Spill It: Jim Meehan

Once again, we talk shop with New York City bartenders and mixologists to get the scoop on what the people pouring, mixing and serving your drinks. Next up: renowned mixologist Jim Meehan, the brains behind contemporary speakeasy PDT, where everything is clandestine—even the name (it stands for “please don’t tell”). Lucky for us, Meehan let us in on the future of the cocktail, Manhattan's rising rents and a boozy trend you'll never see at PDT.

What's your philosophy on bartending?
We all serve people like we love serving drinks, serving food, we like interacting with guests. At the end of the day it's all about hospitality, its about service, whether it's someone from out of town, or someone coming in off the street, or someone who read about us in Europe [that's] visiting. I think when you make that connection between the staff and the guest, the guests are happy and get it and appreciate it.

Has the classic cocktail been firmly rooted in today's drinking society, and how so?
I think it depends on what society. Whether you're talking about downtown New York or New York or East Coast or national.

Let's say downtown. Do you think it's cemented already?
I think in cocktail lounges like Pegu or Flatiron, yes. The bars that are opening up are putting a lot of energy into their cocktail programs are basing them on classics. I think that even someone like Eben Freeman [of] Tailor—he knows every classic cocktail and all of his molecular cocktails are plays on that. Even his Ramos Gin Fizz Sour, even though it's a marshmallow, it's a Ramos Gin Fizz, it's a gimlet that sparkles—he has so many cool drinks all based on classics. I think that people understand the classics as a building block to other drinks.

What's the future of the cocktail in NYC? Is it here to stay?
I hope so. I think that New York is one of those places where there are always going to be beer bars, there will always be the Italian wine bars, and there are always going to be French bistros. I think that little niche places like PDT are so small that there is always going to be 50 to 150 people in lower Manhattan that want to go and have cocktails and hot dogs.

Name a drinking trend that will not enter PDT?
Shots! I don't serve drinks as a vehicle to get drunk. In many ways, I see shots as an inebriation vehicle. Thats one thing that will not have a place at our bar.

What's the one drink you stay away from? I heard it was vodka.
I wouldn't say categorically that I don't drink vodka cocktails. If you do something interesting with vodka, I'm definitely having it. I'm very opened-minded.

What's the crowd like at PDT on a typical night?
I think it's a huge balance. Its people in Crif Dogs [who] want to see what's going on in here. There's a lot of people who are traveling that read about us somewhere and wanted to check it out. There's a ton of industry people. I think that we've done our best since we've opened to take care of people in the industry. If we focused on drawing any crowd or pleasing any crowd, it would be that crowd. I love it when I see people's parents in here. A place that has a diverse amount of people in it says a lot of things about the bar.

Are you concerned with the sky-high rents and the changing landmarks of Manhattan?
Opening a business in Manhattan, specifically a restaurant, is an act of insanity. It's a labor of love at the end of the day, that needs to be done fearlessly and with little concern for knowing the failure rate of restaurants and bars in New York City. That being said, I think seeing these places go [Florent, Hog Pit , 2nd Avenue Deli] for reasons of rent is just plain sad. I think that there needs to be a symbiotic relationship between a business and the space in which it occupies. When the business transcends the space it occupies and turns into an institution, I would think that the business operator and the building owner would realize that the place brings value to the building and the neighborhood and that they would work together. Its sad when the two parties don't work things out for the rest of us.

And finally—best hangover cure?
Have another drink.

Photo: Dan Peterson