GOODNIGHT SONNY

PHOTOS BY LUCY HAWTHORNE

GGood Night Sonny was the second bar that the Endless Hospitality team opened after their first cocktail bar, The Wayland was a huge success in 2012. Good Night Sonny opened its doors in 2015.

The Wayland was created to embody partners Jason Mendenhall and Robert Ceraso’s idea of a perfect party thrown in a country house with all your friends invited. Inventive cocktails, food all night, live music and a feeling of escape from the city around you. Good Night Sonny was a follow up that was created to contrast the Wayland. Instead of an escape from the city, GNS was created to embrace all the best aspects of a classic New York tavern. Located on one of the East Village’s most high profile corners on Saint Marks Place, the bar quickly became a meeting place for neighbors, friends and New York’s restaurant industry. GNS is a lively and energetic party every night. Starting at happy hour when guests line up early to have access to a rotating list of 12 to 14 oysters and ending late at night when groups of restaurant workers from all over the city come together for cocktails and late night meals to wind down after long shifts of their own. The bar is overseen by partner Pete Canny, who not only curates the ever changing cocktail and food programs but also the Hip-Hop heavy play list. Mr. Canny and his amazing staff make everyone feel like a regular… from their first visit to their hundredth.

In March of 2020, like all the rest of New York City, GNS had to go into shutdown. By then Mr. Canny, Mr. Mendenhall and Mr. Ceraso had four locations open and were working on 2 more. Endless Hospitality Group employed over 100 people at that

point and had no choice but to furlough them all. For the first time in over 5 years Sonny went quiet.

Ceraso said, “During the shutdown, we did what a lot of our peers did. We did zoom cocktail classes. We made sourdough. We met as a team on zoom every couple of days to strategize what would come next, but also just to see each other and share drinks and food and maybe catch a buzz to try to find a little time to feel normal.”

“In late May the city allowed us to open for to-go cocktails and food. We were excited to be back open in any capacity. But it was hard for us to come to terms with this new version on hospitality. Bars like Sonny aren’t at their best when they are serving drinks in plastic through a window. Bars like Sonny and so many of our peers were built to connect to people. To make cocktails and see our customers faces when they try them for the first time. To shake hands and hug old friends and talk about our mutual battles and triumphs. Those moments were missing for us for a long time.”

“There were a lot of ups and downs for the rest of 2020. We opened. We closed. We made changes constantly to try to keep up with the world. Through it all we were never really able to connect back with customers like when times were normal, but we were able to hire staff back and connect with each other.”

“We kept our circles close and acted like people who had been through something deep together. Because we were. If the pandemic taught us anything it was to appreciate what we had. Our health. The people in our lives. Our businesses that had somehow survived a year of global pandemic. Friends became family. We shared our hopes and fears as easily as we used to share cocktails.”

“Eventually the city opened back up. Now it’s 2021 and we have made our 1,000th pivot…hopefully back to some lasting normalcy. We can see customer’s faces again and they can see us smile when they tell us how important it is to them that we’re all back together. We are handing drinks over the bar again for the first time in 15 months. Things still aren’t perfect. People are still unsure of exactly how to act. But they are coming back. We shake hands again and we hug our friends every chance we get. We share a lot of cocktails.”

FROZEN COSMOPOLITAN

Lemon Verbena Infused Vodka Fresh Lime Juice Cointreau House Made Cranberry Purée

"Since we reopened for the pandemic we brought in a frozen machine we never had before, and have done a new slushy every week since then with no repeats."

QUEENS BRIDGE SWIZZLE

1/4 oz. Demerara syrup 3/4 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice 3/4 oz. Gin 3/4 oz. Pear Brandy Sprig of mint

➜ Shake, strain into a collins glass, top with crushed ice, Angostura bitters and a dash of ginger beer.