At New York City’s ILIS, an Ultra-Luxe Cocktail Pairing Draws a Crowd

ILIS has barely been open half a year and it’s already embedded itself as a fixture of the New York fine dining scene. No surprises there. 

The sleek New Nordic shrine in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn checks all the requisite boxes for cult-tier culinary adoration: The chef, Mads Refslund, is a co-founder of Noma. The hospitality is helmed by Will Douillet, an alum of Alinea and Atera. The interior is architecturally profound: industrial yet inviting; a seamless integration between broad dining space and the open kitchen at its core.

Against this elevated backdrop, it’s easy for the mixology program to get overlooked. Bar manager Bobby Murphy doesn’t want you to make that mistake. Since the start, he’s been applying unexpected techniques to affect eminently imaginative drinks — usually tableside. 

There’s one with whey, derived from freshly strained ricotta. He serves a citrus martini studded with a pine cone tincture, collected from Douglas fir. Now he’s showcasing his skills across a five-course cocktail tasting menu that runs exclusively in the restaurant’s front lounge. The new dinner pairing costs $185 per guest and it might just be your best way to secure a reservation at the haute eatery. Here’s how it all comes together. 

“The idea is that we identify a signature ingredient in the cocktail and we combine them together with the food,” says Murphy. “In each course, we’re finding that common thread between food and drink.”

A recent example included a raw oyster bathed in a wash of grapefruit-imbued tequila. When slurped out of its shell, those same briny, bittersweet tones are echoed through an accompanying dram, girded by agave spirit and the sharpness of a Swedish-style wormwood liqueur. The following course brings blood orange to both the plate and glass; it exerts piquantness in tandem with a floral rosé — and fruitiness against an umami-rich lobster tail. 

“Things take an unexpected turn when we introduce a cheese course in the middle of the meal,” Murphy explains. “We use fresh whey, strained tableside, and work it with Irish Whiskey into a Squash Sour. Squash and cheese are really complementary flavors, you often see them together. But never in this particular form.”

After that, a lobster and duck croquette course arrives alongside the ILIS Trinity. It’s a booze-forward arrangement of locally sourced aquavit, with apple brandy and rye. Come dessert, it’s time for the restaurant’s signature Carajillo — a creamy and soulful staple of the dining room, here hauled out next to a house-made walnut ice cream covered in caviar. 

According to Murphy, “caviar and sweet things work really, really well together.” His guests tend to agree. And because his cocktail tasting menu evolves with the seasons, they’re encouraged to explore on repeat occasions; perhaps on even more frequent rotation than they would at the more formal tasting in the adjoining dining room. That standard affair is nearly twice the length and will set you back $295 per person, with an optional $225 beverage pairing up-charge. 

“Although we launched relatively recently, the positive feedback has been immediately felt,” says ILIS co-founder and GM Will Douillet. “We’re catering to guests who love cocktails as much as they do great food, but until now they hadn’t found an experience that effectively combines those interests.” 

Indeed, it’s an accepted axiom that wine is the only liquid fit for a fine dining table. But a cocktail-driven evening inside the ILIS lounge will leave you wondering why. It’s to be expected: This place runs on wonder.