Seaborne is a sexy little cocktail bar that isn’t in the sexiest part of Brooklyn.
This Red Hook-based establishment is out of the way for most, and public transportation is sparse. But like any great bar, visiting Seaborne is always worth the trip.
Red Hook was an authentic port town before the docking industry migrated to New Jersey in the ’70s. Today, a mix of blue-collar locals and hip professionals populate the main artery of Van Brunt Street, a neighborhood dotted with quirky restaurants and an occasional craft brewery or distillery amidst a maritime backdrop of shipping yards and warehouses. Seaborne is a cozy corner spot with a simple row of leather booths and a few seats at the vintage-feeling stainless steel bar. The vibe inside is low-key. Jazz plays while patrons nosh on Cicchetti, Venetian style small bites, and sip classic and craft cocktails made lovingly by its proprietor, Lucinda Sterling.
If you ask Lucinda, Seaborne’s magic lies not with her but with the bar’s founder, Sasha Petraske.
Petraske became an original architect of New York’s modern cocktail movement when he launched Milk & Honey on the Lower East Side in 1999. In addition to inspiring pre-prohibition style cocktail haunts like PDT, Employees Only, and countless others, Petraske mentored a generation of world-class bartenders, Lucinda Sterling among them. Petraske sadly passed away in 2015, but at Seaborne, Lucinda makes sure Sasha’s spark continues to burn.
Sterling’s foray into the NYC bar scene began in 2005 when she moved to New York in 2005 from Nebraska with dreams of becoming an actor, or maybe an accountant depending on which day you asked. She had no intention of working in a bar. But when she met Sasha Petraske serving pre-Prohibition-era cocktails, dressed in suspenders, a button-down shirt, and loose pants at Milk & Honey, she knew right away this would be her passion. Sasha hired Sterling as a server, where she learned hospitality under the tutelage of NYC bar scene royalty like Michael McIlroy and Sam Ross, who today are partners at Attaboy, a world class speakeasy located in the original Milk & Honey space on Eldridge Street.
“It seems unlikely, but serving at Milk & Honey was the best way to learn bartending,” Sterling explains. “I was able to communicate with both the guests and the bartender, so I was picking up a lot of information from both ends. I was able to have a more intimate experience with the guests. The psychology of bartending developed here, as well. I learned how to read a person and predict what they would like to drink.”
“It seems unlikely, but serving at Milk & Honey was the best way to learn bartending. I was able to communicate with both the guests and the bartender, so I was picking up a lot of information from both ends. I was able to have a more intimate experience with the guests. The psychology of bartending developed here, as well. I learned how to read a person and predict what they would like to drink.”
— Lucinda Sterling
Sterling scored her first bartending gig in 2007 at an absinthe bar called White Star, which led to her permanent home at Little Branch (now called LB under different management), another Petraske establishment where Sterling worked five nights a week for five years. In 2012, Lucinda assumed a management role at sister bar Middle Branch (now called LB33), where she learned the less glamorous side of the bar business – juggling schedules, paying bills, and showing a profit.
In 2014, Sterling was following in the footsteps of her mentors like Sam Ross by pursuing a career in bar consulting. Petraske was busy scouting locations for what would become Seaborne, a pioneering project he believed would be the next Milk & Honey in his growing constellation of bars. Sasha passed away before Seaborne opened, and Lucinda put her consulting aspirations on hold to open the bar, which launched in 2016. She never looked back.
Today, you’ll find Lucinda at Seaborne nightly, cranking out excellent drinks served in the style she learned from Petraske as a server at Milk & Honey in 2005. A close look at the bar reveals touches and flourishes everywhere that came straight from the Petraske playbook, including spigots installed in each booth so patrons can serve themselves water, thus allowing the bartender more time to make cocktails and engage with guests. Try a classic daiquiri, a piña colada made with freshly juiced pineapple, or a refreshing Spanish-style gin and tonic. It will not disappoint.
“Sasha was all about quality, efficiency, and consistency,” Sterling explains. “He insisted on using jiggers and didn’t like pours on bottlenecks, so pouring from the bottle took longer. Regarding drinks, Sasha used as few ingredients as possible to get a flavor profile down, but was meticulous about details. Drinks are always served in the proper glassware with the proper ice. When Milk & Honey opened, Sasha focused on putting the best liquor behind the bar to satisfy everyone and used beautiful ingredients to make drinks taste good. This is what we do here at Seaborne.”
Seaborne
228 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, New York
John McCarthy is a spirit, travel, and lifestyle journalist, managing editor, and author of The Modern Gentleman and Whiskey Rebels: The Dreamers, Visionaries & Badasses Who Are Revolutionizing American Whiskey. McCarthy is also editor of Barleycorn Drinks and Director of Judging of the John Barleycorn Awards.
