Marcelino’s, a new Levantine cocktail bar, lands in the Seaport.
The lush and elegant interior
I had trouble finding the front door on my first visit to Marcelino’s (marcelinosboutiquebar.com), which only added to the allure. I unknowingly circled the exterior of the cocktail bar, distracted by the view across the harbor before I noticed the sign. Not to spoil the surprise, but the relatively unadorned entrance masks what is perhaps one of the most lush and thoughtfully elegant interiors in the city.
The oregano/tomato cocktail.
Since 2020, owners Marcelino and Basel Badawi (the duo is also behind Marcelino’s in Providence) have been fine-tuning the design, leaving no inch of the space unembellished. Inspired by the Spanish and Arabic architecture of Andalusia, the jewel-toned palette plays out in plush Mediterranean blue and burnt amber seating against a backdrop of artwork by local artist Kyla Coburn and contemporary chandeliers that cast the ideal soft light of inviting warmth. The full-length bar is the room’s centerpiece, flanked by banquettes and tables and there are two adjacent rooms, equally as swanky but quieter and more intimate. Two things Marcelino’s gets right that few restaurants do; the lighting and the music. It’s not too bright, not too dark, not too loud, not too quiet. The atmosphere begs you to sit back, relax and see where the night takes you.
The mushroom cocktail
And although sometimes a beautiful, well-appointed room is enough for a cocktail bar, the food and drinks here will also have you coming back. The cocktails from the imagination of acclaimed bar director Refaat Ghostine are each so wildly different that it feels like drinking pure, tasty science. The gin-based watermelon/rhubarb is topped with a feta cheese foam and is a summer memory in a glass. The oregano/tomato has a small cracker dolloped with sun-dried tomato oil gel, sumac, and black salt, balancing on a perfectly clear, branded ice cube to eat before sipping the savory and sweet gin-based elixir. The cardamon/coffee comes topped with a coffee and pistachio foam, which when mixed with the vodka, peach, cardamom, passionfruit, citrus, and whey, is a rollercoaster of sensations on the tongue. The parsley is a simpler vodka-based concoction with drops of parsley oil that is refreshing and too easy to sip.
One of Marcelino’s more intimate spaces
Although these drinks feel like dishes because of their complexity and diverse ingredients, they surprisingly did not outshine chef Maroun Nohra’s Eastern Mediterranean-inspired mezze-style plates. Definitely try the creamy labneh dip studded with harissa-spiced tomatoes and charred leeks for the side of pillowy soft pita bread alone. Other favorites were the warm za’atar halloumi and the inferno branzino in a robust and fiery tomato chili sauce.
The watermelon/rhubarb cocktail.
The vision to transform this space that formerly housed the casual seafood restaurant The Daily Catch into a luxurious cocktail bar was ambitious, but Marcelino and Badawi have created what feels like a hidden gem in the Seaport. This summer, they’ll transform the 200-seat waterfront patio into a bohemian refuge complete with a sunset bar. It won’t be long before Marcelino’s is impossible to miss.
Photography by: PAUL TABET
