fruit shrub in a Sazerac style).

There’s also a creative American food menu here, made by chefs Glen Schwartz (Campton Place, 398 Brasserie) and Tim Malloy (Local’s Corner), with interesting dishes such as lamb tartare pie, sweetbread nuggets with Ancho Reyes barbecue sauce, and duck wings. Several bar standbys grace the menu, too, for the less adventurous out there, with safe options such as a burger, a Philly cheesesteak, pasta, roast chicken, and more.

The Douglas Room soft opens this Friday, February 24, and will be open daily from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., with the kitchen open until 1 a.m.

• The Benjamin Cooper Gents Opening a New Bar, The Douglas Room [Tablehopper]
• All Coverage of Benjamin Cooper [ESF]