A new bar on West 54th Street is built around the idea that the drinks are never quite finished. Cocktail Test Kitchen, which goes by CTK, opened on Wednesday, October 21, at 359 West 54th Street in Hell's Kitchen, on the block between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

The menu is split between drinks the bar considers settled and a rotating section of cocktails it is still working on, alongside a short list of bar food that runs from pizza bagels to caviar.

The freezer martini list

The first section of the menu is a run of freezer martinis at $15 each, kept in the freezer so they pour colder and stronger than a stirred drink. There are five: a classic gin martini, a vodka martini, an espresso martini made with vodka, coffee, coconut and cacao, a Vesper with gin, vodka, Cocchi Americano and cardamom, and a Martinez made with pineapple-washed gin.

For a step up, a premium section includes a martini made with Procera Blue Dot, a Kenyan juniper gin, at $28, a Beluga Gold Line martini at $32, a 50:50 at $20 and a Bijou at $22.

Classics, test drinks and low proof

A section the bar calls The Hits covers standards at $15: margarita, negroni, mule, old fashioned, daiquiri, paloma, cosmopolitan and a Negrimlet, plus a passionfruit and vanilla vodka drink topped with bubbles. Upgraded versions include a Michter's 10-year old fashioned at $34 and a 1942 Cadillac margarita at $28.

The section that gives the bar its name is Limited Engagements, a rotating set of cocktails at $17. The opening list includes a vodka drink with tarragon, fennel and green apple, an Orchard Sour built on bourbon, applejack, apricot and rooibos, and a gin drink with spiced honey, gooseberry and tonka bean.

There is also a lower-proof list at $13, with a Sherry Coke, a Hugo, a Finogroni and an Adonis made with umeshu, and three non-alcoholic drinks at $12, including a phony negroni and a passionfruit punch. Hard seltzers in tea and fruit flavors are canned to order at $12, and a Miller High Life is $8.

What to eat

The food is bar food with a sense of humor. Pizza bagels come six for $24 or twelve for $38, in plain, pepperoni or supreme, served with ranch and chili crisp. Tots bravas are $15, pigs in a blanket $18 and baked brie $27. There are marinated olives at $9, a charcuterie board at $26 and a cheese plate at $28.

At the top end, Kaviari Kristal caviar comes with spiced tots and chips, at $82 for 28 grams or $144 for 50 grams.

How to go

Cocktail Test Kitchen is at 359 West 54th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. The C and E stop at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue, about four blocks south, and Columbus Circle, with the A, B, C, D and 1, is five blocks north. The bar had not posted its hours on its website at opening; it lists hello@ctkbar.com for questions and posts updates on Instagram at @ctkbar.

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