815 Cocktails and Provisions in Manchester has reopened
815 Cocktails and Provisions in Manchester reopened its doors this September after closing to undergo renovations, now having officially retired its speakeasy style for a modern approach with a more functional open space and the same classic cocktails.
After a combined 30-plus years of bartending experience, Sarah Maillet and Ryan McCabe originally opened 815 back in 2015.
“We wanted it to be more of a relaxing place where people could come, enjoy and have classic cocktails,” Maillet said. “It has always been in our mind an ode to where bartending began and where it is today.”
The duo spent months researching the market and classic cocktails while trying all kinds of spirits they had never heard of, to create their own cocktail menu that now consists of drinks like Starr Gazer, with Bacardi rum, raspberry liqueur, lychee, lime, demerara and grapefruit bitters, and 815 Old Fashioned with Nebco bourbon, demerara, bitters, orange peel and luxardo cherry. Provisions include flatbreads, such as tomato burrata and pimento pork, salads, tacos, like mushroom carnitas and Brooklyn bodega, a charcuterie and cheese board and more.
“We decided to go back to the old speakeasy theme,” Maillet said. “The entrance was a little bit secretive, there was a phone booth in the hall and there were sliding fake brick walls so it didn’t look like there was an actual restaurant or bar behind it.” Patrons would enter the phone booth, press the button and be asked for that week’s password, which would be posted on 815’s social media pages. After about four years, the password system proved to be a hassle.
“There were always techy kinds of issues,” Maillet said. “I started to feel like, as far as locals go, it wasn’t appealing for them to wander into their local restaurant or bar if they had to jump through hoops to look up a password every week.”
They decided to do away with the password on weekdays, saving it exclusively for weekends. This worked for a while, the speakeasy aspect making 815 a weekend destination theme, but with the arrival of Covid things were complicated further.
“I told Ryan, if there’s ever a time when we can change something and not have to explain it to anybody, now’s the time,” Maillet said. “So at that point we decided to get rid of the password speakeasy aspect of 815, and not just [for] the fact that we were changing and evolving, but it would have been an absolute nightmare … if we had to go into the phone booth … and clean and sanitize it.”
When they first established 815, the pair made do with the layout of the bar and worked with what they had. After occupying the space for several years, they had a better idea of what would ideally work best for them. With the bar needing new subfloors, they decided to take this as an opportunity to renovate, revamp and rebrand 815 entirely, building a bigger kitchen and more comfortable bar, adorning the walls with pictures and murals, removing bulky furniture and doing away altogether with the speakeasy aspect.
Despite the changes, 815 is still the same at its core, continuing to serve cocktails that are both classic and creative.
“I’ve never really let go of that creativity,” Maillet said. “I have an idea of what I like the cocktail menu to look like and keeping it balanced … and I like to think that I have a decent amount of experience under my belt to make a balanced menu and things that people enjoy, that are fun, unique, … approachable, … adventurous, whatever the case may be.”
815 Cocktails and Provisions
Where: 815 Elm St., Manchester
When: Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight.
Featured photo: Photos courtesy of 815 Cocktails & Provisions.
