Michael Martensen and Brian Williams, owners of Dallas' The Cedars Social, plan to own a reservations-only cocktail bar this week, the Dallas Morning News' Leslie Brenner reports.
The bar, scheduled (as of Brenner's report) to open Thursday, Jan. 17, will be part of The Establishment, a 4,000-square-foot oyster bar that the duo plans to open in February ("plans" and "scheduled" are key words when it comes to restaurant/bar openings, which are often delayed).
“I like small, intimate places,” Mortensen tells Brenner, explaining why the large ... establishment will be divided into three spaces: the oyster bar; the 50-seat reservations-only bar; and a coffee shop. As for the bar, "“It’s strictly bartender service,” Martensen tells Brenner. “You will only talk to a bartender; there will not be a cocktail waitress to take your order. There’s no actual cocktail menu. The bartender’s job is to give the customer what they want.”
There will be other unique touches -- Brenner makes note of the vintage glassware and the gold bar spoons, but what caught our eye was the bit of about having ice flown in from Alaska. Some people (in this case former DFW.com staffer Christopher Kelly) might find that a little precious for their tastes.