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Today, Williamsburg is gaining a listening lounge and omakase counter: Hear & There. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, one of the faces behind the concept is an alum of the East Village’s Please Don’t Tell (PDT).
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Inside the Williamsburg locale lies two distinct experiences: a chic cocktail bar that centers around music and a hidden speakeasy. Upon entry, the chic cocktail front features a beautiful marble bar, green velvet chairs and couches for conversing. It's a wood-heavy interior with custom speakers built right in. In this 28-seat domain, you’ll find a menu drummed up by Please Don’t Tell alum Larry Gonzalez. Classic cocktails get a twist here like the espresso-forward Nightfall with Zacapa rum, dark roast coffee beans and Minerva craft coffee stout and the verdant pisco sour found in the High Frequency with shisho leaf, lemon cordial and snap pea syrup. Influences from Japan are apparent, like the Rice & Nori which uses a seaweed-infused Toki Japanese whisky with brown rice syrup and house orange bitters.
You can up the decadence with a garnish made of fried nori topped with a bump of caviar. And if cocktails aren't your thing, the 150-bottle wine list may certainly be, curated by sommelier Amy Lim previously of Atoboy and Frevo.
Inspired by Japanese snacks (or otsumami), the cocktail bar also features small and large plates for the eating, including Crab Toast topped with tuna tartare, Aged Tuna Crudo with watermelon, green apple and nori and a Stuffed Karaage dusted with shichimi nori, served with yuzu yogurt aioli for the dipping.
But behind the sliding door lies Hear & There’s secret: an omakase counter run by chef Mark Garcia. Co-founder and former executive chef partner of Kissaki, chef Garcia went on to open 11 locations of the sushi concept before moving on to hand rolls at Chelsea Market's Maki a Mano and manning the 16-seat counter Himitsu, Queen’s first omakase speakeasy-style spot. But for this 22-seat, U-shaped playing revue, Garcia is bringing two experiences: the seasonal nigri omakase ($105) featuring sustainably sourced and dry-aged fish and the luxury otumami omakase ($165) with chutoro with caviar and crab shinjo toast with uni.
So whether you want to sip and sway for cocktails here, or discover the city's latest omakase there, you can do both at Hear & There.