Late night absinthe and oysters at this little bit of time travel in Will iamsburg is one of our best late winter indulgences

by ceylon Monroe

In these last but obdurately enduring cold nights, our drinky desire is to tuck ourselves away into a warm corner in pseudo-hibernation mode, ruminate late-night over the “Je suis Charlie” passions of the day, and wonder why Brooklyn can’t be just a bit more like Paris, at least in terms of newfound solidarity. In the hopeful search of all these ingredients, we wandered completely by accident into a quiet little miracle on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

It would be tragically easy to breeze right by Maison Premiere unless you were looking for it. Almost speakeasyesque in aspect, its concrete gray brick front and contrasting green trimmed windows and doors wouldn’t look altogether different than those of an apartment entrance, if it weren’t for the small “Bar-Oysters” shingle on top of the front door. That’s it: no other branding, in delicious contrast to the, “Look at me! Look at me!” logo-ing meme of our day.

Inside, a simple, horseshoe-shaped marble bar, backed by a fascinating array of European hooch bottles, an Absinthe fountain, and nattily dressed suspendered bartenders offer the impression that one has stepped simultaneously into both a place and time transporter—in this instance sent to a quiet Montmartre club of the late 19th century. That’s exactly the impression Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka intended to create.

According to the two owners, inspiration took its genesis in the “hotel lobbies of day gone by,” making particular reference to a French propensity for eating dinners and taking one’s cocktails late night. But to make a particular celebration of the fact that absinthe (free of the wormwood ingredient that is a psychedelic…but unfortunately poisonous) is now perfectly legal in the United States–and Maison Premier offers no fewer than 27 varieties of “The Green Fairy,” from Pacifique out of Washington to Le Fee Blance from France. Served with chilled water and a sugar cube, it’s a delicious, licorice-like bar experience like no other, courtesy of “the world’s most accurate working replica of the Absinthe fountain, which once flowed in the Olde Absinthe House of New Orleans,” according to owners.

There’s a full bar menu on hand, to be sure, and we’ve made a recent habit of taking one too many of the Whiskeytown Regattas (Four Roses, Stout, Crème de Cacao, Caffé Lolita, and Drambuie) or the Improved Hurricane (Hamilton Jamaican Black, Rhum JM, Lemon, and Passion fruit), depending upon our mood. Wine, sherry, champagne, and bottled beer are available, too, but the tenders mix with such gusto that we simply love to put them to work. All night at Maison Premiere, but particularly happy hour, matters are all about the oysters. On any given night, there can

Oysters as Aphrodisiac: the hard science
It turns out that Casanova might have really had something other than hunger in mind during his reputed consumption of a 50-oyster breakfast. According to George Fisher, professor of chemistry at Barry University in Miami—who led a research team with colleague Raul Mirza, along with Antimo D’Aniello of the Laboratory of Neurobiology in Naples—there are in fact amino acids in oysters that likely boost libido in both men and women. Two in particular, D-aspartic acid (D-Asp) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), when injected into rats, wound up producing sexual appetite-enhancing testosterone in males, and progesterone in females. Fischer added that spring seems to be the best time to consume oysters for their peak arousing effect.

“I have been a scientist for 40 years,” Fischer said in an interview with The Telegraph. “And my research has never generated interest like this.”

be 30 to select, from East Enders plucked from Peconic Bay, NY to Wellfleets (Danbury, MA)—Blackberry Points from Prince Edward Island to the gorgeously well named Holy Grails from Tar Bay, Maryland. All are between $2.50 to $3.50 each, though happy hour offers a discount.

Dinners are, for the most part, a continental affair, and the more adventurous editors on our staff have recently picked the Pork Belly & Squid entrée (with Heritage Pork, Concord Grape, and parsnips) as one of the most wonderfully unexpected meals of the year. Less Evel Knievel-inspired palates have tucked into the wonderfully tender Duck with Nicoise Olives and Potato Puree, or the Maine lobster.

As the evening wears on at the half-moon bar, winter already seems a happy and distant memory, with both our long-lost Great American novel—and world peace—just a few more absinthes away.

Maison Premiere
298 Bedford Ave. / 347.335.0446 / maisonpremiere.com