Mash Note

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Ice, for instance. "We have flavored ice for different drinks. Some have pieces of mint leaf. We have ice made from smoke-flavored water. We have some other ingredients lined up for our bartenders to play with," Barnes says--look for bacon and jalapeno ice cubes next.

Boilermakers (beer and a shot of whiskey) come with a shot of pickle juice. As a bow to the brewery in the next room, a lot of cocktails are made with beer: "Lipstick on a Pig [a startling concoction of pilsner, amaretto, and orange essence] is so popular we ran out of pilsner the other night," Barnes says.

The Cuban Art Deco look has been replaced by damask wallpaper, black chalkboard ceilings, burlap-covered benches, and exposed, vintage-looking light bulbs that are supposed to give it a feeling something like an old nineteenth-century club or pub, though no one is taking set design too seriously. Exactly what period or place it's supposed to represent is not clear even to Lobdell, the architect; it's dark, and has lots of alcoves, and the main goal was to make the space, which can hold nearly 200 people, seem intimate.