HUNTINGTON, NY — The Last Word opened in Huntington two years ago while the world was still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the highest inflation in the U.S. seen in decades was on its way, and employees were hard to find.
Yet, the cocktail lounge and tapas eatery is still kicking at 13 Wall Street. Owners Jeffrey Alvarado and Matt Sanchez plan to celebrate with a Roaring 20s party scheduled for 9 p.m. Sept. 9. The evening, set to last until midnight, will feature live music by the Jim Cammack Trio, and those dressed in their best 1920s attire will enjoy happy hour pricing all night long. Reservations can be made here.
The owners threw a similar party last year after Alvarado, who spent years bartending in New York City cocktail bars and speakeasies, was inspired by the “vibe” of the era.
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“It’s always nice to see everybody, and I always appreciate the support,” Sanchez told Patch. “We’ve made a lot of new friends, Jeff and I, over the past couple of years. It’s nice to be able to see everybody come out, hang out, and have a good time.”
The Last Word food menu features small and large shareable plates of fare such as charcuterie boards, tacos, sliders, octopus, prawns, Brussels sprouts and more.
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But the owners feel it is the beverage program and cocktails that sets The Last Word apart in Huntington and beyond.
“We’re doing very elevated, city-like cocktails,” Sanchez said. “There’s a lot of flare. We put on a show.”
Alvarado says all ingredients are natural fruits and fusions — they don’t buy flavorings, specialize in top-shelf liquors and think outside of the box. Alvarado used the Summer Delight cocktail as an example: the drink is made with vodka, shochu, a watermelon black pepper reduction, Genepy, lemon and topped with watermelon foam.
The restaurant has found success in Huntington despite a slow start to business growth because of the aftereffects of the pandemic, Alvarado said. Regulations would go into or out of effect, dissuading people from going out to eat, he said.
“Obviously it did slow us down a little bit at the beginning, but it also opened up a lot of opportunities too, where doors were closing somewhere else, but our doors were still open,” Alvarado said.
Sanchez said it was “really tough” initially, as finding employees was “very, very difficult.” Because of the coronavirus, the price of goods got very expensive — many costs have yet to come back down.
“It was a really rough time to open a restaurant,” Sanchez said. “We’re grateful to be celebrating the two years, for sure.”
Alvarado said the biggest hurdle since opening was the availability of products at an affordable price.
“The restaurant has to eat, too, so we have to mark up our prices a certain amount,” Alvarado said.
He recalls having to win the area’s clientele over and turning them into regulars. The regular customers, Alvarado said, soak in the overall experience The Last Word aims to provide.
Products, including alcohol, were scarce, Alvarado added. He recalls the price of tequila going “through the roof” because of difficulties transporting it out of Mexico. Bourbon was hard to find because of bottle production being halted. A lot of unpredictable “weird things” happened to cause conflict for business owners, according to Alvarado.
“Obviously if you don’t have inventory to carry, you don’t have products to sell, and that translates to money coming in,” he said.
It also took Huntington some time to embrace the small plates concept, Alvarado said.
“It’s been cutting against the grain, but we have a pretty strong following of loyal regulars who have been supporting us these past two years,” he said. “A lot of people who have been doing that are people who moved from New York City to Long Island and somehow walked through our doors. To quote them, they’re like, ‘We’ve been looking for a place like this since we’ve moved from the city,’ because they’re used to going to high-end cocktail bars and tapas bars. Them being so new to the area, the only place they could get something with that quality and that show is going back into Manhattan. We kind of became that go-to bar for them.”
Sanchez said the continuing education of the beverage and food industry is his favorite part of the business.
“There’s always something new, fun and exciting,” he said.
Alvarado called ditto on the education part but also enjoys the artistic side of crafting cocktails. Alvarado, 35, has been bartending since he was 17. He’s always considered himself creative and said he enjoys being in a position where he’s forced to showcase flare and quick thinking. He tries to be as “zero waste as possible.”
“I coordinate with the kitchen and their scraps and how I can utilize what they don’t use or would otherwise consider their scraps or garbage; how can I turn that into something for the bar?” he said. “Or if I’m transitioning between menus, what can I do to monetize overflow between two different things? Even something as simple as if someone f—ed up and made a mistake somewhere, how can I correct it and turn it into a special that is on par with what we are trying to do?”
There’s no turn off switch either, as Alvarado is always thinking about the next seasonal menu. Not just the ingredients but how he will coordinate with the kitchen.
“How are we going to manage this inventory? Will this look weird if I put it on the menu? What order? How do I list the ingredients? There’s a very real psychology in building menus and how people digest that,” he said.
The Last Word can be reached at 631-629-4545.
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