[Photograph: Jim Kearns]

At 17th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, you'll find one of the greatest cocktail concentrations in the city. This one small block is now home to two mixology powerhouses: Raines Law Room, and the recently opened Rye House.

Rye House serves a funky American comfort pub food menu (fried pickles, buffalo-style sweetbreads) and a collection of domestic wines and American craft beers. The space itself is wood-filled, warm, and inviting, with the front room dominated by a long white granite bar backed by gorgeous antique shelves lined with spirits galore—as the name might suggest, heavy on the brown booze. Lynnette Marrero and Jim Kearns have put together a tasty cocktail list with the goal of ensuring that each drink contains at least one ounce of an American spirit.

The Clara Bow is a shining example of their creations, featuring Bulleit Bourbon softened with a touch of grenadine and elderflower, with zings of lemon and mint. It can easily be re-created at home, but for those of you looking for a little more of a challenge, Marrero has given us the recipe to make your own grenadine. You can use it in your home bar or give it as a holiday treat for the cocktail lovers in your life. The recipe, after the jump.

The Clara Bow

Ingredients

​3/4 ounces lemon juice
​1/2 ounce grenadine
​1/2 ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur
​1 1/2 ounces Bulleit Bourbon
​Mint leaves

Procedure

​Pour ingredients into a shaker over ice and shake with 5 or 6 mint leaves. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a mint leaf.

Grenadine: Reduce 2 cups pomegranate juice with 1 cup raw sugar. Cool. Feel free to add zests of your favorite citrus to the final blend.

Rye House

11 West 17th Street, New York NY 10001 (map)
212-255-7260