The Bizarre NYC Bar Marvel's David Harbour Misses From His Youth
He may be everyone's favorite chief of police as Jim Hopper in "Stranger Things," but David Harbour recently joined "First We Feast" host Sean Evans to eat super hot wings, talk about his new role in Marvel's "Black Widow," and chat about life. Harbour, who has talked candidly on The Off Camera Show and other interviews about his issues with alcoholism, has been sober since he was 24. That prompted Evans to ask, "Is there a dive bar or a restaurant spot that you miss the most, thinking back about your inglorious days in the East Village?"
Harbour had a ready, if strange, answer. "Yeah, I got one. Oh, man, I got some good ones," he said. "On Avenue A between 12th and 13th, there was a place called Korova Milk Bar. Korova Milk Bar used to make milk drinks that were ... very alcoholic." He paused, "This is horrible, but this is the East Village. We could go there, right?" When Evans prompted him to go on, Harbour continued, "[The drinks were] all based on dead, like, child stars or whatever. I used to love that place."
The bar, located at 200 Avenue A in the Alphabet City neighborhood, closed in 2006, according to the Alex in NYC blog.
The name is a throwback to a classic
The Korova Milk Bar was based on a bar of the same name in Anthony Burgess' novel and Stanley Kubrick's classic film, "Clockwork Orange." In the book and film, Punch writes, the Korova Milk Bar mixed drinks with illicit, often psychedelic drugs — though just alcohol was served at the New York version of the bar. Harbour told Evans (via YouTube) that the bar would constantly play the Kubrick movie. The bar's decor was also appropriately weird, with Yelp reviewers noting there were naked mannequins hanging from the walls, black-and-white mod decor, and the entire place was lit in black light.
While he loved the bar, Harbour recognized its strange creepiness. "It was a horrible place. And I loved it," he said. Evans laughed and replied, reminiscing on New York's formerly grittier self, "Those were the days in Manhattan." Harbour agreed," I mean that was back when [New York was] still dark. We weren't the mall we are today. Ah, so it was good."
After trying out various sauces with increasingly high levels of heat, all the way to a scorching Scoville 649,000, it started to get to the star. "It's affecting my whole body. I like it," Harbour told Evans. "Like, I'm sober for a long time, so I haven't been drunk for a long time." Evans laughed, "It's bringing you back a little bit?" Harbour replied, "I feel a little bit, like, out of control. Not sure what I'll do next."