Double Chicken Please is a double act. Up front, Free Range is a straightforward LES bar. Venture deeper for The Coop–inner sanctum of cocktail invention. Here, the brief is blurring the line between food and drink. While it’s more than a gimmick, confirming that firsthand will likely require a long wait.
Service is brisk up front and convivial in back. No surprise there. Actually getting into the place is the shocker–reservations for The Coop are booked solid. This reveals the true purpose of the front room: a waiting area for the back. You could do worse. Still, eager drinkers stake out a place in line well in advance of opening, so prepare yourself.
DCP’s signature is not deconstruction but transliteration; familiar foods are the cocktails, or is it vice versa? Waldorf Salad, French Toast, Thai Curry–each cocktail is equal parts technique, humor, and ingenuity. “Cold Pizza” is a tequila-based cocktail that hits tomato, basil, and bready notes with a background parmesan funk, served up. It may not work on paper, but the place’s slew of awards proves the practice. They’ve got classics, too, which are also excellent.
If you’re after actual food, they serve a small but enticing menu of sandwiches and snacks in both front and back. The chicken sando is the signature, but the Bolognese Grilled Cheese is as tasty as you suspect it is.
If standard cocktailing feels stale, a trip to Double Chicken Please is invigorating. But either show up early or make peace with whiling time away.