Pekarna: Slovenian Fare on the Upper West Side

Pekarna is an Upper West Side eatery that offers Slovenian food and culture to New Yorkers in the largest restaurant and events venue in the area. Pekarna features three private downstairs private rooms, a private backyard dining area, an upstairs private bar and seating area and two downstairs service bars; ensuring that no matter where you are in the huge dining space, you can be served. Executive Chef Kamal Hoyte’s dinner menu is a melding of traditional Slovenian and New American seasonal dishes with French techniques. The cocktail program, curated by owner Dean O’Neill and head bartender David Hu, takes guests back to the origins of mixology combining more spirits and quality liqueurs than juices to make drinks more spirit and fruit-forward than sweet.

Speaking of drinks, that’s exactly how we started our meal. Being that the Mai Tai was my drink of the summer, I couldn’t wait to try Perkarna’s twist on the popular drink. Pekarna’s Mai Tai is made with Barcardi light and Dark Rum, Grenadine, Chinola Passionfruit liqueur, Pineapple and orange juice. The inclusion of passionfruit liqueur offered a more tropical (to the already tropical) taste of the Mai Tai but didn’t make the drink feel…