Bar Contra, one of the most anticipated New York City openings of the year, has officially arrived where MICHELIN-Starred tasting-menu restaurant Contra once stood.
At Bar Contra, fine dining and natural wine are out, unparalleled cocktails and playful bar snacks are in. This time owners Fabían von Hauske Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone are putting their friend and drinks vet David Arnold (also an owner) front and center. “After 10 years of tasting menus, we decided it was time for something new,” von Hauske Valtierra says. “One of the conversations we had before closing was that I really wanted to do bar food; just fun snacks that go with the cocktails.”
You might know Arnold from hotspots like Booker & Dax and his James Beard Award-winning book Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail, but this is the first time he’s getting a canvas to do everything from scratch. “He has always been a pioneer,” von Hauske Valtierra says. “We went into this as a space where he has no limits. It’s just about what we can create together.”
Expect drinks like a fizzy Japanese plum and tequila creation along with sausage- and cheese-stuffed chicken wings that fans of Contra and Wildair (von Hauske Valtierra and Stone’s wine bar) will instantly recognize.
Read on for all the details on Bar Contra, and make a booking on OpenTable.
What to drink
Arnold’s skills are legendary in the cocktail world, so the bar has a program unlike anything you’ve seen before. “You will see bartenders using liquid nitrogen and all these coloful drinks being made, so it will have a lot of energy,” von Hauske Valtierra says.
Cocktails are divided into seven categories, including carbonated, shaken, and no-alcohol. The Saltair is a highlight among shaken drinks; it’s a salty mix of umeboshi plum tequila and lime with a tiny amount of beer. A stirred section has cocktails on the rocks that are made with fruits macerated with spirits, blended, and spun through a centrifuge for a smooth finish.
There are lots of personal touches, too, like a stirred grapefruit cocktail that also has mamey, a tropical fruit from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where von Hauske Valtierra’s father grew up.
What to eat
Von Hauske and Stone had lots of fun working up dishes that play well with Arnold’s creative cocktails. Contra and Wildair diehards will recognize plenty on this snacky menu, but dishes at Bar Contra are a little more playful and at a lower price point.
Definitely get an order of the crowd-favorite chicken wings and then choose from nearly a dozen other dishes like masa-battered scallop with a shiso-and-walnut condiment and a celery-root crumpet that you can slather with seaweed butter.
Don’t miss the Cracker Jack ice cream bar with chocolate, peanut, and marshmallow that’s based on a snack von Hauske Valtierra and Arnold would make for themselves when they previously worked together. “A lot of the food is inspired by our friendship with Dave,” von Hauske Valtierra says. “The idea is that the dishes will change frequently.”
Where to sit
New Yorkers will find the bones of the tasting-menu restaurant intact, but a lot else has changed. The larger bar in the front now seats 10, and it’s surrounded by oversized banquettes and booths—where you’ll likely be seated if you’re with a group. The back section has two-tops and is softly lit for when you’re here on a date or want a quieter evening.
When to go
Von Hauske Valtierra says the best time to come is earlier in the evening for parties of two and later for larger groups. “We designed it to be a place you can come in early for a cozy first date or with a bunch of friends and stay until things get loud and lavish,” von Hauske Valtierra says. Bar Contra is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30 pm to midnight.
Known for her pioneering food blog, The Strong Buzz, Andrea covers restaurants, chefs, trends, and big picture stories about the intersection of food, business, policy and the law for publications such as The New York Times, Fast Company, Food & Wine, New York Magazine, Eater, and more. She lives, eats, and loads and unloads the dishwasher in Brooklyn. Follow her on Instagram, @strongbuzz_.
