(In First Look, we visit a new restaurant or bar in Central New York to give readers an idea of what to expect. If you know of a new place, email me at [email protected] or call/text me at 315-382-1984. If I take your suggestion, I just might buy you a meal.)
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Syracuse, N.Y. — To all the old guys who passed time on a barstool over the years at George O’Dea’s pub: Don’t you worry. There’s still a spot for you here at 1333 W. Fayette St. In fact, your stool is still here, and the old wooden bar that served as a resting place for your pint of Utica Club has a new life.
That bar now sits on a newly built rooftop, and it’s about to hold snazzy new cocktails such as Venom, Temptation and Lotus.
Welcome to the Emerald Cocktail Kitchen, Syracuse’s first and only rooftop bar. After 350 days of massive construction and four nights of private test runs this week, Emerald will open to the public at noon Sunday.
“I grew up in this bar. I know what it’s meant to people and the neighborhood over the years,” said owner Michele Roesch. “I kept a lot of the elements from the old bar to keep that spirit alive. You’re not going to come in and say, ‘I don’t fit in.’”
A one-story bar had sat at this triangular plot on the eastern edge of the Tipperary Hill neighborhood since the early 1900s. What once was called Val’s later became Dooley’s, and then Dublin’s. Michele’s father, Jerry “Bonez” Roesch, bought the building in 2000 and opened O’Dea’s. He retired in 2016, leaving the bar to Michele.
She started toying with the idea of updating the tavern two years ago. She wanted to create a public house that would appeal to all adults, not just well-seasoned gentlemen. She wanted to mix modern cocktails and serve elevated bar food. She closed O’Dea’s a year ago, and Smith Structures got to work gutting the building and expanding upward.
Over the next several months, they added two floors and an elevator to the existing structure. The foundation could handle the added weight because it originally was a three-story hotel until a fire leveled the upper floors more than 100 years ago.
This neighborhood bar that once could accommodate up to 40 barflies now can comfortably handle 200 patrons among the 9,000 square feet.
Each floor has its own theme. The first story, accessed from the doors on Fayette Street, is a dimly lit speakeasy that’s home to the main bar. It has two booths that each seat up to six customers, five high-top tables, a sofa and velvet upholstered stools at the bar.
While ripping layers of sheetrock from behind the original bar, the construction crew discovered a rock wall next to the kitchen. Michele decided to leave it exposed. “It adds to the mood of this room,” she said.
The second floor is the lounge. This room has a brighter vibe than the speakeasy. It has no bar, but servers will deliver cocktails and food to you here. The 11 barstools from O’Dea’s now sit at a 15-foot counter in front of a window that overlooks Wilbur Avenue and St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Church. The lounge is filled with sofas, upholstered chairs and tables. The brass foot rail from O’Dea’s now serves a rod for plant hangers.
“Everything here is secondhand except the screws on the wall,” Michele said. “Even the glassware, dishes and artwork are repurposed.”
The third floor is the rooftop. It’ll open each year on St. Patrick’s Day and close for the season after a Halloween party.
While Emerald is opening this Sunday, the rooftop won’t open until July 1 to give the staff time to get acclimated. When it does open, last call for drinks on the top floor will be 10 p.m., and access to the roof will end at 11 p.m. “We’re going to be good neighbors,” Michele said, pointing to the houses next door and across Wilbur Avenue.
The base of the original O’Dea’s bar now sits between two outdoor patios that overlook the city. Bartenders will serve the same draft beers and cocktails that they pour in the downstairs speakeasy.
The rooftop can accommodate 105 people. Sections of the third floor can be booked for private events.
Michele spent this week adding tables, planters, chairs and lights to the rooftop. It’ll eventually have a few sofas as well.
“This is a great view, don’t you think?” Michele said Monday while looking at the JMA Wireless Dome from atop Emerald. “Just wait until the fall when the leaves change. Or at night with the Dome lit up for a game. People will love it up here.”
Michele, with her mother Nora, also owns Brasserie Bar & Bistro in Camillus’ Township 5. Together they built Emerald’s 19-item menu and tested it on friends at the restaurant.
Two sandwiches made the cut, a caprese smashburger and a pickled BLT sandwich. The dressed-up shareable appetizers include lobster artichoke dip, truffle mac & cheese egg rolls and a tray of curly fries with three dipping sauces (spicy ketchup, truffle mayo and Korean barbecue).
You can finish with desserts such as red velvet cupcakes or a bourbon ice cream sandwich.
“The food here is so fun and good. It goes with every drink on the menu,” kitchen manager Kevin Harrington said. “We have fun making it.”
While Emerald Cocktail Kitchen has a welcoming atmosphere and menu, the focus here is obviously the drinks. The bar has eight beers on tap, all local to New York. It also stocks dozens of bottled and canned brews, seltzers and various wines.
Michele and her staff created a dozen signature cocktails after mixing different flavors and liquors.
“We love a good bar, and we love a good drink,” she said. “But our market is different than Armory Square. We’re not boujee. These are flavors that people will relate to.”
The Temptation, for example, is Tito’s vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, St. Germain and celery bitters muddled with slices of cucumber and pineapple. The bartender shakes it for 20 seconds before double straining it into a chilled Tom Collins glass filled with ice.
The Venom is Espolon tequila, lime juice, chili pepper syrup and mango puree. It’s shaken and served in a martini glass with a spicy salt rim. It’s garnished with a small red chili pepper.
“You’re going to find something you’ll like to drink here. We’re not just about fancy drinks,” Michele said. “I’m from Tipp Hill. I know what we like to drink. And you’ll still be able to find that here.”
So yes, you’ll still be able to get Utica Club.
Details
The venue: Emerald Cocktail Kitchen, 1333 W. Fayette St. (formerly George O’Dea’s)
Hours: Wednesday-Monday, noon to 1 a.m. Closed Tuesday.
Credit cards: Yes
Alcohol: Of course. It’s a cocktail kitchen.
Kids menu: No
Eat in: Yes
Parking: On-street parking. There are designated spaces for ride-sharing cars and rental scooters.
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Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at [email protected]. (AND he pays for what he and his guests eat and drink, just so you know.) You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.
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