Eastern Standard, Equal Measure Lead Boston's Cocktail Scene
The classic American restaurant and bar is back with a new cocktail bar next door.
Welcome to the weekend! Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:
Cover Story: Eastern Standard, a leader in Boston’s cocktail scene, reopened in a new location last fall and added a new cocktail bar, Equal Measure, right next door. We visited both and checked in with beverage director Jackson Cannon and principal bartender Eliza Hoar.
The Order: You may think you know what “tomato pie” means until you visit Utica and the surrounding areas. We try a classic and updated version of the local favorite.
August’s Featured Field Guide: Our Field Guide to Boston is included in a paid newsletter subscription this month! This 47-page dining guide includes a curated four-day itinerary with 30+ recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks.
Weekend Reading: Punch shares their Best New Bartenders list, The New York Times celebrates a beloved Nashville honky-tonk, the best pizza in Seattle, and more.
BOSTON, MASS. — Eastern Standard Kitchen and Drinks in Kenmore Square was long a Boston go-to. The standout drink program made it an early leader in the city’s cocktail scene, and with its classic ambiance and solid brasserie fare like mussels and steak tartare, I visited on more trips to Boston than not. But its 16-year run in the Kenmore space ended when the restaurant closed in February 2021. We’ve had to mourn many lost restaurants around the country over the past few years, so it was welcome news when Eastern Standard announced that it would return in a new space near Fenway.
On a trip to Boston this spring, I went to the new Eastern Standard for cocktails and dinner, and visited the team’s new cocktail bar, Equal Measure, which is next door. I found exactly what I was hoping for — a space that reminded me of the previous iteration of Eastern Standard and some old favorite menu items, plus an energy that makes it feel just right for a new era.
“Right from the start, I knew we were in for it,” beverage director Jackson Cannon says with a laugh. “I was up for it. I knew that we had a 15-year legacy of touching on all areas of drink-making. Eastern Standard was a little bit of something for everyone in terms of food, cuisine, and hours of operation, but also that large cocktail menu that was strong on classics but had various iterations of advancing ideas from the team members over the years.” That “something for everyone” feel meant that I would stop in with all different people with all different interests, which is a part of how a restaurant becomes an institution. The other part is by delivering all of that with quality. And Eastern Standard absolutely did — as a budding cocktail writer in the late aughts, I would visit to dig into the extensive cocktail list and try something new to me. And there was always something new — Cannon says that during Eastern Standard’s first run, they “built up a lexicon of over 1,000 drinks.”
When reopening in the new space, Cannon decided which drinks to bring over to the new menu by polling staff and former guests to ask them their top Eastern Standard cocktails. The top vote-getter was the whiskey smash. “People think of that and our steak tartare,” Cannon says. “We used to make 70 a night even after we took it off the menu.” It’s made with Jim Beam bourbon, lemon juice, and mint, so it’s not at all fancy but just a good drink. “The best things in life are the simplest things done well,” Cannon says about the drink’s enduring popularity. “The cocktail doesn’t have a bitter component. It’s a smash of lemon, sugar, and mint, and lemon oil from the peel. We serve it on pellet ice. It’s a whiskey drink that shows you whiskey isn’t rough. It’s just pure pleasure.”
Another popular vote-getter was the Old Cuban, an Audrey Saunders (Pegu Club) classic made here with Planteray 5-year rum, lime, mint, bitters, and bubbles. “That was a lot of people’s first foray into a cocktail like that, you know, Champagne, elegance, with oysters,” Cannon says. Cannon’s plan was to find the top 40 or 50 drinks from the old Eastern Standard menu and rework those that needed some tweaking, put some on the new menu and be able to make the rest if diners requested them. The new menu also includes drinks that reflect current trends, like low and non-alcoholic offerings, as well as some new cocktails “that were in our style of leaning on classic architecture but with new combinations of new products.” That includes Latavia Hunter’s great take on a Black Manhattan, which she makes with Ten to One rum, Cocchi di Torino vermouth, Averna, and housemade tart cherry syrup. “We built up to where we feel pretty credible going into the night that we are presenting something faithful to the old ES but also evolving as the new place because that evolution was key at the old place as well,” Cannon says. “That’s how you end up with a thousand drinks.”
As the menu evolved, so too did the space. Cannon says that they went more upscale with the new place. “We felt like if it was going to be different, it was going to be hard on those of us who have such affection for the idea of Eastern Standard vis-à-vis its old incarnation,” he says. “The only thing we could do was make it more deluxe and update to a timeless Deco vibe.”
They wanted to retain some elements, such as the mirror over the back bar that they write on to share specials and things happening in the neighborhood, but they also wanted a larger space with a bigger bar and more room for large dinners and private events. “We knew that the community coming back to us would be upset about change,” Cannon says. “At least it could be change that showed an investment in all the energy they brought to the place prior.”
While you can just go to Eastern Standard for drinks, the food menu is excellent as well. You could graze on icy oysters and shrimp cocktail and classic steak tartare, or split entrees like mustardy crab cakes and steak frites with herb and shallot butter.
The old Eastern Standard used to have a sister cocktail bar, the Hawthorne, but Cannon wanted a brand new bar for the new spot. While Eastern Standard is all about classics and variations, Equal Measure, a finalist for this year’s Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar, is where you should go for a forward-thinking nightcap. The vibe is distinctly darker and cozier, which makes it a good place to end the night.
Led by principal bartender Eliza Hoar, the menu skews in a different direction. Many drinks pull ingredients from the kitchen, and some are savory and incorporate seasonal vegetables. Take the Gracias Gazpacho, a clarified martini made with The Botanist gin, tomato, onion, bell pepper, and cilantro-serrano chile oil. “I was having a bloody Mary and thought: it’s so filling but tomatoes can be so delicate,” Hoar says. “How can we create a cocktail that’s not so heavy?” She made and pureed gazpacho, clarified it, spiked it with gin and dotted the spicy, herby oil on top. The result is an umami-forward drink that’s light and refreshing.
Hoar was working at Youngblood in San Diego when she met Cannon during Tales of the Cocktail at Erin Rose at 3 a.m. “We started talking about hospitality and he was like, ‘Have you ever checked out the Boston cocktail scene?’” Hoar hadn’t, but had been contemplating moving back to the Northeast to be closer to her family. She booked a trip, saw Equal Measure, and made the move. “The space has evolved from where it started and it’s still evolving,” she says. “I believe that’s what this cocktail industry is; it’s always going to be evolving, it’s always going to be changing.”
For the menu at Equal Measure, she does not do a full menu change but swaps out a drink or two at a time. “We like to test the waters,” she explains. “We've gotten more complex with our cocktails. We’re getting really weird and using different techniques. I want us to always be expanding and growing this menu and trying different things.”
One drink that is still on the menu from my April visit is spicy-sweet Down the Rabbit Hole. “Carrots don’t really go out of season for too long,” Hoar explains. The drink has tequila, Aperol, carrot juice, lime, turmeric honey, and carrot greens olive oil on top. “It’s become a staple,” she says. “Going down the rabbit hole is about expanding your brain and going places you didn’t think you could before.”
Taken together, the bars showcase two sides of the current cocktail scene — Eastern Standard for celebrating the classics, and Equal Measure for exploring new flavors and techniques. But at each, you’ll find balanced, thoughtful drinks, making both bars new Boston go-tos.
Eastern Standard Kitchen and Drinks | 775 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02215 | @eskdboston
Equal Measure | 775 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02215 | @equalmeasurebar
All month: Download our Field Guide to Boston to get all our dining picks for a four-day getaway
Want to plan a trip to Boston? Our full list of favorites is available in our Field Guide to Boston, which is included this month in a paid newsletter subscription. This 47-page dining guide includes a curated four-day itinerary with 30+ recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. It’s downloadable for offline reading, includes Google Maps and Instagram links, and is formatted for your phone — perfect for easy reference on your next trip. Paid subscribers to American Weekender can download this Field Guide for free using the discount code found in this month’s Weekend Getaway issue. They also receive 50% off any additional guides. It’s a good deal!
New York’s Tomato Pie
UTICA, N.Y. — When I think “tomato pie” I typically think of the Southern version, with a pie crust stuffed with tomatoes and cheese. In Central New York, particularly in Utica, “tomato pie” is a thick, squarish slice of chewy crust topped with crushed tomatoes and a light sprinkle of Parmesan. It’s basically pizza, but the key element is that it’s served at room temperature. You’ll find tomato pies all over the place, but the best-known spot is Utica’s 25-year-old Roma Sausage & Deli. When we visited for lunch, we got a couple slices wrapped in plastic wrap at the counter along with a sausage roll (don’t miss this), but most locals were getting whole pies to go. It’s a no-frills snack and would be perfect to bring to a big family party where it can sit out all day.
We also tried a more upscale version on a trip to Rochester, located two hours west of Utica. We had dinner at Vern’s, a great little spot with pizza, pasta, wood-grilled dishes, and a slice of tomato pie that comes topped with olive oil, oregano, and flaky salt. The pie sits in the case by the counter waiting to be ordered and it makes for a perfect bar snack with a glass of wine.
Roma Sausage & Deli | 2029 Bleecker St, Utica, NY 13501 | @roma.sausage
Vern’s | 696 Park Ave, Rochester, NY 14607 | @iloveverns
Punch’s Best New Bartenders 2024
Amy contributed to Punch’s annual piece recognizing top U.S. bartenders in the cocktail-making world. This year’s list included folks from some of our favorite bars, including Allison Everitt of Kiesling in Detroit, Jackson Mercier of Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukee, Shaun Williams of Jewel of the South in New Orleans, and Jordan Valls of Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Cheers to everyone who made the list!
TENNESSEE
A Nashville Block Party for a Beloved Honky-Tonk: Writing for The New York Times, Emily Cochrane visited Robert’s Western World where a party celebrated owner JesseLee Jones’ stewardship of Robert’s for the last 25 years. “It was a homage to an era of live country music that has nearly been overtaken by the commercialization of a genre and a city.”
MIDWEST
Enjoy a Taste of the Midwest at These Cool Pizza Farms: Nothing is more farm to table than a table at a farm. In Midwest Living, Joie Probst shares eight Midwestern farms hosting pizza dinners where you can enjoy pies made fresh with local ingredients.
WASHINGTON
The Best Pizza in Seattle: Speaking of pizza, the food team at The Seattle Times recently put together a list of their favorite pizza places. In a rare occurrence, both Times readers and the paper’s writers all agreed that Stevie’s Famous is the place to go.
— Compiled by Kenney Marlatt
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I spent so so many nights (late, early, dinner, evenings, long patio brunches) at ES! And lots of time at The Hawthorn too. I miss those days. So fun to read about everything they are doing now in their new era!
Equal Measure looks so nice!