Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "speakeasy"

Say hello to 2012 at these New Year's Eve nightlife events

2011-12-29T22:06:32Z

Can you belive 2011 is practically over? New Year's Eve is this Saturday and if you're still searching for plans, we here at Sacramento365.com have gathered up some activities for you.

If you're looking for a great, family friendly New Year's Eve experience, complete with fireworks, be sure to head to Old Sac for the New Year's Eve Sky Spectacular.

But, for those of you who are looking for some adult celebrations--no kids allowed--here're a few options to greet 2012 (see even more in our Top 10 & Holiday Event Section). Sacramento nightlife is kickin'!

1. New Year's 2012 Bash with Mickey Avalon: Ace of Spades, 7pm
Hailing from Hollywood, Mickey Avalon is known to the world as one of the hottest underground American rappers and has become a fan-favorite.

2. New Year's Eve Gala: Chicago: Davis Musical Theatre Company, 8pm
Ring in the New Year with Broadway favorite: Chicago. The Tony Award winning performance of the “truth-is-stranger-than-fiction” play is opening for a special preview, accompanied by a catered buffet dinner, champagne, dessert, party favors, a live DJ, and more.

3. Townhouse New Year's Eve Party: TownHouse Lounge, 8pm-2am
On the 365th day of the year, The Townhouse presents a very special NYE party with some of your favorite DJs on both floors: Electro/House/Progressive with Mike Diamond & My Cousin Vinny & Indie/Pop/Dance with The X-GVNR (Pop Freq, Get Wet) & Jon Droll.

4. NYE at the Hyatt Regency: Hyatt Regency Sacramento, 8pm-2am
Start the evening with a cocktail in the acoustic lobby lounge listening to the sounds of Quinn Hedges and Ryan Hernandez, then enjoy a gourmet four course meal in Dawson’s, followed by the big event in Sacramento’s largest nightclub with DJ Rated R and the Cheeseballs.

5. New Year's Eve 2012: The Golden Bear, 8pm
What better way to welcome 2012 then spending your evening partying it up at The Golden Bear? There is no better way! Live and direct--DJ Crook on the 1s and 2s spinning all your favorite joints and jams. Cheers with a champagne toast at Midnight, plus take advantage of New Year's Eve drink specials all throughout the night.

6. NYE 2012 Celebration: MiX Downtown, 8:30pm
Celebrate the end of 2011 and the start of 2012 inside Sacramento's favorite rooftop nightclub and lounge, which is also celebrating its third year of amazing parties and fabulous events. Complimentary champagne at Midnight, party favors, and lush decorations get you in the mood for a hands in the air night of dancing and partying with friends.

7. New Year's Eve Bash with John Nemeth: Torch Club, 9pm
John Németh is a rising blues star; a singer steeped in the tradition and reminiscent of B.B. King, Ray Charles and Junior Parker, and a harmonica player of riveting intensity and virtuosity.

8. NYE Dance Party with DJ Larry Rodriguez: Fox & Goose, 9pm
DJ Larry Rodriguez's Dance Party celebrates its 15 year anniversary on New Year's Eve with round, warm sould & funk. DJ Larry Rodriguez is bringing some of Sacramento's favorite dance party kings Mike C. and Tim Matranga to round out the night.

9. Roaring '20s NYE: Crescent Club, 9pm
Take a trip back in time to America's glorious Prohibition Era as you celebrate the New Year with gangsters, glamour, and gambling. The evening’s entertainment includes a Speakeasy Casino, Ballroom Swing Dancing, Gypsy Jazz, Blues, & Cabaret, featuring live music by the notorious Crescent Katz.

10. D30 New Year's Eve with DJ Serafin: District 30, 9pm-3am
In addition to the innovative sound of DJ Serafin, enjoy a huge balloon drop, dazzling confetti rain, complimentary champagne toast at Midnight, delectable confections at Midnight, and complimentary party favors.

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Find more detail on these events along with many more at Sacramento365.com, the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Disclosure: Rachael Lankford is the Managing Calendar Editor for Sacramento365.com, the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Dive Bar, Pizza Rock owner hopes to build more elsewhere

2011-03-25T02:17:01Z

Dive Bar owner George Karpaty is expanding his business territory.

Two months after opening the mermaid bar and two other businesses on Sacramento's K Street Mall, Karpaty is in the final stages of negotiating a lease for a fourth concept in El Dorado Hills.

The San Francisco nightclub owner previously said the bars and gourmet pizza restaurant he opened in Sacramento early this year were pioneer concept s he would like to take elsewhere.

Karpaty is now talking with folks in Santa Monica, Hollywood, Las Vegas and Oakland about opening versions of the K Street businesses there, depending on space available. He and Pizza Rock partner Tony Gemignani are also working on plans to open Pizza Rock restaurants throughout the United States, Karpaty said this week.

"Pizza Rock is the one we're looking for a big roll-out and having a lot of them in the next 10 years all over the country," Karpaty said.

Pizza Rock, Dive Bar and the District 30 dance club, located in a renovated building at 1016 - 1022 K St., are all drawing more crowds and making more money than expected for this stage of the business plan, he said.

Current discussions involve opening Dive Bar and Pizza Rock in Las Vegas and opening just Pizza Rocks in the other three cities. Karpaty is looking into opening the entire trio in additional cities because they complement each other well, he said.

Dive Bar's giant aquarium, where "mermaids" and "mermen" can sometimes be spotted, is believed to be the biggest aquarium in a nightlife venue in the world – second only to tanks at professional aquarium museums. The tank at the next Dive Bar will be 40 percent bigger than the 7,500-gallon tank at 1016 K St., Karpaty said.

"We've never opened anything like Dive Bar" anywhere else, he said.

Karpaty already owned popular San Francisco establishments – Ruby Skye nightclub and a "speakeasy" called Slide – when he developed ideas for a vacant K Street building owned by Sacramento developer David Taylor and Los Angeles-based CIM Group.

Karpaty said it's too early to talk about the new concept he has in the works for El Dorado Hills Town Center 30 miles from Sacramento. But he's very close to signing a lease with The Mansour Co., which owns the retail and office complex.

The company's owner, Tony Mansour, said they're about 30 days away from finalizing a lease agreement for 6,000 square feet.

"We're almost there," Mansour said. "You never know until the ink gets dry and the money's in the bank."

Mansour, who lives in both Los Angeles and El Dorado Hills, experienced Karpaty's K Street businesses during their grand openings.

"I never do a deal with anybody unless I know what they serve and how they deal," he said. "We love the pizza and the mermaids."

The El Dorado Hills operation could open within six to nine months if all goes as planned, Karpaty said.

"It's up to him how fast he can open," Mansour added. "We'd love to have him open as soon as possible. We're excited to have him in the area because we think it will draw from the region."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

(Speak)Easy skankin

2010-11-23T03:25:12Z

“Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.” ~W.C. Fields

The 18th Amendment, which banned the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol in the United States, was ratified on Jan. 16, 1919.

As a result, drinking in the United States stopped almost completely. Drunk and disorderly behavior went the way of the dodo, crime rates sunk like a turd in a jug and America became an idyllic utopia full of stolid, sober, upright men and women who had finally been saved from that liquid Mephistopheles which had held them captive for so long.

"Is this Heaven?" people were known to ask one another. "No, it's just government-mandated Prohibition" someone would reply, knowingly.

Yeah, I’ve got jokes.

Of course, what really happened is the 18th Amendment created a hugely profitable and violent black market for alcohol where organized crime ran rampant while corrupt law enforcement agencies looked the other way, and otherwise law-abiding citizens were made into de facto criminals.

The drinking continued, unabated, it just went underground, and the speakeasy was born. Underground drinking clubs were everywhere. For every legitimate saloon that was forced to close, a half dozen clandestine establishments sprang up. By midway through "The Roaring Twenties," there were supposedly 100,000 speakeasies in New York City alone.

At any given time during Prohibition, Sacramento, one of the "wettest cities in the union" had 200-plus operating speakeasies. I know this, because last Saturday night I went on The Old Sacramento Speakeasy Tour, offered by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.

I arrived at the River City Saloon 20 minutes before the tour’s scheduled 6 p.m. start. It didn't take long to ascertain who would be guiding the tour. If Shawn Peter’s dapper, striped, not-quite-zoot-suited (But not-quite-not-zoot-suited) appearance wasn't enough to give him away as our fearless leader, the clunky off-white lunchbox (construction worker, not preschooler) sized portable speaker to which he was strapped was.

I introduced myself, and he encouraged me to grab a cocktail while we awaited the rest of the group. I decided on an Irish Coffee, ’cause there had been a sign outside that had said "Irish Coffee" on it, and, apparently, I'm a sheep.

It took me a few minutes to gain the bartender’s attention, so I passed the time by eating peanuts that I found at the bar, because that's what I do to peanuts that I see sitting on bars. Thankfully, the young lady to whom the peanuts belonged was very understanding when she returned to her seat to find a pile of shells in front of me and a half-empty basket in front of her.

By the by, peanuts and Irish Coffees are an awful mix. Just terrible.

At a little after 6 p.m., Shawn gathered us up in the back of the saloon, which, though less than 2 years old, is very reminiscent of how a typical 1920s Sacramento speakeasy would have been.

"Sacramento has always been a drinking town. . ." Shawn began, to assorted hoots and hollers from the gathered throng of about 20 or so men and women, just about all of whom were clutching a drink of some sort. "And it wanted nothing to do with Prohibition."

He went on to give us a brief history of Old Sac and the town’s hate/hate relationship with Prohibition and its total refusal to comply with the federal law.

There was a saying in Prohibition-era Sacramento that "if you couldn't find a drink, you were dumber than a halfwit."

After a fascinating and in-depth (Shawn and partner Mike Munson spent years researching 80-plus-year-old city and police records before beginning to offer tours) history lesson, we left River City and headed around the block to the Speakeasy Lounge, Shawn pointing out locations of interest along the way.

The Speakeasy Lounge is underneath Cafe New Orleans and was an operating speakeasy during Prohibition. It was attached to a series of tunnels that, at the time, went from the waterfront all the way to 12th and J.

Unfortunately, owing to a miscommunication, the bar downstairs was closed. If I had been working, I'd have eschewed the tumbleweeds and crickets in the upstairs dining room for a few minutes in order to fix some cocktails for our raucous group of amateur speakeasy enthusiasts downstairs, but that's just me. I guarantee we would have bought more alcohol in 20 minutes downstairs than they sold upstairs all night.

Did I mention that the Speakeasy Lounge was turned into a dance club in the ’70s, so it mixes a 1920s basement speakeasy setup with 1970s sensibilities (complete with a raised, lighted Plexiglas disco dance floor). When and if it ever opens, (Their "website" is a myspace page that says it's "in" hiatus. I'm not holding my breath) it immediately becomes my favorite bar in Sacramento.

Up next on the tour was the Delta King, which was a floating casino/speakeasy/liquor transport during Prohibition. They used to offer passenger fares to San Francisco. The 10-hour trips would rapidly degenerate into wild parties.

In the ’20s, the bar area would be hidden. Today it is in the Pilothouse, where we mingled with a bunch of hotel residents and visitors eagerly anticipating the Delta King Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre. After a couple of drinks on the Delta King (we had to make up for the aborted trip at the last place), we ventured back out into the dark and stormy night, headed for our final destination of the evening, (and our guide's favorite) the Back Door Lounge.

I'll admit it, this is where my recollection gets a tad fuzzy. I can tell you that it was an operating speakeasy in the ’20s, and it was also a Saltine Cracker Factory. Or maybe it was next to (under? in cahoots with?) a Saltine Cracker Factory. I can tell you that they serve a ridiculously strong cocktail at the Back Door Lounge, and apparently they do a mean breakfast as well.

I can also tell you that if you enjoy a little history with your cocktails, (or a lot of cocktails with your history), you will absolutely love The Old Sacramento Speakeasy Tour. I may do it again next month. I wanna see that dance floor fully operational.

Café Americain's July celebrations

2010-06-30T03:40:33Z

Café Americain is celebrating summer with three bashes next month.

The Old Sacramento restaurant is throwing parties for Bastille Day on July 10, the grand opening of Sacramento's first "speakeasy" on July 16 and a Summer Bohemian Ball on July 17.

Owners Mike and Natalya Wahba said they want to turn their champagne and caviar house at 1023 Front St. into the place for Sacramentans to revel in fine food, decadent drink and all things passionate.

"It's all about passion for life, for arts, for food, for entertainment," Mike Wahba said. "That's the standard we want to set."

Fire dancers, the Sacramento Opera, Corti Brothers' owner Darrell Corti and the owners of Sterling Caviar will join them to mark France's national holiday with "A Midsummer Night's Dream Celebrating Bastille Day" from 7-10 p.m. on Saturday, July 10.

The event will include three caviar/Russian vodka pairings with commentary by Corti, French absinthe, champagne and wine tasting with three local wineries yet to be chosen. A sturgeon feast will be laid out in the courtyard, where costumed opera singers and fire dancers will entertain the crowd at intervals throughout the night. Some of the proceeds will benefit the Sacramento Opera, Wahba said.

The Bastille Day bash will cost $100 in advance and $150 at the door — but the first 70 people who sign up for a VIP guest list and make reservations by Monday will get a half-price discount and pay only $50.

"It's a celebration of all the fine arts and culture you find in Sacramento," he said.

On Friday, July 16, Café Americain will unveil its underground, upscale speakeasy, the Crescent Club, with a grand opening where everyone must arrive in Prohibition-era garb ranging from Zoot suits and tuxes to Roaring '20s cocktail dresses and gowns.

Speakeasies were secret drinking holes that operated from 1920 to 1933, when the sale of alcohol was banned throughout the country. Bars with speakeasy themes are a trend in cities like New York and San Francisco, where Slide and Bourbon & Branch operate.

The historic Booth Building, where Café Americain makes its home on the first floor, was originally owned by Newton Booth. Wahba said Booth threw a lot of parties there on his way to becoming governor. The back-door entrance through the courtyard — officially 1150 Firehouse Alley — will be reworked to give the place the feel of an illicit bar from yesteryear.

"It was crying out to be a speakeasy," Wahba said. "Maybe it was. I would not be surprised one bit."

Café Americain is open Thursday - Sunday for dinner from 5-9 p.m. The courtyard is open from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. The Wahbas are talking with the city about extending the speakeasy's entertainment hours until 4 a.m. after the grand opening. However, the bar will stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m., in accordance with state liquor laws, he said.

Plush furnishings, Prohibition-style art and antique wool rugs will be added to an interior defined by exposed brick, a low ceiling, heavy Asian doors and some of the building's 150-year-old street-level walls — in contrast to the restaurant's high red ceilings, candy-colored chandeliers and gilded vintage bordello sensuality.

The kitchen will offer caviar, raw foods such as beet "ravioli" and squash alfredo, and the rest of its menu throughout the night. The space has long been used as a bar or nightclub.

The grand opening and a masked Bohemian Ball will be held from 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. on consecutive nights. Cost for each night will be $25 in advance for the first 100 reservations and $50 at the door. Both events will include cabaret, burlesque, fire dancers and live, late-night blues featuring old blues standards.

The parties are being thrown to offer a romantic, late-night hang out for sophisticated, experienced revelers, Wahba said.

"We want to get away from the nightclub scene," he said. "We want to have a really fashionable, upscale speakeasy. It's kind of hidden and you get the best of everything."

To get on the guest list, email guestlist@crescentclub.us. For more information, call 498-9098. Photo of Mike and Natalya Wahba provided by Café Americain. Other photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Bourbon & Branch to guest bartend tonight at Shady Lady

2009-06-16T20:00:38Z

Tonight, the Shady Lady Saloon will have two guest bartenders, Erick Castro and Owen Westfield of San Francisco's Bourbon & Branch.

Bourbon & Branch has a set of house rules that coincide with the simplicity and no-funny-business attitude of the Shady Lady:

No use of cell phones
No photography
No standing at the bar
Please speak easy (or quietly)
Don't even think of asking for a Cosmo
Please be patient as the drinks are labor-intensive

Bourbon & Branch used to be the location of the JJ Russell Cigar Shop which operated as a speakeasy from 1923-1935, complete with a password that needed to be uttered to gain admittance, a trap door that opened and led down to the bar and five secret exit tunnels for easy escape.

Erick Castro is one of the instructors for the Beverage Academy, a school of mixology that Bourbon & Branch offers to interested alcohol enthusiasts. The Beverage Academy teaches its students the history and intricacies of absinthe, Tiki cocktails, tequila, scotch and, of course, bourbon. Future classes will touch on gin and rum.

Castro and Westfield will be creating a slew of cocktails especially for Shady Lady patrons. Here's a list of the mouth-watering drinks available for tonight only:

Kentucky Buck
A thirst-quenching strawberry and ginger refreshment for those seeking refuge from the mundane and ordinary. Bulleit Bourbon infused with organic strawberries from Monterrey Bay Farms, fresh lemon juice, ginger beer, and Angostura Bitters.

The Laphroaig Project
A tropical and light cocktail featuring a peaty single-malt. Delightfully intellectual, yet wickedly visceral. Laphroaig Quarter Cask, Green & Yellow Chartreuse, Luxardo Maraschino, fresh lemon juice, and peach bitters.

Blame It On Rio
The Brazilians are well-known for many hedonistic traits and qualities and now with this drink, you can add one more indulgence to that list. Sagatiba Cachaca, Rothman & Winter’s Apricot Liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and bitters.

Casino Royale
Although, this drink is named after the famous novel written by Ian Fleming in 1953, the flavor is anything but fiction. Plymouth Gin, sloe gin, Luxardo Maraschino, fresh lemon juice, and orange bitters.

Rye Maple Fizz
Like the initial stages of an autumn courtship, this beverage is frothy and slightly spicy, yet balanced with just a touch of sweetness. Rye whiskey, fresh lemon juice, organic maple syrup, free-range egg white, Angostura Bitters, and soda.

Ambajador
Sexy, sinful and Latin. Allow this wayward cocktail to take you south of the border for a little passion-tinged journey to the heart of Jalisco. Keylime infused tequila, passionfruit, fresh lime juice, free-range egg white, agave nectar, and Indonesian cinnamon.

Wild Honey Punch
A punch that is both spiced and refreshing, yet sweet and complex, much like the kiss of an ex-lover … except without the early morning awkwardness and wayward feelings. Sagatiba Cachaca, Appleton 12-year Rum, Velvet Falernum, fresh lemon juice, organic wildflower honey, Indonesian cinnamon, seasonal fruit, and sparkling water.

The R Street redemption

2009-04-06T05:38:45Z

In the alphabet soup of bars and restaurants to choose from in Midtown, a lot more R's will be popping up. Or at least there will be a lot more to choose from on R Street.

Magpie Catering, which is owned by Ed Roehr and Janelle Inouye, had its grand opening last Thursday, April 2. Swing in for a sandwich or salad. The daily menu for Friday, April 3 (pictured above), featured Niman ham and camembert cheese on ciabatta, a Petaluma chicken salad sandwich on a baguette with roasted peppers and paprika, black rice and grilled asparagus – among many other choices.

Magpie is open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The time has finally come for the opening of The Shady Lady saloon. The speakeasy will open its doors to the public on Thursday, April 9.

According to Alex Origoni, one of the owners of The Shady Lady, one question comes up over and over again: "Aren't you worried, opening during a recession?" His stock response is, "We're opening a ’20's ’30's Depression-era jazz lounge, supper club, so we can swing with it."

The speakeasy will have live jazz performances, but no TVs, so come for the people, the conversation and the music, but not the latest sports game.

Burgers and Brew, which will give Sacramento another late-night destination, with its doors remaining open until the wee hours of the morning (possibly 4 a.m. Thursday through Saturday), is currently training its staff and preparing to open Saturday, April 11.

Derar Zawaydeh, one of the owners of Burgers and Brew, said he hopes to have the restaurant open by this weekend. "Approximate date April 11, maybe April 10," Zawaydeh said.

Top This, a yogurt shop, will be the cherry on top, but no date has been announced for its opening.

Click on the links in the article to see previous articles written about Magpie Catering, The Shady Lady and Burgers and Brew.

Pictured on the couch: Two of the three owners, Jason Boggs and Alex Origoni inside The Shady Lady. Garrett Van Vleck, also an owner, is not pictured.

Additional reporting done by David Watts Barton. Photos taken by David Watts Barton.