The exact origin of the Manhattan cocktail is murky, but there are two primary stories that propose to explain its creation.  The first story claims a bartender named Dr. Iain Marshall created the drink for Winston Churchill’s mother at party celebrating Samuel Tilden. Yet this story is unlikely considering Mrs. Churchill was in England and pregnant at the time of the party.  The second story comes from a bartender at the historic Hoffman House named William F. Mulhall.  He claims he inherited the Manhattan recipe in the 1860s from “a man named Black… who kept a place ten doors below Houston Street on Broadway”.  So far, no evidence substantiates or refutes Mulhall’s claim for the mysterious Mr. Black.  At B&K, rather than choosing sides, we propose you raise a glass (or bottle) to the birthplace of the cocktail… Manhattan, NY!