Clover Field
Inside Brooklyn's New Cocktail Club

Back when most of Brooklyn was still farmland, a group of Philadelphia bluebloods, scribblers and general men-about-town formed one of the original exclusive booze clubs, bound together by a favorite spot, a single cocktail and a name: The Clover Club.

You may be a few years late, but the scene is starting up again just in time—minus the frock coats and mustache wax, that is. Welcome to Clover Club, a Victorian Gothic-style cocktail spot opening tonight in Brooklyn.

The mastermind behind the spot is Julie Reiner, who also brought you the Flatiron Lounge, so be grateful. This time around, the cocktails are even older, including the house cocktail The Clover Club (Plymouth gin, dry vermouth, lemon juice and housemade raspberry syrup) and old-school punches served in antique bowls big enough for eight—meaning you can plunk down at a leather booth and engage your whole entourage in some communal high society punch-bowl boozing.

The front bar space sets the mood with paneled mahogany walls and turn-of-the-century chandeliers, but if you're looking for the real prize, ask the hostess to take you behind the velvet curtain in back. There, you'll find a private parlor with its own bar, some refurbished Victorian couches and a direct line to fried oysters and caviar deviled eggs coming out of the kitchen.

When caviar's involved, a direct line is always appreciated.