Amanda Schuster Talks “Drink Like A Local”

By Kurt Maitland

Today, we talk to friend and fellow author, Amanda Schuster about her latest book–Drink Like a Local: New York. As cities have opened up and we continue to venture out, we are finding that the drinking landscape has changed. Some old favorites are now gone, and new places have sprouted up. Here in NYC, there couldn’t be a better time for this book and conversation than now.

KM: So how was it different working on this book versus your first book, New York City Cocktails?

AS: I had only 6 weeks to write New York Cocktails. Drink Like a Local was commissioned in late 2019, with a deadline in early spring of 2020. With only a few weeks to go, I begged Cider Mill Press to put a pause on the project until we could assess what would happen to the NYC bar scene. As I say in my introduction, the book is supposed to be about where New Yorkers GO, not where they went. Luckily science prevailed and we can drink at bars again. The project was picked up in late 2021. I had the unique opportunity to appreciate the scope of it even more, and truly understand what it means to have a local in the Big Apple. I didn’t have to rush. I could really think it through.

KM: As a writer who had to write a book during Covid, what was the hardest part of that period for you?

AS: The hardest part was watching my friends in hospitality suffer and feeling powerless to help them. There were moments I really thought we were never going to be able to socialize again. Ever. And that meant never going to bars the way they are meant to be enjoyed again ever. There were moments I truly felt the world had ended. All the sirens didn’t help enliven the mood.

KM: How much did you need to rework your book as Covid ravaged the NYC bar world?

AS: I’m honestly shocked, amazed, and thrilled that a good 2/3 of the bars I had originally chosen to profile survived. New Yorkers are a resilient bunch! Fuhgeddaboudit! I had waited to write the intro until the end anyway (never begin writing a book with the introduction), so I took particular care to detail what the bar industry had to endure, and why it needs to be appreciated even more. Obviously I had to change a few things about bars I had already written about, like Amor y Amargo, which went through some of the most intense “pivots” to re-open. And, sadly, because this is not a history book, some of the writings about bars that later closed had to be scrapped. That’s why it was important for me to have the In Memoriam section.

KM: What places/areas did you find that ended up being a surprise to even you, a long-time NYC resident?

AS: Darlin’, NOTHING surprises me about NYC bars!

KM: I’m sure you had a favorite borough to drink in before you started the book but did any other borough get close to challenging that favorite?

AS: I still prefer drinking in my Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill neighborhood more than any other. However, I really wish I could spend more time in Astoria, especially at Diamond Dogs and Kelly’s, which I never get to visit enough.

KM: What bars that we lost do you think you will miss the most?

AS: As I write about in the intro, and no spoilers here, there was a particularly charismatic bar wayyy deep in the Bronx, a place you couldn’t even get to directly on the subway. Even farther away from any train line than Red Hook. It was beyond worth the schlep. It was special. And it’s history. I’m truly devastated. Not only is the bar gone, but there’s a whole community of people who relied on it and now have nowhere to go. It was the purest essence of a local.

KM: Looking to the future, are there any new bars that have caught your eye or have become a favorite?

AS: Oh so many! I can’t even begin to list them right now. Basically, if anything opened in the past 6 months I probably haven’t been there yet. That has to change. I will say I loved finally visiting Sunken Harbor earlier this year and can’t wait to go back. I am looking forward to the reboot of Milady’s from the Clover Club team. I’m so thrilled one of my old, beloved locals from the way back is re-opening in good hands!

KM: Finally, do you have any feeling/thoughts on how the NYC bar scene is recovering/moving on to its next phase?

AS: I am in awe of what the NYC bar scene has had to endure. New bars have a unique template to work from now, precedents in all aspects of hospitality and public health that were set by the bars who survived. This does not mean the new ones have it easy. I honestly don’t know how anyone can own a bar in the city and stay sane. I am especially gobsmacked by rude customers in this phase of our lives now. I think everyone should spend a few days, weeks even, working in the service industry to truly appreciate what people go through for them just to place a glass or a plate in front of them.