Those of you who haven’t been to PDT — an acronym for Please Don’t Tell — in New York’s East Village, you are definitely missing out on one helluva experience. First of all, you have to get through to their reservation line, which is always busy. If you manage to get past that busy signal good for you! You’ve made it!
Now make a reservation, and show up on time, or else they might not let you in. Once you get to the address you might get a little confused, because it is clearly the famed hot dog joint Crif Dogs. but wait — look to the left, there’s a telephone booth. Now pick it up and a voice will answer. Tell them the name you put the reservation under, and in a little bit, a hostess, will take you to a dimly lit space where you can enjoy finely crafted cocktails by the most skilled mixologists and mouthwatering hot dogs concocted by some of the biggest chefs in the business. Reminiscent of the old speakeasies of yester yore, PDT certainly has a feel that’s different from most New York bars.
Now if you aren’t in the New York area or if you don’t have plans to travel to New York soon, there’s still a way for you to have the PDT experience. Simply pick up a copy of The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy by PDT’s mixmaster Jim Meehan. Meehan teamed up with illustrator Chris Gall to create a guide that tells you everything you need to have PDT cocktails in the comfort of your own home, from all the tools and alcohol you’ll need, down to the cocktail recipes and the techniques. Now all you have to do is make a secret door and attach a phone booth to it and you’ll have all the comforts of PDT at your disposal.
The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy, $17.37 at amazon.com.
