The Icons: The People Behind Our Cocktail Menu
TL;DR
Every cocktail at FKA: Formerly Known As is $15 and named for someone who made downtown New York in the 1980s and 1990s: Al Goldstein, Amanda Lepore, Basquiat, Wu-Tang, Geraldine Ferraro, Liza Minnelli, Iman, and Kenny Kenny. The drinks stand on their own, and the names explain why the bar is called Formerly Known As.
We named our cocktails after people rather than flavors, specifically the people who made New York the most interesting place on earth for about fifteen years. The 1980s and 1990s, when the city was raw and broke and electric, and the line between art and nightlife and trouble was thin enough to step over.
Each name is the actual inspiration for its drink. Every Icon cocktail is $15. Order from the menu. For the neighborhood these people actually drank in, read a brief history of the East Village bar scene.
Quick reference: the Icon cocktails
All eight carry downtown names and share one price. The Al Goldstein leans on rye and bitter, the Amanda Lepore sets gin and peach under sparkling wine, the Basquiat pairs tequila with Midori, and the Wu-Tang is vodka and Tang with a Singha float.
| Cocktail | Named for | Built from | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Goldstein | Screw magazine publisher | Rye, Cointreau, lime, orgeat, Ramazzotti | $15 |
| Amanda Lepore | Downtown muse | Gin’s peach-and-sparkle version of glamour | $15 |
| Basquiat | Painter, SAMO to the Met | Blanco tequila, Midori, green apple, lime | $15 |
| Wu-Tang | Staten Island, 1993 | Vodka, Tang, Campari, Singha Lager float | $15 |
| Geraldine Ferraro | 1984 VP nominee from Queens | A grasshopper with rum spine | $15 |
| Liza Minelli | Cabaret, Studio 54, survival | Scotch, Ramazzotti, banana | $15 |
| Iman | Supermodel, downtown fixture | Chili rum, Aperol, passion fruit, sparkle | $15 |
| Kenny Kenny | Limelight doorman | Vodka, lemon, pomegranate, thyme, seltzer | $15 |
Al Goldstein
The publisher of Screw magazine and one of the great loudmouths of First Amendment history: vulgar, combative, and impossible to ignore, right down to the public-access show he ran for decades. His drink has the same contradiction he did. Rittenhouse rye and Cointreau, lime and orgeat for something almost too easy to like, then Ramazzotti dragging it back down into the bitter. Finished with a Luxardo cherry, because he would want the garnish.
Amanda Lepore
The most famous transgender woman in the world, a living Warhol, the muse of downtown glamour and of every photographer smart enough to point a camera at her. Her drink floats: Ford’s Gin, Juliette peach liqueur, honey, basil, lemon, and a lift of sparkling wine. Effervescent, a little excessive, completely sure of itself.
Basquiat
The painter who went from tagging SAMO on SoHo walls to the center of the art world before he turned 25, and was gone by 27. His cocktail looks like it was painted: blanco tequila, Midori, green apple, Cointreau, and lime. Green and gold and bright, fast and gone too soon.
Wu-Tang
Staten Island, 1993, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers): nine MCs who rewrote what a rap group could be and then proved the borough everyone forgot could run the city. The drink is built the same way, out of parts that should not work together. Vodka, Tang, and lemon, Campari and Angostura for the low end, and a Singha Lager float on top. Cheap, loud, and better than it has any right to be.
Geraldine Ferraro
The congresswoman from Queens who became the first woman on a major-party presidential ticket in 1984, a genuinely radical thing that we have since agreed to treat as normal. Her drink is a grasshopper with the lights turned down: crème de menthe and crème de cacao, then Wray & Nephew and Appleton Reserve to give it some spine, and Thai coconut to round it off. Sweet enough to underestimate. Do not.
Liza Minelli
Old glamour, the survivor, the showstopper who outlasted the era that made her: an Oscar for Cabaret, a permanent table at Studio 54, and a career nobody has managed to end. Her drink is dark and theatrical: Dewar’s with Ramazzotti, Luxardo, and Banane du Brésil, or Scotch under stage lights.
Iman
She landed in New York in 1975 and changed what a supermodel was allowed to look like, then spent the next twenty years as one of downtown’s genuine fixtures. Her cocktail has heat and shine both: Fresno chili infused Mount Gay Silver Rum, Aperol, Chinola passion fruit, lime, and sparkling wine. It gets your attention and then keeps it.
Kenny Kenny
The doorman and club kid who ruled the velvet rope at the Limelight and beyond, the person who decided, on a glance, whether your night was going to happen. His cocktail is the most deceptively simple drink on the menu: vodka, lemon, pomegranate, thyme, and seltzer. Sharp, clean, and it looks straight through you.
Why the names matter
You can drink at FKA: and never read a word of this. The cocktails stand on their own, and they are all $15. The nitro espresso martini is the one drink that is not named for a person. Forbes asked about that one. The neighborhood comparison is best espresso martinis in the East Village. The freezer-door martinis, $28 and poured into vintage glassware, are on our list of the best martinis in NYC. If you want to know why a bar in the East Village is named Formerly Known As, why everything here is an homage to a downtown that mostly does not exist anymore, start with the menu. Every name is a small history lesson disguised as a good time.
Come meet the icons. We are at 221 2nd Avenue, between 13th and 14th Street. Good Clean Filth.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the cocktails at FKA: named after?
The eight Icon cocktails are named for Al Goldstein, Amanda Lepore, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Wu-Tang Clan, Geraldine Ferraro, Liza Minnelli, Iman, and Kenny Kenny. Each drink is $15. The menu heading is "Icons of New York City."
How much are cocktails at FKA: Formerly Known As?
All eight Icon cocktails are $15. Beer-and-shot combos are $8 all day. The bar is at 221 2nd Avenue in the East Village, open 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. every day.
Why is the bar called Formerly Known As?
FKA: is an homage to the East Village bars of the 1980s and 1990s, a downtown that mostly does not exist anymore. The cocktail names carry the history lesson, and the room (arcade games, photo booth, $1 oysters) supplies the feeling. See the East Village bar history for the longer version.
Who was Kenny Kenny?
Kenny Kenny was a famous downtown doorman and club kid who worked the velvet rope at the Limelight and beyond. His cocktail is the most deceptively simple drink on the menu: vodka, lemon, pomegranate, thyme, and seltzer.
Is Liza Minnelli spelled Minelli on the menu?
The cocktail is listed as Liza Minelli, the menu spelling. The person is Liza Minnelli. We kept the drink name as printed on the menu.