A boat that’s less shiver me timbers and more vintage yacht with navy banquettes, brass light fixtures and blue tiles slapped onto the bar like scales.
You’re at Portsmith, the latest restaurant and bar duo (more on that bar part later) from the Fifty/50 Group that’s taking reservations now for an August 10 opening at the Dana Hotel. Here’s the slideshow.
Not everything is as it seems here. Starting with the fish and chips, which is actually a halibut filet with crispy potato “scales” and a Vidalia onion filled with tartar sauce. Fancy. If you’re looking for fried fish, it’s on top of a waffle in a pescatarian take on chicken and waffles that’s topped with coffee maple syrup.
Then there’s dessert, which allows you to travel the seven seas, from the tobacco ice cream of Cuba to the deconstructed baklava of Greece. Or just pop open a bottle of Grecian white, look up at the ceramic shells on the walls and imagine you’re on a beach.
Is it working? If not, maybe head upstairs for something stronger. That bar we vaguely referenced back there is Leviathan, the latest cocktail lounge from booze whisperer Ben Schiller. There, among other things, he’s filling custom glass vessels with gin, rum and aquavit and topping it all with shaved bonito flakes. It’s called the Leviathan.
