New Novel Immortalizes Schiller’s Liquor Bar. Or Does It?

We’re currently reading Lush Life, novelist Richard Price’s tale of life and death on the LES. The plot centers on Eric Cash, the manager of Café Berkman, a thinly veiled take on Schiller’s Liquor Bar. At least, we think it’s Schiller’s:

On bright quiet mornings like this, when Berkmann’s was empty, delivered from the previous night’s overpacked boozy franticness, the place was an air palace, and there was nowhere better to be in this neighborhood than sitting in a lacquered wicker chair immersed in the serene luxury of a café au lait and the New York Times, sunlight splashing off the glazed ecru tiles, the racks of cryptically stencil-numbered wine bottles, the industrial-grade chicken-wired glass and partially desilvered mirrors, all found in various warehouses in New Jersey, by the owner, Harry Steele: restaurant dressed as theater dressed as nostalgia.

Does this sound like Schiller’s to you? Or is this a composite of other downtown nightspots? Your thoughts, please, in the comments.

Posted 02/26/08 in Grub Street : Back of the House

Tags: Back of the House, lower east side, lush life, schiller's liquor bar

Smith and Mills: The Smallest Next Big Thing Ever

Last November we were the first to predict that the Beatrice would be the hipstaurant of the season. Um, we told you so? Now from Beatrice (and Employees Only) partner Matt Abramcyk comes another contender — this one occupying a former carriage house in the Tribeca nether lands. Smith and Mills is one of the smallest restaurants we’ve ever set foot in, but on this, its opening day, we don’t think it’s too early to say it may just be the next big thing.

Posted 05/29/07 in Grub Street : Openings

Tags: beatrice, employees only, freemans, julia jaksic, matt abramcyk, openings, schiller's liquor bar, smith and mills

Keith McNally: A Restro-spective

As we noted when we toured the restrooms at Morandi, Keith McNally has pissed away a great deal of money to make his restaurant lavatories the gold standard. When Morandi failed to hit the mark, we were truly bummed, so to restore our faith in the master (and to make sure we weren’t remembering his previous works through Clorox-colored glasses), we decided to embark on an epic stall crawl of McNally’s previous loos, from Pravda’s Commie commodes to (pardon our French) the shitters at Schiller’s. Come flush with us.

Posted 05/11/07 in Grub Street : Restroom Report

Tags: balthazar, keith mcnally, lucky strike, pastis, pravda, restroom report, schiller's liquor bar, the odeon

Space for Even Your Butt in Williamsburg This Weekend

Harlem: Eat at Dinosaur, get bowling discount. [UPTOWN flavor] Lower East Side: Holes suspected in Schiller’s rubber glove story. That’s right, holes. [Gridskipper] Soho: Babouche, the Moroccan restaurant and lounge brought to us by the people behind Barbes, now serves brochettes at brunch. [PDF: Babouche NYC] Tribeca: Former Abboccato sous chef Greg Johnson is the new chef de cuisine at Dani. Sun amuses self calling the cook Dani Boy. [NYS] Union Square: 15 East now serving lunch. But why didn’t the Eater boys “live-blog” the event? [NYS] West Village: Blind Tiger will open at 4 p.m. today with beer on tap after an exasperating tug-of-war with the SLA. [Grub Street] Williamsburg: Mystery Japanese restaurant on North 6th thought to open tonight. [A Test of Will] But you probably won’t get in until this weekend. [i'm not saying, I'm just saying] Thankfully new tapas joint Nita Nita has room enough for wide asses. [Bad Advice]

Posted 03/15/07 in Grub Street : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: 15 east, abboccato, babouche, barbeque, barbes, blind tiger ale house, brochettes, dani, dinosaur bbq, greg johnson, neighborhood watch, nita nita, schiller's liquor bar, tapas

Boyfriend Cheating? Corey Lima of Schiller’s Is There for You

Last week’s Valentine’s Day celebrations made us wonder what the loveage scene was like at Schiller’s, one of the city’s most romantic — or, romantically lit, anyway — restaurants. Who better to answer that question than veteran bartender (and MC of hip-hop band Spoken Movement) Corey Lima, who, in addition to being the creator of the Delancey martini, is also, we discovered, a matchmaker, consoler, and every now and then, an object of desire.

Posted 02/20/07 in Grub Street : Ask a Waiter

Tags: ask a waiter, lower east side, nightlife, schiller's liquor bar