At Sean Nye’s cocktail bar in downtown Astoria, Delilah, local products and purveyors take center stage.

The illuminated chestnut bar top was made by Ashriver Woodworks. Artist Abby Koziol designed the stained glass windows and paintings by Astoria local Anna Kaufman hang from the walls.

Cocktails and handcrafted dishes at the bar feature ingredients sourced from local farmers and producers.

“I like making people happy with food,” said Nye, who opened Delilah last October, “and turning people onto the local stuff we have access to.”

Adjacent space

At Delilah, Nye is a one-man show, overseeing every task from food prep and cooking to bartending, baking and preserving. He picked up the vast array of skills after working for many years in the food service industry — both in his former hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, and on the North Coast. He reckons there aren’t many restaurant positions he hasn’t done.

“I’ve gotten to work with some really good chefs and some really good bartenders, and I’ve learned a lot of tricks along the way,” Nye said.

Delilah is his first business of this type. The idea came to fruition last year when his friends, Silqet Ra and Jake Martin, opened their farm-to-table restaurant, Daphne, on Ninth Street.

Martin had an adjacent space to rent, and it was the ideal location for Nye’s cocktail lounge. He sees the two establishments as a complement to one another. After a nice dinner at Daphne, folks can stop by next door for a nightcap.

Nye is striving to provide a comfortable, intimate bar where people can order late-night snacks and cocktails until midnight. With its low-lit ambience and quiet background music, the environment welcomes people looking to read, play tabletop games, do work or engage in conversation.

Locally sourced

All the while, they can indulge in drinks and dishes that feature locally sourced ingredients, such as hotdogs and bratwurst, calzones, cheeseboards, sweet potato cakes, soups and other rotating bites.

Some of the places from where Nye sources food include Low Tide Farms, Astoria Coffee Co., Spring Up Farm, Little Barn Farm and North Coast Micros, to name a few. He works with the North Coast Food Web to connect with local producers for seasonal items.

“On the menu, I’ll mention where the ingredients are coming from,” he said.

One of the joys of owning his establishment is getting to come up with new recipes for both food and beverages, especially because of the diversity of products available on the North Coast.

“We have access to really good food here in this area,” he added.

To extend the shelf-life of vegetables and fruit and have access to their flavors throughout the year — even when they’re not in season — Nye uses a variety of preservation methods, making kimchi, pickles, jams, syrups and mostarda di frutta. He also bakes his own breads.

Options

Nye also includes gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. Two of his four taps are nonalcoholic, while local beers come from Obelisk Beer Co. in Astoria.

In opening Delilah, Nye feels he’s experienced an abundance of community support, and he hopes that the bar can, in turn, fill a niche.

Eventually, Nye said he may pursue pop-ups, kitchen takeovers and classes to feature local growers, farmers and other chefs, but for now, his No. 1 goal is simple: “A comfortable place serving good, local products.”

 

Delilah

A cocktail bar at 143 Ninth St., Astoria

Open 4 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays through Saturdays.

@delilahastoria