Located in the heart of Washington Heights, is a tiny bar with a goal; a goal to change the way you look at drinking. Poción, meaning “potion” in Spanish, wants to lure you in with its specialty ‘potions’ and bespoke vegan bites. The bar’s design is trendy without trying too hard, and never forgetting it’s roots; as Dominican owner, Alex Peralta first was inspired to create the bar as a homage to DR’s national drink; Mamajuana, without being completely literal in translation. Poción, delves deeper than just one holistic form of fusing herbs and liquors, which the menu illustrates using hand renderings, drawn by studioBIG’s founder, Leah Plevrites, where you are able to easily see the role each ingredient plays in making your next cocktail a healthy one. The bartenders create Poción’s branded concoctions using tiny bottle droppers right in front of you; making the whole process even more of an exciting experience, each “potion” experiments with an array of aromatic, medicinal and just plain delicious ingredients.
The brand concept, logo and interiors all designed by young firm, studioBIG, was a collaboration of Peralta and Plevrites’ understanding of the same goal; the bar wanted to be different and contemporary; yet remain organic in it’s use of materials and flow of space. Live music is a must in Hispanic culture, and that was one of the design requirements, which needed to fit within the sliver of SF allotted to the layout. studioBIG, took the challenge and was able to not only allocate versatile space for live music but create a shorter bottle wall, which would double as a trough sink hiding the restrooms at the end of the lounge space, giving the illusion of a larger, cleaner ambience. The bottle concept stems from the simple and purist need of bottles to house different potions, therefore this theme is seen on the main feat