Schmuck Hits NYC
The founders of Barcelona’s acclaimed five-star dive bar, Two Schmucks—once a regular in The World’s 50 Best Bars—have embarked on a bold new venture in Manhattan’s East Village. After a turbulent chapter that saw a mass staff departure due to professional differences among the partners, they set sail for the U.S., channelling their energy into an entirely new concept.
Their latest project, a 100-seater “European-style” bar, is a testament to both creative ambition and resilience. Left high and dry by their contractors, the team turned to YouTube tutorials and ChatGPT to complete the interior themselves. The result? A space that exudes laid-back sophistication, blending terrazzo, concrete, and cherrywood with vintage furnishings, leather chairs, and an eclectic mix of artwork and artefacts. The effortlessly cool, slouchy aesthetic makes it as much a destination for design lovers as it is for cocktail connoisseurs.
Aljaff told The Post, “The cool thing about when you design it yourself and conceptualize it, then make it into a physical thing, is when it’s full of people and they’re enjoying it. It’s like making an amazing cocktail—times a million.”
And speaking of cocktails, Schmuck’s drinks menu is nothing short of impressive. With 22 expertly crafted options—12 served in the main lounge and 10 in an intimate side space—the menu reflects the team’s deep-rooted culinary approach to mixology. Standouts include the Fika, a clever twist on the Swedish tradition of coffee and cinnamon buns, reimagined with Bacardi 8 and Mr Black coffee liqueur.
To complement the drinks, the bar offers a selection of bites inspired by Persian and Western European flavours, developed in collaboration with Berlin pop-up chef Arash Ghassemi. Dishes like the white bean cacio e pepe exemplify this fusion of influences.
As Aljaff puts it, “The beauty of the Schmuck brand is that it’s ever-evolving and truly cannot be contained to one thought, idea, drink, or mood—but the constant is mine and Juliette’s lives and where we are at a certain point in time.”