A new jazz-inspired cocktail bar Bitter Monk, a spinoff of Sugar Monk in Harlem, is set to set up shop at the Industry City complex this fall.
It will be housed on the second floor of building six along the scenic waterfront of Sunset Park. Bitter Monk is slated to have an 18-seat bar that focuses on offering spirits made in New York state. The flagship concept, which debuted in 2019, is the result of a collaboration between couple Ektoras Binikos and Simon Jutras who both sought to revive the speakeasy heyday of Harlem’s past, hence its namesake nodding to jazz icon Thelonious Monk.
“A lot of cocktail bars pretend to [have] depth, uniqueness and complexity. Sugar Monk in Harlem actually is,” wrote Robert Simonson, cocktail writer of The New York Times newsletter The Mix.
Binikos is a native of the Greek island of Icaria who has been pioneering New York’s cocktail culture for three decades. Prior to opening Sugar Monk, he managed bar programs at various fine-dining establishments in the city including Aureole, Oceana and Gabriel Kreuther, along with others. He is also an artist who works in multiple mediums from photography to drawing and painting.
Jutras is from Montreal and has vast experience in various creative fields. He has worked as an architect, interior designer and photographer and has been commissioned by the likes of Calvin Klein and Nine West.
