A Classy New Cocktail Bar for Fifth Ave.

With two popular bars under his belt, Rory Dwyer has already constructed a successful archetype for Fifth Avenue nightlife.

But Dwyer’s chic new cocktail bar, Blue Print, opening soon on Fifth Avenue close to Union Street, is a far cry from Commonwealth and High Dive, his raucous watering holes popular with Park Slope’s younger crowds.

“Everyone wants to call it a wine bar for some reason, but it will be a cocktail bar, with small plates,” said Dwyer. “Though we will have a nice wine list.”

Blue Print is slated to open within the next few months in one half of space that was once home to Dwyer’s much-loved Thai restaurant, Long Tan. The spot will boast expertly crafted cocktails, as well as a menu of upgraded bar snacks – salads, charcuterie, cheeses and “maybe a rabbit pot pie.”

Dwyer said the bar will rotate through a menu of 60 items, inspired by locations as diverse as Japan, France and South America.

“We want it to be a nice bar to go to, whether you want a beer, a cocktail, a glass of wine, or a little snack,” said Regina Chistiansen, a former bartender at Long Tan and now co-owner of Blue Print.

Cocktails will range from solid classics to “modern twists on classics.” Many will feature specialty, hard to find ingredients grown at an upstate farm where Chistiansen used to work.

“When I first opened up Long Tan, I was talked into doing a Thai restaurant instead of a cocktail bar,” said Dwyer. “So we’re sort of going back to my original idea.”