I never knew how much I needed a New Orleans voodoo-themed cocktail bar until I went to The Spirit Room at 139 State Street in Rochester, NY. Not only was the bar a complete antique-lover's dream, but the cocktails themselves transported you into a romantic era of deep-southern jazz and spooky vibes. The placement of the bar is further away from typical Rochester East End weekend stops, but The Spirit Room is in a great area primed for future development. For an excellent example, also on State Street is the infamous Pizza Stop, regularly nominated in the City newspaper's Best of Rochester awards.
The Spirit Room is co-owned by former Daily Refresher bartender and craft cocktail maker Jacob Rakovan, along with Rachel McKibbens, Bouty Chanthavisinh, Emily Rose Kahn-Sheahan, and Luc Thiers who spent six months renovating the historic State Street location. The venue is covered from floor to ceiling with pristine antiques such as a genuine Jenny Lind doll, who graces the shelf overlooking the bar, and a working Victor Victrola turntable which is played at closing each night. Along with kitschy skeletons and baby doll parts, some of the more authentic building parts include original Victorian tin ceiling tiles and what appears to be a vintage speaker soundbar surrounding the inside perimeter.
My friend and I gazed at the cocktail menu to decide what to order, and we decided to sample two cocktails to start with: The Lily Dale, which contained vodka, lemon, honey, creme de violette, and lime bitters, and the Mr. Switchfoot, which contained cognac, New England rum, absinthe rouge, demerara sugar, and lime. I was absolutely delighted to find out that The Spirit Room uses exclusively Wexford glassware, which Jacob, who we were lucky to have as a bartender, informed us that many people get excited by the glasses and often tell him, "My grandmother has the same stuff!" I think Wexford is a great idea for craft cocktails as, I assume, the thick glass prevents a lot of breakage.
The drinks were so delicious and nostalgic of another time long, long ago. We were absolutely hooked and ordered a second round: the Bitter Apparition, which consisted of gin, lime, egg white, and pimento dram, and The Planchette, which was gin, lemon, sparkling wine, and botanicals. I was absolutely floored by the gin cocktails. The Bitter Apparition had an eye shape stenciled in black walnut bitters which made it look like something Professor Trelawney might drink after a long day of teaching Divination at Hogwarts. The allspice flavored pimento dram made this drink taste magical and almost Christmas-y.
I loved The Planchette the best out of all four. Because of the addition of the sparkling wine, the drink seemed larger and was enjoyable to sip slowly alongside good conversation. Halfway through our second round, a barback came over and filled a painted ceramic plate with, I kid you not, animal crackers for us to snack on. I really hope they continue the animal cracker bar snack idea because I was living for them. My friend and I moved from the bar to some cute antique armchairs a la Daily Refresher until we decided to head out.
In all, I would highly recommend The Spirit Room to everyone who enjoys a craft cocktail and spectacular service (but, really, who doesn't?). In addition to various music and poetry events, The Spirit Room also offers a food menu of typical specialty Southern cuisine and an on-site Tarot card reader. If you're looking for a chilling night out for Halloween, or any night in October, The Spirit Room has a lot going on - I've included their October event listing below. Their official grand opening is this Sunday, October 1st, so don't miss it!
PHOTO USED FROM THE SPIRIT ROOM FACEBOOK
Their hours are listed as Wednesday through Sunday from 6PM until late. They will also begin having lunch hours on October 4th. Parking is limited to the street and a small parking lot behind the building, but all street parking in Rochester is generally open after 6PM anyway, so there shouldn't be much trouble finding a spot. You can find them on social media via Facebook and Instagram for all the ghostly updates. Thank you for reading my bar review, keep an eye out for more articles like this by following my Twitter or my Instagram for post updates!
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