Harlem Nights

After 10 years of early-morning construction work and late nights tending bar, builder-barkeep Claud Fatu (49 Grove Lounge, Webster Hall) combined both skill sets to forge his own neighborhood watering hole from the ground up. The log-cabin-inspired space is outfitted with old brass water pipes refurnished as handrails, benches salvaged from discarded pines and a 60-year-old cermaic beer tap tower from Germany. A vintage 1920s Mason & Hamlin piano anchors the wooden stage, which plays host to an ever-changing cast of talent for weekly shows like open mic nights on Sundays and Mondays, live Latin on Thursdays and DJs on Saturdays. Behind the bar, Fatu holds his own one-man show, shaking up crowd-pleasers like a Harlem Sizzle (tequila, pomegranate liqueur, candied jalapeño) and a Cherry Limonade Snow Cone charged with Meyer lemon vodka and cherry puree. Also offered at the bar are hand pies (chicken, shrimp and grits) and smoked wings.