Babylon’s Post Office Café unveils its new cocktail program

sponsored content |

The island’s seminal gastro pub, Post Office Café, is marking its 41st year in Babylon Village with the launch of a brand-new cocktail program.

The program offers “familiar favorites but reimagined,” says beverage consultant Thomas Crawford.

“Post Office Cafe is a Main Street restaurant, and when I think about a Main Street cocktail, the Cosmopolitan, rum punch, and the Moscow Mule come to mind,” he said. “However, we’re expanding on these recipes, taking what makes a modern classic popular, then elevating the experience.”

There will also be large format cocktails that are sized for groups.

(Scroll down for a complete list of new cocktails.)

“The Post Office has thrived for over 40 years because of our team’s ability to adapt to the times while staying true to who we are,” said Michael Lessing Jr., who runs the Post Office for the Lessing’s Hospitality Group. “Our staff fed off of Thomas’s passion and met this program with positive energy and a willingness to elevate our craft.

“As I’ve always told my team, ‘Staying the same is going backwards.'”

about Thomas Crawford

Having spent time establishing his hospitality career in NYC, Crawford made the move back to his home base of Long Island when the opportunity to manage acclaimed Chef Guy Reuge’s Stony Brook Restaurant Mirabelle and Tavern arose.

His management career transitioned as he began a position behind the bar at Bay Shore’s Salt and Barrel, mastering the craft of bartending and developing a niche in the craft cocktail scene. 

This creative endeavor, which came so naturally to Crawford, was further explored as he took a Beverage Director position at Flight, Patchogue’s first craft cocktail bar. 

From there, Crawford went on to contribute to the beverage program at Babylon’s The Brixton, where he was honored to compete in Long Island Pulse’s Cocktail Rumble and named one of Long Island’s Top 3 Bartenders. 

Having found his niche, the creative composing of craft cocktails, Crawford can currently be found behind the bar of the Farmingdale hot spot, Charlotte’s Speakeasy where he not only tends bar but works to constantly develop and maintain a unique beverage program as a consultant for the space. 

As Crawford continues to develop his own boutique Hospitality Consulting firm, he also consults for the Lessing’s Hospitality Group’s Food and Beverage programs at their multiple Main Street locations, including Huntington’s Finnegan’s and Babylon’s Post Office Cafe. He is also a founding member of The Long Island Bartenders League, where he and other industry professionals inspire the local food and beverage scene and support local charities.

the menu

The new cocktail menu leads off with the creative concoctions featuring house-infused liquors complemented by Post Office Café classics, newly polished for taste and style. As well, the addition of large format cocktails, perfect for a group, offers a new cocktail experience at the Post Office.

New cocktails include: Peace Offering, a choice of vodka or gin, Cointreau, spiced cranberry, fresh thyme and lemon; To Come Undone, aged white rum, almond liquor, dry curacao, lime, angostura, island spice; La Mula Alta, blanco tequila, crème de cassis, lime, ginger beer, citrus-scented salt & sugar; Claro, a clarified milk punch of mezcal, Agricole rhum, breakfast tea, vanilla & lemon; Never Delay, bourbon, Campari, orange cordial, lemon, cinnamon, meringue; and Guv’nor, rye, amaro ramazzotti, coffee liquor, sweet vermouth, mole bitters, lemon twist. (Cocktail pics below.)

The new large format friendship cocktails (serving 6 – 8) include: Group Therapy with earl grey-infused vodka, crème de poire, lemon, champagne, vanilla and No House Rules with aged white rum, luxardo maraschino, pineapple, lime, peychaud’s bitters, fresh mint.  Finally the newly polished PO Classics include: Coconut Martini, Babylonian Martini, Big Daddy Martini, Chocolate Sky Martini and Beach Bum-Tini.

• 

• 

• 

• 

•