When the 48-seat Death & Co. opened in Manhattan’s East Village in 2006, it helped put the idea of “craft cocktails” on the map. Even in the early days, when the bartenders first mixed now-infamous recipes like the Oaxacan Old-Fashioned, it was clear to founder David Kaplan that “we’d captured lightning in a bottle.”
Nineteen years later, Death & Co. has four bars in the U.S. and has published three coffee-table books. They’ve been adding to the list since July. Municipal Grand, A 44-room boutique hotel in Savannah’s Historic District. Kaplan and two of his business partners have imbued this property with the “cocktail focused hospitality” that was the success of their original bar. “Our bar is small and intimate—a refuge, just like our hotel,” Kaplan says. “Municipal Grand’s rooms are designed with a focus on comfort, personalization, and subtle references to cocktail culture.”
Municipal Grand
The guest rooms feature built-in bar stools for evening cocktails or morning coffee, as well as custom armoires with spirits, glasses, and bar equipment. Kaplan says, “It is our way to invite guests to engage in the ritual of making cocktails.”
In Savannah’s North Historic District, the six-story former bank building has been redesigned by Canadian architecture firm AAmp Studio with design input from the Death & Co. team. The SCAD Savannah Film Festival, which is held annually, takes place in the historic cinemas at the corner Abercorn and Broughton street. Kaplan says that if you enter off Broughton Street, you will be able to walk directly into Municipal Bar.
Municipal Grand
At the Municipal Bar restaurant (which also serves all-day brunch), he recommends kicking off with oysters and steak tartare—”perfect companions for martini service at the table,” Kaplan says. After a dinner consisting of sourdough pasta, gnocchi with tomato and mortadella or croquettes, Kaplan recommends starting off with oysters and steak tartare. porchetta with ‘nduja ragù, you might end the night with Daiquiri Cheekies: three tiny daiquiris in flavors like pineapple and strawberry.
Sun Club, a rooftop lounge, is another option where guests can relax on loungers while ordering cocktails and small bites. The hotel is also launching a subterranean, tucked away bar this fall called Hot Eye. “Off the back of the building, there’s a little laneway—they don’t call them alleys in Savannah—with direct access to Hot Eye,” Kaplan says. “It’s meant to feel like a neighborhood bar—fun, dark, moody, playful—built for Savannah, but discoverable for our guests.”
The original version of this article appeared in the September 20,25 issue of Travel + Leisure Under the title “On the House.”
