Former address: 95 Avenue A, at East 6th Street, East Village, New York, NY 10009. Nearest trains: F at Second Avenue, L at First Avenue.
Mother of Pearl has closed, but the East Village still has the tropical drinks and agave rooms it was known for. Use our open picks below, or browse the full New York cocktail guide.
Mother of Pearl opened on Avenue A in the old Gin Palace space, a 50-seat tiki room from Ravi DeRossi, the operator behind Death and Co and Cienfuegos, with cocktails from Jane Danger. DeRossi called the style post-modern Polynesian, and the room played it straight: a teal-and-white den with hand-carved totem stools, retro floral banquettes, and a Murano-glass chandelier in the front. It was tiki taken seriously, not as kitsch.
The drink everyone remembers is the Shark. Per Time Out New York and the Food Network listing, it arrived in a shark-shaped vessel ringed with sugar dyed to look like blood, built from tropical juices, several rums and tiki bitters. The kitchen broke from the genre on the food side, running a vegan small-plates menu rather than the usual fried tiki platters, which earned it a following among plant-based diners in the East Village.
The bar has since closed, confirmed across Yelp and Foursquare. The good news is that the neighbourhood it helped define still drinks well. For the same spirit, try the bitter-forward bar at Amor y Amargo in the East Village, the agave and mezcal rooms around Ghost Donkey, or the late hours at Holiday Cocktail Lounge.
The signature pour, served in a shark-shaped cup with sugar dyed to look like blood. Tropical juices, several rums and tiki bitters. The reason most people came.
The list skipped the obvious mai tais for original tropical drinks. The bar leaned into rum and tiki bitters under Jane Danger's program.
A plant-based kitchen set it apart from standard tiki. The food drew a following of its own in the East Village.