Sovereign Remedies

A flowering vine climbs the arched window up front. Ferns crowd the sills behind it, and in a back corner a gilt octagonal mirror throws light off a single amber-shaded lamp. The effect is more greenhouse than bar, and it was built that way on purpose. Furniture maker Parker Reid framed the original 800-square-foot storefront on North Market around that idea in 2014, with zinc countertops, Brazilian walnut tables and ironwork from Tina Councell of Iron Maiden Studios. A mezzanine sits above the bar; on Wine Wednesdays it holds tastings, three pours for ten dollars, small bites alongside. In August 2018, owner Charlie Hodge and chef Graham House hauled squash blossoms, sumac and Chicken of the Woods mushrooms to the James Beard House in Greenwich Village themselves rather than trust a shipper with them, and fed seventy-five guests at a hundred seventy-five dollars a head under a menu called Modern Appalachia. The bar list carries the same instinct: the Root Daiquiri pairs aged rum with dandelion and burdock root, the Vera McCurry is a dirty martini of house-made blue cheese vodka, house olive brine and the bar’s own brined olives, and Taco Tuesday puts Lalo tequila next to al pastor-brined tomato and onion. Cocktails run thirteen to seventeen dollars. The zinc counters and the ironwork are original — twelve years of pours have only worn them in.