EXCLUSIVE: AS THE LARKIN HIFI CLOSES, ALLEN STREET PUB STEPS IN WITH ABERRATION
Joe Tersigni, veteran and owner of The Allen Street Pub, and his right hand man, mixologist Tom Blassman, have been keeping a secret. When Joe heard the Larkin HiFi would close and the owners Nick Warchol + Aaron Wilson—who also own the Herbies Burgers chain—would move the flagship Lark Street location further down the street with a bar upstairs, he reached out.
I chatted with Joe + Tom about their plans at the Bar Convent Brooklyn conference in June. Now, with the Larkin HiFi’s official closing date of July 17, we have the scoop.
— SDP
Aberration takes over the lease of Larkin HiFi as a new concept: Art replaces vinyl, but a focused cocktail menu + the retro interior remains.
Somehow 199 Lark Street continues to survive. The Farnham’s Larkin, as it was known in the early 2000s when it was both restaurant and jazz bar, was left vacant for years before the owners of Herbies Burgers and The LoFi Bar, both businesses across the street, decided to take it on in June 2024 and give it some love. The retro-inspired, Tokyo-style record bar drew an immediate crowd for vinyl nights and weekend DJ sets, but a contentious battle over noise ordinances between the the owners, certain Center Square residents and the City of Albany’s enforcement of Cabaret Laws made it a short-lived venture, closing in November 2025. Still locked into a lease, the Herbies owners would open for a weekend or two each month for “Pay the rent” nights and private events, while behind the scenes efforts were underway to transfer the lease. While we knew about the plans, it’s only now that they have the official green light+ we have the story on soon-to-open Aberration. — Susie Davidson Powell
Aberration (COMING SOON) 199 Lark Street, Albany | Details coming soon
SDP: Joe, you own The Allen Street Pub which has had a fantastic, under-the-radar cocktail program for some time thanks to your right hand man, Tom Blassman. Now that The Larkin HiFi is officially closing this Friday, July 17 with one last hurrah, everyone wants to know what's coming next. Spill the tea on your new bar, Aberration.
JT: When I found out that Nick and Aaron were moving on to pursue their main venture, curiosity got the best of me and I had to go check their spot out. I fell in love with what they did to HiFi aesthetically. For years Tom has been honing his cocktail craft at Allen Street Pub, but as much as I have a deep love for the location, I never felt it did Tom’s drinks justice. We are going full on, big city-style cocktail bar with Tom’s program leading the way at Aberration. Our plan is to provide a variety of locally sourced, high quality grazing options from local purveyors and chefs as well.
SDP: If Tom is bringing his mixology program to Lark Street, does that mean it's ending at The Allen Street Pub?
JT: We have already streamlined the cocktail program at Allen Street pub, but I think we offer something unique with our dedication to staying open late, and serving high quality cocktails. Allen Street Pub is frequently full of our industry friends late into the night, and while your friends might be sipping draft PBRs and firing back whiskey shots, you can be enjoying a killer Old Fashioned, or a cocktail infused with strawberries from a farm stand down the road. If someone comes to Allen Street Pub currently, they will experience our design for the cocktail menu moving forward. Tom will continue to offer his services keeping the Allen Street Pub cocktail menu current.
SDP: The Larkin HiFi is a pretty turnkey business. Are you planning interior changes, or what can people expect in terms of the overall vibe?
No! Well, kind of no…. To the chagrin of some of the loyal customers that HiFi has developed over the years, the vinyl will be disappearing. As cool as it is, the logistics of the operation we want to run doesn’t allow for turntables manned by the bartenders. Due to my love of photography, and at Tom’s suggestion, we’re going to use the vast wall space to display not only some of my pictures, but hopefully photographs from the local community of amateur and professional photographers as well. Lark Street has always been known for artists, so if our space can double as a gallery, then it’s a win for everyone.
SDP: The space doesn't have a full kitchen. Do you plan to have any light bites or food?
JT: Charcuterie! We plan on offering small plates of high quality shareables. This will not be your spot for dinner, but if you want to snack with some friends over drinks, we’re gonna have you covered. We’ve had conversations with local purveyors and chefs already, and our plan is to have a menu sourced from local businesses that we can be proud to serve.
SDP: I guess this is hard to answer, but what's the timeline? Do you have an idea of the opening date?
JT: I am very, very optimistic in saying September. Licensing, special equipment, and staffing all take time, and Tom and I both agree that we would rather get it right than push it to open sooner. Fingers crossed for September, but barring any massive set backs, October at the latest.
SDP: How did you come up with the name, Aberration?
We were tossing around photography terms… Aberration refers to an optical imperfection in a camera lens that can make distort or blur an image or give it color fringes because the lens hasn’t focused all the light onto the sensor. So we went with that.
SDP: Nice. Okay, we’re excited for the opening, so keep us posted on the date!
Read our Guest Shift interview with Tom and check out his featured cocktail here + non-alc cocktail here.
