A 19-day turnaround for opening a bar is unheard of. But Mark Landsman and his friend, artist/craftsman Scott Chasse, have become experts in high-speed, decisive design. When Landsman took over Hunter Village Wine & Liquors in 2021, he closed the shop for three days and worked with Chasse to build out Elevated Wine & Spirits. In September, the pair worked together, along with Landsman’s business and life partner Kat Bangs, to transform the shoebox restaurant space at 1 Tinker Street in Woodstock from the tropical, color-saturated interior of the previous tenant into the cozy, rustic-moody bar Small Talk.
“I wasn’t looking to open a bar to be totally honest,” says Landsman, who has worked everywhere from the Waverly Inn to seasonal restaurants out on Montauk and Woodstock’s own Silvia. “But when the opportunity came up, I realized there was the potential to do something. It felt like the space would be a great bar—a small place for people to meet each other, hang out, and move on.” Overlooking the Village Green, Small Talk has prime real estate right in the heart of Woodstock.
With the bones in place, Landsman describes the reno as “putting a new layer on top of everything.” Almost every surface in the bar, from walls to bartop and floor, is done in wood, with a variety of grains and species that offers a rustic lodge appeal that is elevated by milk glass pendant lights and a turquoise-painted, arched mirror behind the bar. A granite inlay in the corner of the L-shaped bar adds visual intrigue. “We’re in the Catskills—I am hoping everyone is here because they love nature,” Landsman says. “So we tried to get the colors and textures of wood, rock, and stone in here, because the outside world is what makes it important that we live here.”
For Elevated, Landsman drew on his years of experience in the restaurant industry to curate the selection of wine and spirits. Now, at Small Talk he uses what he’s learned from his extensive tastings and customer buying patterns at Elevated to inform the drink selection at Small Talk. From the cheese plate to the wines and the cocktails, classic flavors are the throughline—though not always in the format you’d expect. “We’ll always have a really good red Burgundy or Nebbiolo,” Landsman says. “The Italian on the list now is a 2012 negroamaro for $12. It’s a chance to drink a well-aged old world wine at a good price. But we also have a vranac from North Macedonia that has a classic flavor profile but is off the beaten path. It’s a nice balance of classic flavors from unusual locations.”
Of the cocktails, which range from margarita to negroni, paper plane, and martini, Landsman says, “it’s nice to make well-made, interesting, classic cocktails with good ingredients. It’s something that adds to the invitingness of the space.” The majority of the dozen options clock in at $15 to $16, with the Argentine mainstay fernet and Coke coming in at $12. Seasonal selections include a pumpkin spice espresso martini ($18) and winter ambiguity, made with a five-year rum, walnut liquor, coconut liquor, Salers, and espresso ($17), that blends winter flavors with tropical dreams.
Given the current financial realities of the restaurant industry, Landsman opted to do pared-back food offerings with no servers or cooks (though there is a full kitchen). The chicken pot pies (for two, $23) and mac-and-cheese ($14) are prepared offsite by Kingston-based meal delivery service Yes Foods. The mezze platter is assembled with house-made hummus, tabouli, dolma, olives, and pita ($16). The cheese platter features a mix of Old World and local offerings, including a Spanish manchego, a soft, French sheep’s cheese, and a New York state cave-age Tekeni Kahon’tsi, along with quince paste and crackers ($19). Spanish corn nuts and Marcona almonds offer a cheap, salty option to pair with your beer. “It’s hearty comfort food but simple,” Landsman says. “The food will definitely evolve. And I’m going to get the goddamn meat slicer fixed so I can do charcuterie.”
He is also looking forward to incorporating a selection of specialty spirits, from German rye to Lebanese Arak and Amalfi Coast limoncello, that customers can try in flights. “These spirits are so delicious, so classic to the place. But in many cases you would never have a chance to try them,” Landsman says. And of course customers can head to Elevated if they want to take home a bottle of something they really liked, epitomizing the symbiosis between the two businesses.
“On the one hand, at the shop, you put a bottle in people’s hands and trust it’s something they’re going to love,” Landsman says. “But the experience of them enjoying it is totally up to them. Sometimes I want to know how much they enjoyed it. The bar is nice because you actually get to be part of it.”
Small Talk is open daily, Monday-Friday, 4-11:30pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 12-11:30pm.
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