Usually I wait a little while to judge a new spot, to give the staff a chance to get their sea legs.
But in the case of today’s shiny new entry, I couldn’t wait to tell you about it.
O’Shaughnessy Distilling, on the border of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the booming Prospect Park area that is also home to Surly Brewing and the hot new Market at Malcolm Yards food hall, definitely still has that new-facility smell. But the co*cktail program is so innovative that I can and will recommend people get there before it catches on.
The crazy thing about O’Shaughnessy is that for now, they have just one kind of whiskey, and a house-distilled vodka and gin. But food and beverage director Pip Hanson (co*cktail nerds know him as the guy who started Marvel Bar) did not let Minnesota’s weird liquor laws (he can’t serve any booze not made on the premises) keep him from creating some of the most fun, delicious co*cktails I have had in a while.
I’ll get to those shortly, but I would be remiss not to mention that the distillery, owned by the O’Shaughnessy family, scored a major coup in hiring Brian Nation, who was most recently the head distiller at Jameson. Yes, that Jameson. He moved here from Ireland, along with his wife and three children, to help start this distillery.
The whiskey, for now, is a blend created by Nation from other producers (a triple-distilled Irish whiskey and an American rye), since proper whiskey needs to age. Make no mistake, the gorgeous, giant copper stills you see when you walk in the door are being used, but while that booze sits in barrels, we have Keeper’s Heart, the one and only whiskey on the menu. It retails for $30 for 750 milliliters, and it’s good neat and works really well in a co*cktail.
Hanson’s creativity is really on display in those drinks, where he uses ingredients like radicchio, pandan, beeswax and many others in place of a liqueur or other flavored alcohol.
Take the Killarney, for instance, which gets its color and bitterness from juiced radicchio and is balanced with tart lemon and orange bitters. It’s refreshing and interesting from the first sip to the last.
We weren’t sure what to make of the Fujinobu when it arrived, given that it appeared to be topped with copious amounts of whipped cream and toasted coconut, and dessert drinks aren’t really our jam. But it turns out that cream is coconut cream, infused with pandan (an herbaceous tropical plant), which is neither sweet nor a dairy product at all. The drink beneath is infused with a yuzu marmalade and lime. The whole thing is tropical, balanced, weird and wonderful.
A straightforward old-fashioned was lovely and not too sweet, which tends to be a problem with my husband’s favorite drink. The Hayfield, which is a honey-infused version of that drink, adds beeswax for a rich mouthfeel and salt to up the flavor ante.
All co*cktails are just $11, which seems like a steal compared with other high-end bars, which tend to charge $14 and up for a drink.
There is a limited food menu, mostly snacky things meant for sharing, but we made a meal of it without much trouble.
A pretty straightforward shrimp co*cktail hit the spot, as did some simple, roasted tri-color carrots, which were the vegetable of the day. The juicy lucy meatballs were decent, though the ketchupy tomato sauce was a little sweet for my liking.
The croquetas — chicken and prosciutto fritters — had a smoky paprika aioli and were probably our favorite bite of the evening. We decided that we would probably start or end here for co*cktails and get dinner at Malcolm Yards or Surly, but for snacking-while-drinking purposes, the menu works just fine.
Overall, the space is gorgeous and the drinks worth seeking out. And though we can’t wait to try the whiskey made in the space, it’s worth a visit now.
Small Bites are first glances — not intended as definitive reviews — of new or changed restaurants.
O’Shaughnessy Distilling
- Where: 600 Malcolm Ave. S.E., Minneapolis
- Contact: 763-338-0914; osdistilling.com
- Prices: co*cktails $9-$11; small plates, $5-$14
- Good to know: Ample gluten-free and vegetarian items. Although there’s some on-site parking, the neighborhood is very busy and during peak times, it’s best to find alternative transportation.
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