Would You Drink a Pickleback Piña Colada? At New York City’s Schmuck, It’s a Must-Try

The large vertical sign spelling out “schmuck.” on 6th Street and First Avenue in New York’s East Village may puzzle passersby who only know the traditional Yiddish meaning of the word. But for those in the know, it signals one of the most eagerly anticipated additions to the city’s cocktail scene. Schmuck (which the team styles in lowercase and with punctuation), which opened in late January, is the brainchild of Moe Aljaff and Juliette Larrouy. Aljaff co-founded Barcelona’s acclaimed “five-star dive bar,” Two Schmucks, in 2017, while Larrouy was part of the team from 2020 to 2022. That year, she and Aljaff, along with much of the bar’s staff, departed due to differences with a new investor. Schmuck is their first project since then — and their Stateside debut.

While the name may be similar, Aljaff insists the vibe is entirely different. “Two Schmucks was an expression of me and my former business partner at 27,” he explains. “The bar was punky and very DIY. However, Schmuck is myself and Juliette, eight years later. It’s a reflection of us now and is just entirely different — from the design and food to the fashion and overall vibe.”

That DIY ethos wasn’t entirely absent in the bar’s creation. After contractor delays scuttled their planned August 2024 opening, Aljaff and Larrouy finished the buildout themselves, with an unexpected assistant: AI. “There was a lot to learn about operating here versus what we were used to in Europe,” says Aljaff. “We could easily figure out answers and solutions with AI without paying a professional until we really needed one, saving us time and money.”

The 1,600-square-foot space has a casual yet striking design, incorporating elements of Modern, Space Age, and Brutalist aesthetics. It’s divided into two rooms: the main “living room” features a long, curved stainless steel bar and intimate tables for two or four, while the smaller room is anchored by a long maple communal table, where the bartender presides at one end. The goal, according to Aljaff, is to make it feel “like going to a cool friend’s house party.” Each room has its own menu, with a total of 22 cocktails between them.

The cocktails take inspiration from across the globe, reflecting the duo’s diverse backgrounds. Though they met in Barcelona, Aljaff was born in Iraq and raised in Sweden, while Larrouy is French. Many drinks draw on food as a creative starting point. The Bread & Tomatoes, for instance, is a “savory highball” made with Grey Goose vodka, offering a rich tomato-forward flavor and a buttery aroma that evokes bread without tasting like liquid toast. Meanwhile, the Caramelized Apple appears all-American but actually nods to Line, an acclaimed bar in Athens. “They have this recipe for caramelized yogurt, and they were happy to share that technique with us,” Larrouy explains. “We decided to combine the caramelized yogurt with apple to get our Caramelized Apple drink…. It first started as an Old Fashioned riff, then a highball, and currently, we’ve carbonated it and serve it over crushed ice.”

Schmuck’s cocktails play with tradition but always in service of flavor, never as a gimmick. The Schmuck Martini, for example, adds shochu and French apple brandy to its Fords Gin base and is served with an eyedropper of olive oil on the side, allowing guests to enhance its silky mouthfeel as they choose. The Larb Gai reimagines a piña colada with savory Asian influences, featuring peanuts, rice, and chili oil. The Piña Colada Pickleback is an even bolder reinterpretation: served in two unmarked glasses, one holds tart pickled pineapple brine, while the other contains sweet, viscous coconut fat-washed whiskey. Separately, the components are interesting; sipped in tandem, the alchemy is fascinating, and delicious.

Despite the complexity of the drinks, the menu came together with surprising speed. “When it came to opening, only three cocktails we had in mind didn’t work out. The rest you see on the menu,” says Larrouy. “It took us just about a week and a half of real prep time to finalize the opening serves and specs.”

Schmuck’s food menu, developed in collaboration with co-founder Arash Ghassemi and his Berlin-based pop-up LOBB, leans Middle Eastern with European influences. “Usually, we aren’t fans of cocktails and food pairings exactly, but when it works, it works really well,” says Aljaff. “Our goal for the food and drink program was to offer solid bar food that’s shareable, represents both of our backgrounds, and is enjoyable while drinking our cocktails.”

Standouts include the Puff Pastry Pizza, an airy fried dough reminiscent of a savory doughnut, topped with a parsley-tarragon-dill pesto and Parmesan, grated tableside. There’s also a white bean cacio e pepe with smoked breadcrumbs, tarragon oil, and black pepper, as well as smoked labneh — a savory yogurt dip with chili oil for a little extra zing, served with fresh and pickled vegetables and flatbread.

The sophistication and complexity of the food and drink belie Schmuck’s mellow, relaxed vibe, which is somehow maintained even when both rooms are packed. It already feels broken in, like an old standby as much as the hot new East Village hangout. And while Aljaff and Larrouy are newcomers to New York, they see themselves here for the long haul. “I love a big city,” says Larrouy, “and New York was the only one I wanted to live in. Opening a bar here makes sense—it’s a great drinking city, one where it’s super hard to impress guests, but once they like it, you’re golden.”