Making a Living Room for the East Village
Coffee or Beer's Matt Hanley interviews St. Dymphna's owner to learn why the NYC bar is such a cool place to drink Guinness.
There's a bar in New York's East Village
that my ex and I dubbed 'The Magic Pub' because it never failed to bestow
euphoria on our party regardless of how poorly anyone felt going in. We would
take out-of-towners there to assure
their trip had at least one glorious night in New York. A typical visit would begin with
the guests -- nerves frayed from the day's midtown barkers, rhythm thrown off walking behind
weeble wobblers,agitated after allowing
a persistent pan-handler to get
inside their heads -- cautiously following us into the mustard yellow building east of First
Avenue on St. Mark's Place : St. Dymphna's.
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| Walk Right in... (from St. D's website) |
First, a challenge: finding enough chairs
for the party. Some of you will have to stand for a bit. Then… somehow or
another, one by one, chairs do appear and this is the first magic of the
evening. Everyone seated at the wooden table relaxes, and realizes she can both
hear the music AND one another talk. After one round of prime beer, anyone who
had been discombobulated is combobulated. After another round within the
low-lighted antiquated walls, you feel like holding your mug aloft and moving
it in sing-song pendulum fashion. Not that you would, because it is not a truly
rip-roaring place for sailors. But you're thinking about it; goddamit, you're thinking
about it!
I decided to find out why St. Dymphna's is
magical, which meant talking to the owner. After some inquiries, I met him and
made an appointment for the interview at the pub. Baker is a tall, clear-headed
Californian who seems he would be comfortable both on a snowboard or in a
boardroom. His gray hair hints at the responsibilities he's taken on at an
early age: marriage, children, entrepreneurial ventures. It was his wife
Patricia and his catering business that made it possible to purchase St.
Dymphna's in 2008 when the original owner was looking to sell.
"She did the numbers and realized we
could afford to buy this place if we continued the catering business and used
the facilities here for preparing the food," Baker said.
The couple have been attached to St.
Dymphna's for much of its 18 year existence. Baker, already an East Village
denizen and St. Dymphna's regular, helped Patricia, newly arrived from Portugal,
get a job there. The catering business began a few years ago when Patricia, a fashion model,
complained to Eric about the poor quality of food at photo shoots. Baker
realized that offering quality food would win them accounts. To deliver on
that, they hired a chef away from the restaurant where Patricia worked (she'd
moved on from St. Dymphna's). The couple
has a demonstrated knack for seeing opportunity--and seizing it. This ability
to observe and adjust is essential to
running St. Dymphna's, which is in the center of a dynamic, diverse neighborhood.
Indeed. After speaking with Eric, I learned
that very little actual magic is responsible for the magical feeling at St.
Dymphna's. Rather, it's the result of his analytical skills, diplomacy,
management and taste. When he bought the place he declared he would make "no
changes, only improvements," in contrast with a competing bidder who
signaled drastic change. Let us examine some changes or non-changes to learn
how a great bar stays special.
SOUND EXPERIENCE
Sound Clarity:
The reason you can hear conversations and
the music is the result of installing new speakers Sound Absorption panels. A
neighbor / friend who is a sound engineer fixed and built upon the existing
setup. Sounds from the stereo and other customers and employees --sound waves
that normally bounce off walls or out into the street-- are instead contained
within the walls. The effect is a true Surround Sound experience, if we take
that term to mean where sound resides, not just originates. With interference
minimized, patrons can 'magically' hear one another without straining their
ears. Preventing the sounds from escaping into the street also appeases the
neighbors. Currying the favor of the 'Community Board' is a recurring necessity
for Baker. More on that later…
Good
Tunes:
"Musicians work here, not actors," Baker said, explaining why
the song selection is consistently cherry. He didn't set out to hire musicians,
but once you have a few, and if you normally fill openings with friends of
staff, well, it leads to more musicians, each of whom contribute playlists for
the bar's iPods, along with Baker and select regulars. The bar has introduced weekend "iPad
DJs," in which a deejay friend of the bar will "spin" tracks
from his or her own iPad.
"The good thing of course is the deejay
can make adjustments based on what's going on, and the feedback they're picking
up," Baker said, practically describing just what he does as an active
owner.
With
the bar so conducive to music
appreciation, it's no wonder many of its regulars are professional musicians. On Sunday nights, some of them step up to play in a new feature Baker installed: live acoustic
sets. There's a different act, often two, on most Sundays at 9pm. Recent lineups have included Willy Mason, Greg Kavanogh, and Todd Baker. If it's an act that's broken big, the info will only be publicized last minute, a la "secret show."
It's another positive feedback loop: good music attracts
good musicians, who come and make good music. The customers benefit from the
variety of musical sources; the friendly competition among the playlist
creators delivers innovation and high quality.
Music Moves You:
"Dancing does happen," Baker says, "Friday and Saturday night" but technically it's illegal. Yes, roll your eyes and compare it to Footloose. In
New York City, a bar needs a cabaret license in order to host dancing. It's one
of those laws on the books that is rarely and subjectively enforced. The
possibility that it could be invoked is one of the ways the Community Board
influences general compliance and behavior… more on that later.
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| Half of the taps. |
BEER
Baker's policy is to offer a balance of
"what's good and what's popular." This led him to make room in the
bar's formerly European-only lineup of drafts
to accommodate the surging popularity of microbrews. Still, he enforces
standards. Although the national fad is hoppy India Pale Ales, Baker deems them
unfit for the casual environment of St. Dymphna's.
"This is a place for
hanging out awhile, sitting down and having conversations. For most of us here it's like a living room," Baker said, alluding to the small living quarters of the locals.
"Our customers want to relax over two or three pints without getting shit-faced or full. It has to be drinkable, more balanced," Baker said.
The top-seller
remains Guinness.
Freshness
Whatever
brew you choose will be fresh because Baker regularly cleans the lines that
connect the basement kegs to the bar's taps. Yeast builds up in the pipes if
unchecked, giving the drafts a yeasty taste; Baker's bi-weekly washings assure
that won't happen. "It's surprising how many bars don't take the time to
clean the pipes," Baker said. "It makes such a difference." The
high turnover of kegs also promotes freshness.
"Nothing's sitting there
for a week or so. Some of the bars that offer a lot of different drafts but
don't have volume (traffic)… you wonder how that beer's going to taste sitting
there for a month."
Then there's the temperature of the lines. Properly-cooled lines produce cleaner pours, less head. Baker has the pipes insulated with Glycol coolant, the highest level of insulation possible.
Size
St. Dymphna's serves beer in Imperial size
pints--20 ounces compared to 16. Baker did not change that quantity, thinking
it a good value that customers appreciate. He did regret, though, not making
note of it on the new menus he had just gotten printed. It doesn't seem like a
big mistake; the people who appreciate it and expect it already know about it.
This type of info is self-evident or passed along among friends. If ever St.
Dymphna's had to create an advertisement
mentioning 'big / beer specials,' well, it may as well shut its doors and
reopen as a $2/shot sinkhole such as Down the Hatch. As it is, St. Dymphna's marketing is mostly
done via a Facebook page, through which word of music happenings is piped
to the regulars.
COCKTAILS
"Ten years ago I wouldn't have believed
there would be a cocktail list here, but the new crowd demands it," Baker
says, referring to the younger, affluent peeps populating the East Village.
Latter day anthropologists will have a field day scrutinizing the
contradictions of American life circa 2011: that during an economic downturn,
college students will be seeking to pay more for drinks. But then, there will
always be affluent students at NYU, and lately, they've discovered the East
Village. St. Dymphna's maintains a list of about ten cocktails.
LIQUOR
St. Dymphna's offers the stand-by popular
liquors. The top shelf is an improvement: containing fine tequilas, whiskeys,
single-malts that Baker selects.
FOOD
By purchasing the place, Baker inherited a
much-loved recipe list. By installing his chef, Steve, he has improved the quality of the
ingredients, introduced new dishes, and improved the profitability of the
kitchen. Chef Steve directs the kitchen staff and handles administrative
functions such as food ordering.
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"He's great at what he does. He knows
what to order and how much to order for each week. That's very important.
There's very little waste now."
That is important. If a cool bar - or anything
- is going to thrive, it must have
money, and sometimes that money comes from savings and efficiencies.
Some of the new recurring dishes include a
Guinness Stout pie, a Shepherd's pie, and Steak & Pepper, written in the
French 'Steak au Poivre ' a small reminder of St. Dymphna's authenticity and
style.
Among the carryovers is the raisin-less Irish
Soda Bread, served with each dish. It is awesome. They've begun to offer it in
their catering business as well. And
there's the St. Dymphna's burger, underrated both as a top New York burger and St.
Dymphna's menu item. I've added it to my list of 'destination burgers.' Another case of those who know know. If ever they had to put up an awning with a
picture of a burger and beer.. Well, they may as well shut down, move to
Broadway and start selling cupcakes as well.
Chef Steve also stewards over the Mulled Cider,
kept in a casket on the corner of the bar. It's a tasty concoction and often
just the thing to seek in the winter. (If you are having 'beer or coffee'
ambiguity, you would be wise to have a cup of the cider and move on from
there). Keeping it fresh and assuring there's enough on hand is another case of
the monitoring and effort that's the bread and butter for Baker and staff.
EXTENDED HAPPY HOUR
Another Baker improvement has been starting
Happy Hour when the bar opens at noon. It ends at 7pm. This extension had been
adopted by some bars in New York, and it makes sense for St. Dymphna's. It pleases the regulars, and makes brunch
very affordable. All drafts are $3. Yes. Three bucks for an Imperial pint of
fresh Guinness. An affordable brunch indeed.
ATMOSPHERE
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Coffee available during brunch.
Blackboards with menu are written by a staffer who has good handwriting. |
Aside from the good vibrations, what makes St.
Dymphna's so enchanting? Lighting has much to do with it. Generally, it's
"low in the evening, bright in the afternoon." It's generated from a
combination of the tables' votive candles, oil lamps, and random bulbs from what they call
the "bar decco" arrangement of fixtures. Readability of the menu suffers. Patrons
raise a candle to see the text. Baker's aware of the drawback, and is exploring
some technical solutions. Some ideas he had off the top of his head are having
a text message with the menu items sent to people as soon as they enter the
doors; and, building out the homepage of the WiFi network to contain all the
drink and food menus and specials. If he pulls it off, it would be another
example of technology enabling intimacy and romance. Fortunately for now, the
sound absorption borne 'hearability' between staff and guests gets the info
across.
BUSINESS STRUCTURE
Baker and his wife have an active partner in her sister Raquel. Having a partner is beneficial even aside from relative talents and resources brought to the operations; it allows them to take time away. By staggering their schedules, the team is able to continuously have a vested manager available while making vacations (and other business trips) possible.
WHAT COMPETITION?
There are now six bars on the block, but Baker does not deem them as competition. "The more, the merrier," he says. This attitude is healthy for the owners. They are able to help each other in cases when one is short a barrel or bottle. They can also provide support when debating issues with the Community Board. But more on that.. right now! Yes, the next section, a lengthy study of the interplay of business and residents in the East Village.
MISTAKE! AN IMPROVEMENT GONE WRONG .. AND
THEN MADE RIGHT.. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Ecosystems are complicated. The
environment and the inhabitants are intertwined in myriad ways. Actions
indirectly impact all or any; often unexpectedly, sometimes immediately.
Sometimes only after years are effects known. Yes, yes, we know this. Well the
East Village is a Hyper Ecosystem - there's a lot going on, and the
participants feel passionately about what they do and what they deserve. People are defensive of what they have, but
also creative and open-minded. So we find a lot of people innovating, trying
new things, things that seem just the right thing to do. Sometimes it is just the thing, sometimes it
only seems that way, and can't hold up against a different wave of action, and
it crumbles. Baker is skilled at
accommodating trends and imprinting his own taste to make St. Dymphna's a
popular, profitable bar. But he and the bar are but one of many objects in the
system. He and the bar are impacted by other actors, of the past and present.
It owes its existence to a desire of the
community 20 years ago, when the area was unsafe and unpoliced, to have a
lighted business to encourage non-drug-related commerce. St. Dymphna's became
the first bar on the block. There are now 6, and the neighborhood has prospered
into a lively area. Many folks in the community measure happiness by the level of
noise. It is a very important factor in their lives. Sound, sound, sound. Is an
activity being introduced? Well, how much sound does it make? What kind of
sounds? Hmmm. Oh, you want to build a what? Will the construction make noise?
Why is it being built? What kind of noise will be going on inside? Will you
keep it inside?
These noise-aware residents are not the
same people they were twenty years ago. Mostly because they are NOT the same
people (who have since left or died). But even the longtime residents are of
different disposition due to age, having children.. Many in the community are
affluent and simply want a quiet place in the most creative, active part of the
world's greatest city.. Is that too much to ask? Didn't they pay to have it
'all?' Taken as a whole, these people, then and now, are The Community. The
Community got what it wished for: action on the street, an increasingly safe
street, more action, more safety, and now.. It's too noisy. Be careful what you
wish for indeed. So, who is the target of the Community's ire? St. Dymphna's and
the newer bars. Success breeds success, but success is noisy.
Baker is aware of the sensitivities of the
residents. He tries to satisfy them. That's one of the reasons he had the Sound
Insulation tweaked. He answers their phone calls.
"Everyone in the
neighborhood has my number and they know they can call me."
Even if the
source of a given noise issue is generic or from another location, Baker is the
go-to guy they call to complain. Due to his accessibility he's become somewhat
of the businesses' ambassador to the Community Board. He's tuned into the board
members' concerns, he can empathize, and yet he's also a builder, a doer, who
might do things that unintentionally reduce the happiness of the neighbors.
That's just what happened when he decided to improve the patio area of St.
Dymphna's.
The patio was a cool courtyard area in the
back of the pub with a stylistic Euro-type mural. It was kind of a secret.
It was another example of regulars finding it on their own and telling friends.
On warm nights, it was an ideal spot, a de facto beer garden. Baker decided to make it better. He had it
cleaned and replaced the furnishings. He
added a telescoping tent and new plants. The improvements attracted more and
more patrons. It became the place to be. It was groovy, it was active .. It was
… incredibly noisy. The neighbors were displeased. Their happiness was reduced
time and again. They had an answer: they would re-read the zoning permit for
the establishment. Yes, those malleable, unevenly enforced zoning rules of New
York. Ah-ha! Establishments in the middle of the block cannot have an outdoor
garden St. Dymphna's, in the middle of the block, cannot have the garden. Baker had to shut it off to patrons, and the
patrons were not pleased. Their happiness reduced, many of them went elsewhere. Their exodus
contributed to a 30% decline in year-to-year revenue. Unintended consequences. A simple twist of
fate that bit Baker in the ass. But soon
enough he would be rewarded for his instincts.
Unable to head out back to the patio, the
regulars who came by would stick to the front of the bar near the window, which
attracted passers-by. Activity leads to activity. Success breeds success.
"It was almost a blessing that the garden closed, because it used to be
everyone was in the back, so someone walking by would think it was an empty
bar," Baker says. An empty bar of course, stays empty.
Baker's instinct to improve and beautify
created a popular garden that had to shut down because of its popularity. But
to make up for lost business he continued to find improvements such as the
extended happy hour. The increased traffic up front, and the success of the new
happy hours has more than made up for the loss from the garden.
So, what is to become of the garden? Baker
researched the possibilities, and discovered that the patio could be altered
and encased to come up to code. But, for now, he is putting off any such work.
It will be a costly improvement and he wants to line up more ducks, especially
his landlord, to share the load. Plus there was no reason to rattle the
neighbors. Every two years his license must be renewed, and it could have been
held up if a community member protested it. In this case of the 'Forbidden
Garden,' Baker has proven to be lucky, resourceful, and wise. Sometimes the
smartest move is no move. Keep things cool, get all the facts, and make some
improvements every now and then. And yet.. There is a continuous force acting
upon St D's. Maybe it is not magic. Probably it can described, as Al Davis,
deceased Oakland Raider owner, would call a "Commitment to
Excellence." That’s basically what Baker seeks to do. Says he:
“I offer quality and
make it accessible.”
******
St. Dymphna's is easily accessed and is entering its busiest season, as winters go hand in hand with "cozy." You'll meet people from many walks of life, most of them artistic, a large number of materialists on weekends. It's pleasantly boisterous but can get a wee crowded when an NYU infusion maxxes out capacity (and makes a trip to the loo a journey). If you're looking for an Irish bar, there are many hackneyed Harp purveyors around midtown whose bratty hostesses will give you a large plastic, easy-to-read menu and that have a team of terrible vest-wearing bartenders to adequately pour $7 pints. They are the spiritual siblings of Dunkin' Donuts. If you want something different, if you choose to be a New Yorker through and through and open yourself up to magic, then you will feel at home at St. Dymphna's. It can be your living room.
*******
St. Dymphna's is at 118 St. Mark's Place in New York, NY. It was opened in 1994 and has had the current management since 2008. It is open 7 days per week.
Official Website: http://www.saintds.com
A note about
the name:
St. Dymphna is the patron saint of mental and emotional
illness. She was the daughter of a 7th century pagan Irish king and
widower, who wished to marry her. Baptized a Christian, she fled with a
priest and two servants to Gheel, Belgium, where she was tracked down
by the king. In his fury, he had the whole party killed (heads rolled).
She became revered as a beautiful martyr. In the 13th century, when she
was canonized, the investigating agent of the bishop wrote that "a persuasive history of inexplicable and miraculous healings of the mentally ill."
An infirmary known for its compassion was built in Gheel at the site of
her death.
Born in the land of Guinness and killed in the land of
Duvel, St. Dymphna, a healer of mental cases, is a proper namesake for a
bar catering to the creative spirits of the East Village, where often
the line between insanity and brilliance is blurred.
