SoHo’s The Dutch has turned the front of its 15-year-old restaurant into a nine-seat Martini bar, where guests can customize a drink down to its spirit, dryness and garnish — then chase it with a hot beef sandwich made just nine times nightly. The launch gives one of the neighborhood’s old reliables a very small, very boozy new room to fight over.
The new counter, tucked into the space that once housed The Dutch’s original oyster bar, debuted Wednesday with an interactive menu built around the ritual of ordering a Martini. Time Out New York reports that customers can choose gin or vodka, set the drink’s wetness, and finish it with olives, pickles or a twist.
The restaurant’s own official website lists the longtime American restaurant at 131 Sullivan Street and identifies Andrew Carmellini as its chef, alongside Josh Pickard and Luke Ostrom. That established-food foundation is now being paired with a bar concept that leans deliberately tiny, theatrical and a little indulgent.
A Martini Menu Built For Custom Orders
The headline drink is the Dirty Snow Cone Martini, made by shaving frozen Martini ice to order before serving it extra-cold and extra-dirty. Other signatures include the Freezer Door with vodka, Citral and basil, the Black & Blue with salt-and-pepper gin and Maytag olives, and an Espresso Martini served with an extra pour on the side, according to Time Out New York.
Guests who cannot settle on one drink can order a flight of three teeny ’tinis, with options including the Goldie Gibson, Hudson Sea Breeze, Dill Turf Club and Montauk Pearl. A rotating daily special, handwritten by the server, gives the nine-seat setup another reason to reward repeat visits.
Nine Hot Beef Sandwiches Per Night
Chef Andrew Carmellini created an off-menu Hot Beef Sando exclusively for the Martini bar, but the kitchen will make only nine each night. That makes the sandwich almost as scarce as a seat at the counter — and probably a little more useful after the second cocktail.
The new bar adds a focused late-day draw to a restaurant that already serves a broad American menu, from oysters and burgers to hot fried chicken and lobster tagliolini. With only nine seats and nine sandwiches in the nightly equation, The Dutch is betting that scarcity still pairs nicely with a cold Martini.
