Seed Library
Ryan Chetiyawardana's first permanent New York bar, in an old club space under the Hotel Park Ave, pouring the Beeswax Old Fashioned he first made years ago and a whisky sour built with miso and koji.
Why go
Seed Library opened on 5 November 2025 and is the first Lyan concept he has ever duplicated, which he treats as a constraint rather than a franchise. It's not about replicating London,
he told Forbes. It's about bringing the emotion of that original Seed Library, that sense of comfort and organic imperfection, to a city that thrives on reinvention.
The room he picked mirrors the London one underneath One Hundred Shoreditch: a basement club space, this time under a NoMad hotel. His method statement is the same one that has run through every Lyan bar since White Lyan: The idea has always been, what if an ingredient grew up differently?
Nicole Giampino runs the bar, in from Clemente Bar.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Coriander Seed Gimlet, Beefeater with a coriander seed cordial and white grape, then something out of the back catalogue. The Beeswax Old Fashioned is Michter's, bitters and New York State beeswax, and it is one of the first drinks he ever put on a list. The Koji Hardshake came from Dandelyan: Johnnie Walker Black, miso, lemon, koji, cream sugar. Cookies come out of the oven at the end.
- Avoid: writing off the alcohol-free four. The S&P Spritz swaps Seedlip Spice for vodka and blends yellow bell pepper with strawberry aperitivo, and it is on the list as a signature.
What locals & experts say
- Ryan Chetiyawardana, in Forbes (3 November 2025): on why this space,
An old club space, surrounded by amazing restaurants and cultural spots, where we could create our take on a kind of bar feel. We really wanted something that felt organic and warm.
1 - The Infatuation (6 November 2025): files it as a listing and nothing more, in its own words:
We haven't been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
2
Good to know
- Timing: evening onward, on the lower ground floor of the hotel. The street entrance is 51 East 30th Street.
- Booking: book. It is small and it opened with a name attached.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: New Mr lyan bar. Don't miss it.
Verdict
could-visit — Chetiyawardana's first permanent New York room, in an old club space under the Hotel Park Ave, and the first time he has duplicated one of his own concepts anywhere. He is direct about the terms: 'It's not about replicating London.' The list runs 17 originals plus the Lyan back catalogue, and the back catalogue is the reason to go, because the Beeswax Old Fashioned is one of the first drinks he ever served and the Koji Hardshake came off the Dandelyan pass. Four of the signatures are built alcohol-free from the ground up rather than stripped down. It sits at could-visit rather than higher for one reason: it opened in November 2025 and no critic has published a verdict on what is in the glass.