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Open for Business: Blueprint Brooklyn Cocktail Bar, 196 Fifth Avenue
Thursday, July 21, 2025 at 10:55AM
Park Slope's first high-end cocktail bar, Blueprint, officially opened last night, and it's everything both we--and the owners--had hoped for.
"We put so much work into this. It took much longer than expected, but it turned out exactly as planned," said owner Rory Dwyer, who runs the bar with former Long Tan bartender Regina Christiansen, and also co-owns Sharlene's, High Dive, and Commonwealth. "It's a change of pace from my other bars, but there's really nothing else like this in the neighborhood."
A goal was to make the bar, in the space previously home to Long Tan, on Fifth between Union and Berkeley, look like it's been there for a while, and it certainly does. The dark painted wood entryway (with custom glass from The Stained Glass Store) opens into a dimly lit room with antique mirrors and lighting fixtures, cream colored walls, a 15-seat bar, and several small tables. Beyond that, a lush garden has seating for about 20. It has a relaxed, low-key vibe, helped along by a soundtrack from the '40s and '50s.
The cocktail list features nine specialty cocktails, painstakingly crafted by Christiansen and her team. Haymaker's Punch, made with apple brandy, ginger, honey, lemon, and cider vinegar, is a take on the traditional New England farmer's brew called switchel, and is sweet and refreshing. Same goes for the Swedish Monk, which combines gin with pear cider, Chartreuse, soda and lime. For those looking for something less sweet, there's the High and Dry, a smooth mix of rye, vermouth, Pernod Ricard, and homemade fennel bitters, with a twist of flamed orange. There's also The Kickstarter, a heady mix of freshly pulled Strongtree espresso, rum, and turbinado sugar, with a lemon twist. Supplementing the cocktail list are eleven wines by the glass (averaging $10), four draft beers (averaging $6), eight bottled beers, including two 750 ml bottles, and one 750 ml cider.
High and Dry, left, and the Swedish Monk
As much care has been taken in crafting the food menu as the cocktail list. Head chef Colin Wright, best known for helming Little Dishes Eatery (later Little D), has assembled a top-notch collection of cheese and chracuterie, as well as a menu of small plates that will grow over time, eventually to include brunch. Charcuterie includes Surryano ham, bresaola from Salumeria Biellese, and the increasingly popular yet still hard-to-find Mangalitsa ham. Snacks and small plates include spicy watermelon, boquerones, rabbit rillette, and a gigante bean salad.
The bar's offerings are on the pricey side (cocktails average $11, and the house plate of selected cheese, charcuterie, and olives is $24), but it's clear that no corners were cut here. There's been a decided lack of options in the neighborhood when it comes to romantic, high-end (yet still accessible) spots for an expertly crafted cocktail and top-notch charcuterie and small plates, and Blueprint fills that niche very nicely.
Blueprint, 196 Fifth Avenue Brooklyn NY 11215. Phone: 718-622-6644.
Open For Business in Bars, Food, Storefronts
Reader Comments (11)
Sounds promising.
But may I ask what is going to happen with the raw concrete around this and Nahm Kitchen? I hope that isn't the finished look because it's not at all attractive. As for the bar itself and the exterior wood and stained glass, it looks great. Which makes the concrete look even more unfinished and out of sync with the new exteriors.
Will try the place soon.
How much are beers?
I like the unfinished concrete look, but then again I'm a civil engineer.
Looks like some great outdoor space for a few drinks. Excellent.
Not to nitpick, but Brookvin is definitely a high-end cocktail bar, is definitely in Park Slope (South Slope, yes, but the Slope nonetheless), and was definitely here first. Props were props should go, please.
Righteous! I'm looking forward to giving this place a try. It's about time the Slope got something along these lines.
@Casey: Brookvin does serve cocktails, but they are almost an afterthought on their menu and not executed with much care. I would call it a wine bar first and foremost.
Agreed. Brookvin (while great) is most definitely NOT a cocktail bar, but more of a wine bar.
Brookvin is a wine bar, they serve cocktails, but, their prime goal is wine. this place sounds like fun, good luck to it
Brookvin is also so far down south in the slope that it's not even relevant in this conversation. If you live in the north slope, you're not going down there on a regular basis.
Very excited to see some high-end cocktails in the neighborhood. Hopefully, this will find a happy medium between dead and Weather Up.
Checked this out the last two nights. The cocktails are all in the 10-13 range. Which puts it at about the Clover Club range. Slightly more pricey than Sidecar. Beers were around 6-7 bucks or so.
Had the Oaxacan (Mezcal, honey, lime and cinnamon) which is fantastic. It had a nice smoky flavor. Yesterday, we had the Genoa Fizz (vodka, basil, lemon, Nonino, soda and egg white) and a Kentucky Waltz (bourbon, ceylon tea, mint and maple syrup). The Kentucky Waltz was the better of the two.
Both nights we were there around 7 o'clock or so. Wasn't that crowded either night at that time. Service was great. Our server even went to the door and held it for us on the way out.
It still has that new bar smell, so people better start going there to get rid of it pronto. Excited to finally have a decent cocktail option north of Ninth.
Now I have to go check out Wolf & Deer...
Let me first say that I was incredibly excited to have a proper cocktail bar just down the street from home and, in anticipation, have been peeking under the paper in the windows to see how construction was coming along.
Even so, I fear that I may have tried Blueprint before they've had a chance to work out the kinks as my experience there tonight would preclude future visits.
The build out looks great; leaded glass windows, warm woods, comfortable stools, and soft yellow lighting (except for the bizarre metal halide glow behind the bar). But even with a mostly full (hardly packed) bar the acoustics of the place were atrocious. How could they spend so much money building a beautiful room without any consideration for the sound? It is uncomfortably loud.
While the cost of the drinks were comparable to other cocktail bars, the beverages weren't executed to level of excellence found at the Clover Club or Weather Up. $13 for a Goslings and espresso based drink seems excessive, even by New York standards.
The service was friendly and prompt--a blessing as any Brooklyn bar patron can attest.
I hope they can remedy these issues, even so I'll find it difficult to go back
I went this weekend TWICE.
LOVE the new place. Lots of nice snacks too, the spiced watermelon is fantastic. So glad to see the place packed.