There’s a particular nostalgia in snow days. If you grew up in a climate with snowfall, you must remember the feeling: waking up early, looking out the window to see a blanket of white, turning on the television and hoping against hope that you’d see your school’s name scrolling across the screen under cancellations.
Now, we realize that those days just need to be made up at the end of the school year – and there’s even a school district in South Carolina looking to eliminate the concept of snow days altogether – but then, having a surprise day off was just about the best feeling you could have. As adults, especially with today’s redefined ideas of how and where people work, snow days have become more of a fond memory than an actual thing. Except, that is, at Snowday in Brooklyn. This pop-up bar, inside a popular Williamsburg restaurant, is reviving everything that is great about the snow day – and adding cocktails.
Snowday in Brooklyn started before the holidays as a Christmas pop-up, an increasingly popular concept for evening nightlife in December: there are over 80 temporary Miracle Bars across the country this season. Rather than go all-in on Christmas, though, Snowday in Brooklyn has opted for a winter ski chalet theme, complete with fake snow on the windows and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. On the day I visited, however, the bartenders were all wearing Christmas pajamas, and the musical selection included a rendition of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” by DMX. Granted, it was the week before Christmas, so the festive spirit was especially high.
This seasonal bar runs through the end of February – which is a good thing, because there are a lot of creative and kitschy cocktails to try. The Naughty List has drinks like the Old Krampus, which has bourbon, aged cachaca, Czech spices, sweet vermouth, maple and angostura bitters, finished off with a touch of the blowtorch on top. It comes served with a stocking that has a Krampus playing card inside, and a lump of coal. The Scroogin’ for a Bruisin has blended Scotch, Madeira wine, allspice, banana and spiced cranberry bitters.
On the Nice List, Grinch Don’t Kill My Vibe is made with genever, amaretto, matcha, vanilla bean, lemon and egg white. There’s also a Cozy list of hot drinks with names like Rum Rum Rudolph and Yuletide is High, which is an Italian-style hot toddy for two. The Christmas in July section is all tiki drinks, with wintry twists on the flavors of summer. From that list, Partridge in a Pear Tree, a pear-infused tequila punch, comes in a glass bird, and the winter version of a piña colada, Polar Bear Club, is served in a bear-shaped glass.
The food menu is ski chalet-inspired, too, offering Stroopwafel served with beer cheese, and Raclette, which is a mild cheese melted over a plate of potatoes and bacon that’s hard to find in America but very popular in Europe. A visit to Snowday in Brooklyn might not really be a trip to a ski chalet – but if you’re like me and you’re more interested in après ski sipping than the actual skiing, that will be just fine with you.
