LONG ISLAND CITY — Local spirit-makers behind the Astoria Distilling Company have opened a cocktail bar and tasting room in the massive Falchi Building, its owner said.
The new watering hole, called Proof + Gauge, is located on the first floor of the building on 47th Avenue and 31st Street and is meant to be a venue to showcase the company's liquors — including the "Queens Courage" gin it has been selling to local bars and shops since 2014.
"It's a small, intimate space," said owner Chris Murillo, noting that the bar, which opened Christmas week, can fit about 25 patrons.
He's planning to eventually use the site as a small production space for Astoria Distilling Company — whose gin is actually made in upstate New York — but is still waiting on the approval of his distilling permit, he said.
When that comes through, he wants to use the bar as a site to make small batches of liquor and test out new concoctions.
"The people who come to the tasting room will be the first one to try the spirits," he said.
For now, they're serving up cocktails made with "Queens Courage" gin as well as wine and booze from other New York-area manufacturers.
"Everything that we're pouring is made in New York," Murillo said.
Starting this week, the bar will be open on Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays from 4 to 10 p.m. to offer happy hour to the local work crowds. We Heart Astoria first wrote about the opening.
Proof + Gauge is the latest business to take up shop at the Falchi Building, a 600,000-square-foot former warehouse owned by Jamestown, the developers behind Chelsea Market, who re-purposed the site as a mix of office, food production and retail space.
Other recent tenants in the building include Uber and Doughnut Plant.
