Plants, places and people we love
As one of the co-founders of Three Spirit, as well as hailing from Indian origin, the principles of food as medicine and Ayurvedic ingredients have been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
While our drinks are not uniquely stemming from Ayurveda or other eastern natural medicine practices, we are proud to use many ingredients in our drinks that have steeped history and share similar philosophies regarding our body’s connection to nature.
– Meeta Gournay
Powered by plants
We have a few amazing ingredients that originate from Asia.
We love ashwagandha, a powerful Ayurvedic adaptogen, for its soothing function – including it in our Nightcap was a no brainer.
Panax ginseng, known for rejuvenating cognition, was added to Livener to ignite the senses.
Another fabulous plant in Livener is schisandra; a rare, bright red fruit with the power to support physical performance (it also has a unique, multi-dimensional flavor).
Here are some amazing venues you can enjoy and try Three Spirit
New York City
53 w 53 – Midtown Manhattan
Nestled beneath MoMA in Jean Nouvel’s iconic 53 West 53rd Street tower, this is where art meets contemporary Asian dining. Singaporean-born chef Akmal Anuar leads the kitchen with a menu spanning Singapore to Seoul, served across a three-storey space designed to dazzle. With Michelin recognition and rotating gallery installations, 53 is the kind of place where every element – including what’s in your glass – is chosen with care.
Trad Room – Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
A Japanese family-owned neighborhood gem that has been part of the Bed-Stuy community since 2016. This izakaya-style space puts sharing at the heart of everything, with a cocktail programme drawing on Japanese flavors, umami infusions, vibrant teas, and floral notes layered with real craft. A neighborhood bar in the very best sense.
Joo-Ok – Koreatown, Manhattan
Chef Chang-Ho Shin brought his two Michelin-starred restaurant from Seoul to New York, and the city took notice immediately. This deeply personal Korean tasting menu is rooted in fermented jang sauces, house-pressed perilla oil, and ingredients grown on the restaurant’s own upstate farm. The dining room, inspired by the warmth of a traditional Korean hanok house, makes guests feel like they’re visiting chef Shin at home. One of New York’s most exciting and proudly AAPI-led restaurants.
Seattle
Rob Roy – Belltown, Seattle
Rob Roy is a James Beard-nominated Belltown institution established by Seattle cocktail powerhouse Anu Apte-Elford, one of the most influential figures in American bar culture. Anu has built one of the Pacific Northwest’s most celebrated bar programmes around precision, craft, and genuine hospitality. Five types of ice, fresh-pressed juices, house-made syrups, and a cocktail menu that features Three Spirit Livener. It is an honour to be on the shelf here.
San Francisco
Propagation – Lower Nob Hill, San Francisco
Co-founded by Lauren Nguyen (interior designer and plant obsessive) and her wife Heather Hoffman, Propagation is a lush, botanical sanctuary tucked into Lower Nob Hill. Lauren’s design vision – real plants everywhere, low light, leather couches – gives the bar its distinct identity, while the cocktails are inventive, earthy, and joyful. An inclusive, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-friendly space that feels like a community in the truest sense. Exactly where Three Spirit belongs.
AAPI owned brands we love
As an Asian American, I really love seeing many other amazing Asian owned brands see success and help influence culture, as more and more Asian flavors and ingredients become more mainstream in the US and beyond.
Some of my favorite Asian founded brands making waves are:
Sanzo
Founded by Sandro Roco, a Filipino-American, who launched Sanzo to address the gap he saw in new age “American” brands and preservative-and-sugar laden labels of legacy Asian brands. Sanzo has grown rapidly and provides delicious seltzers celebrates well known Asian-inspired flavors like calamansi, lychee and Alphonso mango.
As another beverage brand in the natural space, we are massively inspired by what Sandro has been able to achieve with Sanzo, in terms of awareness and distribution. Not only do I always enjoy a Sanzo personally, I really love seeing the collabs that Sanzo does with amazing movies like Disney’s Turning Red, but my favorite was seeing the limited edition cans featuring characters of the Marvel Studio’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings movie.
Om Som
Co-founded by the Pham sisters, who celebrate bringing proud, loud Asian flavors to your fingertips through sauce and noodle kits. The founders talk about how watching their Asian mom cook meals from scratch, it was like her love language to her children, and I couldn’t agree more. So happy to see the business continue to thrive!
Khalo
This is a brand that really excites me, especially as Ayurvedic medicine is something I am fascinated with. Founded by first-generation Indian-American entrepreneur Priya Amarnani, their Ayurvedic olive oil cooking pastes blend 21+ superfood spices and herbs to turn everyday meals into a gut-nourishing ritual. Ancient wisdom, modern kitchen.