Alla Lapushchik, 27
After opening Death & Company and Mayahuel in Manhattan with nightlife virtuoso Ravi DeRossi, Alla Lapushchik saw an opportunity to translate the spirit-focused mixology of those cocktail temples to a South Williamsburg crowd. Her unpretentious neighborhood bar, Post Office, opened in 2011, and demonstrated that barkeeps in T-shirts could make Sazeracs just as well as the guys in fancy neckties. Her sleepy saloon model, with speakers favoring Pavement over ragtime, has since become a benchmark, sprouting imitators throughout the white-hot nabe. With her new Parisian brasserie, OTB, opening this October, Lapushchik is fast establishing herself as a nightlife prodigy.
Why Brooklyn? “Opening a place in Brooklyn is less hectic than in Manhattan,” she says. “I have more time to consider the details. I can get the product exactly the way I want it with [less] pressure to get the business up and running as soon as possible.”
Favorite Kings County haunt: “Dram. It’s very neighborhoody, but it’s also one of the best cocktail bars in the city.”
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