Restaurateur Jesse Edmunds wasn’t out there for one more new enterprise. However then his spouse, Briana, persuaded him to take a look at a vacant constructing downtown. He reluctantly agreed as a result of, effectively, it wasn’t simply any constructing. Tallahassee’s first library, spared from demolition, was ready to be given a new life.
“I appeared up and noticed the ceiling and mentioned, ‘Rattling it!’ “ mentioned Edmunds — proprietor of Liberty Bar and Restaurant, El Cocinero and The Hawthorn Bistro & Bakery. “It hit me like a ton of bricks.”
He knew then that he needed to tackle this new undertaking: remodeling the historic David S. Walker Library, inbuilt 1903, and saved from the development of the Ballard Constructing proper subsequent door.
On Friday, Feb. 7, after months of labor by Edmunds and his staff, Seven Hills Hospitality Group, the previous library was reborn as Bar 1903. An area that when nurtured the minds of its patrons will now tempt their palates with enjoyable small plates and dozens of traditional cocktails in a beautiful setting.
About 50 prospects have been lined up on the door when the place opened at 4:30 p.m. Friday. However the place solely has room for 36. My husband and I and our mates tried to get in on Saturday evening nevertheless it was stuffed to capability and we didn’t need to wait.
I got here again on Tuesday to meet with Edmunds to get a higher look and listen to extra about his imaginative and prescient for Bar 1903. Whereas there are fashionable accents, the previous library has an intimate really feel. There’s actually just one most important room, which is elegant and understated, with a few nooks for extra privateness. It’s adorned in tender, impartial colours with plenty of woodwork and black furnishings. A portrait of David S. Walker hangs over the fireside.
A slender staircase by the bar leads to a second flooring, a skinny walkway flanked by wooden that encircles the primary room like a VIP balcony at an opera. Sadly it’s not workable for serving the general public. “Look how slender it’s,” mentioned Edmunds. And there’s just one staircase to rise up and down in case of fireplace. It positive provides allure to the room, although.
The problem right here, at the least throughout prime time — is getting a seat. Bar 1903 operates like this: If the room is stuffed to capability, the host will preserve your home and take your cell quantity to contact you when seating opens up (there’s no means to know whether or not that might be a brief time or hours later although waits have a tendency to be 30 to 40 minutes). When you’re contacted, you may have 15 minutes to come again and declare your seat.
There’s no place for standing or ready except you need to take a stroll. The Chain of Parks is throughout the road. About 400 to 500 patrons stopped by Bar 1903 over the weekend and “we seated 190 of them,” mentioned Edmunds. “Most had to go some place else” — at the least till area opened, in the event that they certainly needed to come again.
Bar 1903 is the newest downtown enterprise, becoming a member of the upscale eating places Il Lusso and Saveur, the retro lounge/restaurant Rootstock and Eve on Adams, the brand new rooftop cocktail lounge perched above the 16-floor DoubleTree by Hilton.
These locations didn’t exist two years in the past, however there’s room for all of them, mentioned Edmunds.
Some prospects who couldn’t get into Bar 1903 went to Jesse’s different venues, Liberty and El Cocinero, and a good many had dinner and/or drinks on the different downtown locations.
“All of us received,” mentioned Edmunds.
Bar 1903 isn’t competing with full-service tremendous eating menus. Edmunds options small plates — charcuterie boards, bites like deviled eggs and crab toast, sandwiches and desserts. The star right here is the drink menu, which presents Home Cocktails, just like the Demon Seal (with Bacoo 12-year rum, chai spiced maple syrup and smoked cinnamon), the Juniper Tree (with Fords Gin, Yellow Chartreuse and strawberry mud) and Heavy Metallic Queen (St. Augustine vodka, rose and vanilla syrup).
There’s a separate web page for Gin & Tonics that’s “tremendous cool,” mentioned Edmunds.”I used to be by no means a gin drinker earlier than I skilled this. It’s a complicated and exquisite spirit.”
Following the Home Cocktails, the drinks menu is split into time intervals, beginning with pre-1880, together with drinks which have now develop into customary: a Manhattan, an Outdated-Original, Sazerac.
“There wasn’t any Web then, however you possibly can see what traits have been like on the East Coast and the West Coast and what spirits have been standard,” Edmunds mentioned. “There was a lot of commonality.”
Different timelines are 1880-1919, 1919-1933, 1933-1950, 1950-1980, 1980-2000, 200-Now and beer and wine. Aside from Miller Excessive Life and Michelob Extremely, Bar 1903 carries beer from Florida breweries: Proof and Deep (Tallahassee), Oyster Metropolis Brewing (Apalachicola), Cigar Metropolis (Tampa) and three Daughters Brewing (St. Petersburg).
Apart from growing the bar and menu, Edmunds and his staff have been additionally concerned in doing a lot of the work.
“I can go searching and be proud,” he mentioned.
Edmunds constructed the bar with pink oak and chinkapin wooden he obtained from Quincy. He hand-milled the wooden, creating 650 slabs that he original into a herringbone sample used for the highest of the bar. It’s polished to a pure sheen utilizing Odie’s Oil, developed by James Tinghitella in Sopchoppy. He additionally constructed the again of the bar and the loos.
As for that beautiful excessive ceiling, it wanted to have mould mitigation work. “We employed a specialty window washer who hand-mopped it utilizing a 40-foot extension pole from the center of the room,” mentioned Edmunds. That ceiling, and its skylight, are beautiful.
“A constructing like that is uncommon and onerous to discover,” mentioned Edmunds. “The celebs have been aligned.”
Bar 1903 is 209 E. Park Ave.; 850-354-9739. It’s open from 4:30 p.m. to midnight Monday to Thursday and 4:30 to 2 a.m. Friday to Saturday.
Now that Bar 1903 is up and operating, Jesse might be turning to one other undertaking. El Cocinero might be transferring from Tennessee Avenue (throughout from Cypress) to 1303 Thomasville Rd., on the nook of Sixth Avenue, throughout from SōDOUGH Baking Co.
El Cocinero might be positioned within the stand-alone constructing with a wrap-around deck that’s adjoining to a constructing that’s being transformed. Regardless of the modifications, Edmunds mentioned the menu will proceed to give attention to tacos and tequilas.
With its format, “the present constructing doesn’t work for us,” mentioned Edmunds. “We’re sparing no expense,” on the brand new constructing, he mentioned, noting that the price will run a few hundred thousand except for the owner’s bills.
It’s anticipated to open in summer season 2020.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” mentioned Edmunds. “We’re fortunate and humbled to be a a part of it.”
