:: five boston bars to open soon ::

In late 2011, I made a post about four Boston bars to open soon that I was excited about. One, Hair of the Dog, never materialized due to issues with the building's owner, but the other three -- the Hawthorne, Brick & Mortar, and Backbar -- helped to reshape the landscape of the Boston cocktail universe. This edition will cover another cluster of four five Boston bars that are soon to open, and like I said last time, some of this information is based on firsthand knowledge from the people involved, some of it is hearsay from Chowhound, Facebook, Twitter, or other. So take it with a grain of salt since I will abstain from fact checking and will confirm it all when I am drinking at their bars once they open. I did communicate with people involved with each of these projects and received some interesting tidbits back from them.

Kirkland Tap & Trotter, 425 Washington Street, Somerville, Harvard-Union-Inman Square.

With Tony Maws' success with Craigie on Main, he seeks to expand his reach by taking over the space of the old Kirkland Café, a neighborhood dive bar that had epic wood paneling and a decent live music scene. While I will leave the aspects of the wood-fired grill and food to the restaurant writers, I will hone in on their bar program. The first wisps of information that I heard was that the B-Side Lounge and Brick & Mortar founder Patrick Sullivan was consulting on the project and later learned that Misty Kalkofen was helping to get the program up and running. Their first job was finding a bar manager, and I am quite pleased with their pick -- No. 9 Park's Tyler Wang. Tyler cut his teeth in the bar world at Drink before staying within the Lynchian realm across town; I remember the day that he popped into Russell House Tavern when I was at the stick to tell me of his new position. I kept it quiet then, but with Maws' restaurant about to open and the news being a bit more public now, I feel more comfortable sharing. Tyler describes the bar project as one designed after "the best neighborhood bars in the world"; being right near Bergamot and Trina's Starlite Lounge, this theme will be right at home. Tyler continued, "My team is prepared to talk about and serve under-appreciated but over-performing wines and a great selection of craft beers. Our cocktails will be a compact but compelling mix of simple classically-oriented selections, and unique highballs like our City Side Soda featuring a house-made Pineapple-Celery Soda and Del Maguey Vida Mezcal." Also, on the bartender roster there is Kenny Belanger, Patrick Sullivan's star from the Legal Seafood days that he brought along with him to help open Brick & Mortar.

Beat Hotel, 39 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Harvard Square.

Beat Hotel has certainly been a topic of conversation at work, for Harvard Square is gaining a new cocktail spot to add to the roster that includes the Sinclair, First Printer, Russell House Tavern, and Park. The project is a parallel universe to the owners' other venture, the Beehive, and to some, crossing the Charles River is indeed a formidable gateway to another world. While the owners have sat at my bar at Russell House Tavern for lunch, I regret not quizzing them on the bar program. However, through checkins via the OnTheBar app, I spotted a familiar name checked in at Beat Hotel one day, Ian Strickland. I first met Ian at the Boston Cocktail Summit last year as he had wrapped up his work with the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain and started at Pigalle to update their bar menu. When Pigalle closed for renovations in May, he switched to the Beehive. In contacting Ian, he confirmed that he is indeed the head bartender there and that they will be opening in the next week or two.

Sarma, 249 Pearl Street, Somerville, Winter Hill-Gillman Square.

Up in my neck of the woods used to be the Paddock; I always thought the Paddock was a steakhouse until I heard that one of my friends went on date there for the pizza. We ventured in a few times for the Italian food, divey decor, and occasional neighborhood serenades from the karaoke lounge. The decently sized bar there was always filled with colorful locals quaffing cheap beers and simple Highballs. After it closed, I learned that the folks behind Oleana and Sofra were taking it over to serve Middle Eastern-inspired food and calling the joint Sarma. I was not sure whether they would have a bar program of note being that far out in the 'ville, but I was delighted to learn on a thread in the Chanticleer Society forum that Vikram Hegde last seen at Island Creek Oyster Bar will be the opening bar manager. I have been impressed with Vik's drinks at ICOB, and I am excited to see what he will do with some freedom from the more food-friendly ICOB cocktail menu constraints. Vik just wrote me describing how, "the general concept is going to be to try and reflect some of the fascinating spice elements that are used in the Middle Eastern/Mediterranean style food, so cocktails incorporating flavors like fenugreek, Aleppo pepper, mastic, etc. I'm hoping that as we evolve and grow into our own, we can develop some well integrated twists on classics (think a Sazerac with mastic and using Raki instead of Absinthe...) without making the classic mistake of just trying to create something different, regardless of whether or not it's an improvement."

Fairsted Kitchen, 1704 Beacon Street, Brookline, Washington Square.

I was surprised when I learned via the Boston restaurant blogs that Steve Bowman was opening up his own restaurant, the Fairsted Kitchen. When I first met Steve, he was working at Cirace's Fine Wines & Spirits in the North End. Later, he worked at Russell House Tavern before departing to Menton to be a captain and sommelier. The restaurant will join the neighborhood along with the beer Mecca, the Publick House, as well as the recently opened Ribelle; Matt Schrage first alerted me to Ribelle's cocktail program since he helped as a consultant on the project. Moreover, through Boston.com's Straight Up column, I learned that Patrick Gaggiano will be leaving Trina's Starlite Lounge to be a member of the opening roster of Fairsted Kitchen's bar staff. When I later contacted Steve, he described how the bar "will focus on classic cocktails, both traditionally executed and updated with tongue in cheek riffs. We'll also forge new ground offering bottled and carbonated cocktails as well as cocktails on draft. Late night brings an off beat and fun energy, drawing the emerging Brookline industry scene. Patrick Gaggiano will helm the program, joined by Alex Homans." When I spoke to Alex last week, he did not mention this, so this is a surprise to me. I met Alex when he was managing Temple Bar; he then went on for a short stint managing Russell House Tavern before ending up at Backbar. While Patrick recently had his last day at Trina's, I am not sure if Alex will be working one or both places.

State Park, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, Kendall Square.

In discussing this article, I was alerted that I forgot an establishment or two; however, only one of these did I know anything about the bar program. State Park, the second establishment from the owners of Hungry Mother, will be opening in the old Think Tank space. Hungry Mother's Heather Mojer will be making the move across Kendall Square to lead the program there which is a loss for Hungry Mother but a gain for State Park. I was able to reach out to Heather and luckily get some information. She expects an opening at the end of October as "a bar-focused spot with old neon beer signs, a screen door, maybe a diorama, and amusements; shuffleboard, 2 pinball machines, a juke box and a coin-op pool table are in the works... The bar will feature fine mixed drinks (and crushed ice!), a very fun magnum list for our wines by the bottle, and a good range of beer for all occasions."

Also Alden & Harlow is opening in Harvard Square (40 Brattle Street, Cambridge), but I know nothing of the people running the bar program. I did read in a BostonMagazine post that while they will have a complete liquor license, the program will hone in on wine.

:: four boston bars to open soon ::

There is a lot of news and rumor brewing about 4 cocktail bars that are opening in the next few months in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. While some of this information is based on firsthand knowledge from the people involved, some of it is hearsay from Chowhound, Facebook, Twitter, or other. So take it with a grain of salt since I will abstain from fact checking and will confirm it all when I am drinking at their bars once they open.

Hawthorne, 500 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, Kenmore Square

With Eastern Standard's Jackson Cannon's recent bar program at Island Creek Oyster Bar still warm, he will be heading up a new bar located at the old Foundation Lounge space within the same Hotel Commonwealth building (long live the Rathskeller's liquor license!). With ICOB's focus being more about the food than the drink, the new Hawthorne has the opposite approach. Jackson has assembled what sounds like an all-star cast of characters to tend the bar including Scott Marshall (ex-Drink), Nicole Lebedevitch (ex-Eastern Standard), Ryan Lotz (ex-Lineage), Ryan McGrale (ex-FlatironNYC and No. 9 Park), and a bartender from Manhattan's Death & Co. Also, the general manager is purported to be Matthew Schrage who used to bartend at No. 9 Park before moving on to Menton.

Backbar, 9 Sanborn Court, Somerville, Union Square

When Journeyman restaurant opened around a year ago, they garnered a lot of press about the quality, creativeness, and presentation of their food. When we finally made it there for dinner, manager and co-owner Meg Grady-Troia spoke to us about how when they renewed their lease, the landlord forced them to take on the space behind the restaurant that previously housed offices with a separate entrance. Her idea was to open an adjoining bar to the restaurant that matched the same level of quality and presentation, and she picked our brains for possible bar managers. Meg's eventual score was Sam Treadway who left Drink to start and manage a hotel's bar program in Hawaii for a year. When we went to Journeyman the next time, Meg gave us a tour of the bar space mid-build out. The bar itself looked like it would seat 9 or 10 people, and the plan was to do bartender cart service at the tables along the wall. Food offerings at the bar would be less formal than the 3, 5, and 7 course dinners at the restaurant proper. I recently spoke with Sam, and he mentioned that Bryn Tattan of Drink and J.B. Bernstein of the Middlesex Lounge will be two of the four other bartenders at Backbar.

Hair of the Dog, 520 Columbus Avenue, Boston, South End

This bar located below Jae's is slated to open in mid-December under the direction of Ran Duan. I met Ran at Tales of the Cocktail this summer and got a sense of his cocktail taste when I toured some of the Barroom Brawl event with him. Ran has built up the bar program at Sichuan Garden II in Woburn from standard Chinese restaurant drinks to an impressive menu of classics cocktails as well as variations on old drinks like a beer-lightened Ramos Gin Fizz and new drinks like Beta Cocktails Gunshop Fizz. Given the Sichuan Garden's beer list, I am expecting decent hopsworthy offerings as well.

Brick & Mortar, 569 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Central Square.

Taking over the Enormous Room's space will be Patrick Sullivan's new project that I heard was called Brick & Mortar. Patrick is best known for founding the legendary B-Side Lounge before moving on to develop the cocktail program for the Legal Sea Food chain. The only gossip I garnered was that Evan Harrison may be tending bar there; Evan recently left Deep Ellum to seek work on the other side of the river, and Andrea and I had guessed that this would be one of his options. Previous to Deep Ellum, we grew to love Evan's work at the Independent. The other bit of gossip I needed to confirm (two sources now) was that Misty Kalkofen of Drink, Green Street, and B-Side fame, will be leading the bar program there! Misty and Patrick used to work together back at the B-Side, so once again they are re-united. Apparently, the menu will focus on vermouth-based and other stirred drinks with less focus on citrus. Definitely this bar will be a welcome addition to the area and will help to solidify Central Square as a cocktail destination along with Green Street, Craigie on Main, and Rendezvous.

(bar) violet hour, chicago il

Reprinted from my Yelp review. Oh, but extra points for the typo of "Cherry Herring" on the menu which made me giggly and confused my friend.

When I decided to drive out to Chicago on a bit of a whim, I was pretty excited: I'd heard of this place and was keen to visit. I even tried to drag my favorite drinking companion along, as he is currently in Rochester, NY (which is right on I-90, so it was on the way! -I- thought it was logical at least). Finally, this past Thursday night I made it out here with the friend I was visiting, and I was hoping to provide him with a kickass introduction to this wacky craft-cocktail world I inhabit.

We had to wait a little while, maybe 15 minutes. Totally expected, and our bouncer was very nice. I'd put in a request to be seated at the bar if possible but there was absolutely nothing available (nor for the couple of hours we were there) -- I like to interact with my bartenders and watch them work. Oh well. All the service-types were very nice, and our server was Krista who was very sweet and attentive.

The ambiance: certainly a place you would come to with a group or close companion because on its own, there isn't any ambiance. The seating creates little cloistered pockets, which is great if that is what you are looking for. The space itself feels kind of empty, and I was expecting it to be more fantastical in decor based on other reviews -- again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing and again, had we managed to be seated at the bar it would likely have been a different feel to the evening.

The foodstuffs: I had to try the curried Rice Krispie treats. My question: where was the curry? Does the Midwest have a thing against curry? I mean, they were yummy but I was expecting something with more of a jolt. We also had the breaded asparagus things and the waffle-cut fries and both were tasty and came out from the kitchen quickly.

The drinks: ah yes, the drinks. The point, yes? I was planning on having two over the evening. For my first I went with a rye drink from the menu, the Summer Sazerac. It was wonderfully balanced, and I felt really butch with my rocks glass full o' whiskey while looking around at the other patrons with their pink things. ;) On to my second and final drink of the evening...

Perhaps I am spoiled by my psychic 'tenders back home. There is a lot of communication lost when you're not interacting directly with the craftsperson creating your drink. Therefore I provided information that would be useful for a highly skilled bartender to go with in order to make me my second and final drink without having me sitting in front of him:

1. I announced my intention to have two drinks over the evening;
2. my first drink was a Sazerac (which is pretty much only rye whiskey with bitters and an absinthe or pastis rinse);
3. I wanted some sort of rye flip for my last drink. I have heard amazing things about the bar staff at this venue and I wanted to put myself in their hands to cap off my evening. I told Krista that I don't do citrus, and I do like bitters (I mentioned that I'm a Fernet drinker).

What I received: a tall glass full of what tasted like sweetened iced coffee with a slight boozy undertone, with ice and a straw. Oh, and it took forever. Granted, it was a flip and they take quite a bit of shaking to get right. But it wasn't, like, a Ramos Gin Fizz or something, and it shouldn't have taken over twenty minutes to arrive. It just... was entirely underwhelming and was nothing like what I enjoy drinking. Sure, I put myself into the bartender's hands but I gave what I thought was good information to indicate what sort of drink I'd enjoy. Krista was kind enough to take it off the bill at the end of the evening, but I still was disappointed to not have a second drink.

To sum, the entire experience did not live up to my expectations (which were admittedly high).