Hunter & Thief opens in Lindenhurst

It’s been a long road to opening for Lindenhurst's modern cocktail bar Hunter and Thief. After nearly four years of pandemic-related setbacks — including getting a business permit the day before shutdown and an accident that sent an automobile through the front door — the long-awaited cocktail bar, which feels more like something you’d find in Brooklyn, is finally in operation.

“All the bad luck stuff was like a poorly written story,” says Jonathan Gonzalez, a three-time best cocktail winner of the New York Cocktail Expo, as well as veteran of spots like Blackbird Kitchen in Wantagh and South Shore Drive in Sayville. But on a recent Thursday night, the 60-seat dining room and 18-seat bar is full and he is grateful.

Batching and premixing some elements of craft-inspired cocktails helps bartenders keep pace with the busy evening scene. The bartenders patiently educate patrons on the bounty of spirits like ayuuk, derived from pasilla mixe, a chili sourced in Oaxaca, Mexico. It's among the ingredients in the "Reflection of Natural History” cocktail, which also has tequila, strawberry-boshi (a Japanese sour salted preparation), lime juice and habanero agave. It’s these kinds of unusual pairings that are set to become staples on Gonzalez’s ever-evolving cocktail menu.

“Essentially, it’s our version of a spicy strawberry margarita,” explains Gonzalez. Trendy cocktails like espresso martinis and aperol spritzes are on draft, and there’s a section of the menu dedicated to the best variations of the Old Fashioned from pioneer cocktail bars of the early 2000s scene like Death and Co. and Milk and Honey. Cocktails, which will evolve with the seasons and change regularly, run $12-$15.

In addition, there are funky orange wines, fancy Billecart-Salmon rosé bubbles, canned and bottled cocktails like Whitebox’s negroni ($10) plus ales and lagers. Alongside the bar menu, snacks and comfort food include seasonal ricotta toast (currently with peaches, $12), fried chicken ($16), fish and chips ($18), and a burger ($18).

Hunter and Thief was the recipient of an $18,750 PSEG Long Island Main Street Revitalization grant, which awards small and medium-sized businesses with money and bill credits to support their work. Gonzalez credits that extra help for some of his perseverance on the long road to opening.

Bridging the gap between the two places he loves — NYC and Long Island — “this bar has been in my sketchbook for years,” Gonzalez says. “This bar is a love letter to Long Island, to our family. And to all the cocktail bars in NYC that we like.”

Hunter & Thief, 21 West Hoffman Ave., Lindenhurst; Open Monday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to close.

By Marie Elena Martinez

marieelena.martinez@newsday.com@mariesworlds

A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.