Marisa Mendez Marthaller is the wine director and general manager at the new restaurant Masten Lake. She is known for curating a wide selection of wines by women vintners. Photos by Benjamin Lozovsky
Mention of a lake can conjure up so many evocative images—a watery moon, a forlorn pair of Adirondack chairs, morning mist, leaping frogs, echoes of children’s laughter. When David Rosen decided to close Savalas, his neighborhood bar of six years on Bedford Avenue, and reopen it as a restaurant and bar six months later with two other partners, he decided to call it Masten Lake, after a captivating spot in the Catskill Mountains where he and his family spent many lazy summers. The lake holds cherished boyhood memories for him: fishing, swimming, rock climbing, lakeside barbecuing, and making new and lasting friends. He says the idea behind the restaurant is his memory of the lake, a place for friends and family to come together, have a drink, enjoy a good meal, and just relax.
David has been a bar owner in Williamsburg for 11 years and is also part owner of the bustling dance bar, The Woods, on S. 4th Street. But he was looking for a new challenge. “Now that I’m father of a two-year-old, I’m thinking about a place where families can enjoy eating a meal together. Masten Lake is where you can bring your kids for brunch, your parents or your friends for a nice dinner, or come alone for a glass of wine or cocktail at the bar,” he says.
