​GERARD GERARD

05.02.2015

 

By Shawn Evertsen

 

SINGING PRAISES TO GENEROUS SAINT MARK ON GOLDEN AFTERNOONS AND SILVER MIDNIGHTS AT THE EAST VILLAGE SOCIAL…DESIGN HYBRIDS FOR THE BEST OF NEW AND OLD NEW YORK…TRACKING THE MOVEMENTS OF MODERN BOHEMIANS AS THEY IMBIBE, DIGEST, PERFORM AND PONTIFICATE IN CELEBRATION OF NOW

 

The best places in New York City are the ones that embrace both the past and the future. The East Village Social is one of these excellent establishments, catering to a modern crowd with the vintage aesthetic that people travel from all over the world to experience.

 

EVS sits at 126 St Marks Place, tucked into the eastern stretch between 1st and Avenue A. On a street cluttered with rowdy and awkward bars, it’s really the only one worth stepping into to hang out for more than five minutes.

 

Up the pair of steps and through the front door you find an elongated space decorated in rustic repurposed wood, brick and iron. The bar is a massive slab of dark-stained lumber. If you listen carefully underneath the music you can catch the whispers of the gigantic tree’s soul reassuring you everything will be fine if you trust in Nature.

 

Tables and chairs stretch down the wall opposite the bar, providing comfortable space for kicking back under the soft glow of tiny white lights strung along the ceiling panels. Drinks are served up in sturdy mason jars, keeping with the rural speakeasy, Twin Peaks-meets-Tompkins Square vibe of the overall décor.

 

A newer kid on the block, the bar was established in 2012 by co-owners Dee Dee Patton, Tony Lopez and Gerard McNamee. All three possess intimate knowledge of the Lower East Side nightlife, having followed and been integral parts of the local Rock ’N Roll pulse since long before The Ramones were still playing live.

 

Hearty craft beers fill the taps, and people rave about the Sangria and specialty cocktails. A touch of welcome, healthy modern influence is found in the organic cabernet featured on the wine list. The robust food menu is comprised of feel-good classics with a Southern twist. The specialties are fried chicken and burgers, sweet potato hash and tangy fried pickles. The ‘special sauce’ for all the EVS signature jalapeño aioli. But it’s not all crunchy and crispy. When was the last time you enjoyed a delicious fresh spinach and arugula salad at leather-jacket casual hangout in Alphabet City?

 

The two coolest spots in EVS are the pocket-sized corners that border the front door entryway. Only big enough for two to fill, they incorporate a solid timber shelf under iron-framed windows that look out onto St Marks. When the weather is gentle they open up to a people-watching display far more fascinating than the many big-budget movies that try to fake the NYC energy that St Marks abounds with.

 

It’s a tangible spirit and sense of unrestrained enjoyment of life comparable to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the Las Vegas strip or Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. All day and night crowds of people parade by in every possible variation of sobriety and inebriation. You’d be safe to bet that few places on Earth rival the area from 3rd Ave. to Ave. B across what’s technically 8th street for it’s infinite kaleidoscope slideshow of humanity.

 

On the Holy Bible of online bar and restaurant reviews Yelp.com, Adam E. of Chicago describes the atmosphere of EVS brilliantly when he notes;

 

“This place looks like a bar that would be described in an early Ryan Adams song.”

 

If you’re not very familiar with Ryan Adams you should get to know his music better, because his Americana indie-garage rock songbook has been prolific and critically acclaimed since the late 1990’s. He canon is even starting to stack up alongside the greatest working-class hero troubadours like Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and even the mythical Rolling Stones.

 

Let’s imagine Ryan Adams strolling down Avenue A, either emerging from after a late night or just getting into one. This shouldn’t be difficult to picture because Adams lived, wrote, recorded and performed all over the very same LES neighborhoods for most of the 2000’s before setting up camp in LA circa 2010-ish.

 

There he is crossing over 9th street and A, trundling along to a riff in his head, sporting the trademark faded denim jacket with intricate embroidered patchwork. He leans into the steps turning the corner on St Marks like an old habit and ambles into EVS like he could live there if they had a reasonably clean mattress in the back. By the time he’s polished off a crispy tin cup of fries and quenched his thirst, the well-worn acoustic guitar hanging on the wall has become too much too resist. The bartender pulls the instrument down from the wall and passes it to Ryan, who drags a stool into the corner opposite the bar and begins to serenade the surprised crowd with a ballad from where the magic lives.

 

Beyond the food and drink, this is what goes on at EVS most nights of the week. Live music is always booked for Sunday brunch and on Monday nights curated in conjunction with the Quarterly Arts Soirée. EVS consistently caters to and offers its available space to singers and writers seeking to share joyful connections through spontaneous music and heartfelt performances.

 

It’s easy to feel welcome, at ease and at home at the East Village Social. Drop by between 2 PM and 4 AM any day of the week and you’ll be happy you did, like meeting an old friend you didn’t even know lived in the same city.EVS is the kind of place that, if you had your second drink in hand and a Creedence Clearwater Revival song came on the speakers, it could easily instantly cure a bullet wound, a broken heart, or worse.