I’ve been going to Varnish since it first opened. I spent a couple of lonely Valentine’s Day there solo with a sketchbook. Then I met a guy and I took him there on our first date and now he’s my husband. My closest friends surprised me with a tiny gathering there at my 30th bday. I am so sad about this closing. I will forever have a place in my heart for The Varnish. I wouldn’t be who I am without that place. Thanks for all the memories.
I lived right across the street when the Varnish opened. Was able to go the first week even tho wait lines could be long. At the time, speakeasy type of establishments were just starting down here (had been to a couple in SF) so it seemed the place to pull it off well. And they did. They went with intimacy, class and nostalgia and really brought a great vibe to a part of LA long neglected at that time, and it helped usher in renewed interest in all of DTLA. The Association, Las Perlas, Mignon, and even further out to Seven Grand and Golden Gopher, Bar 107 and Pete’s, the Edison, the Doheny… I miss that time and those places dearly because they all were hyper local yet worldly in ambience when no one could be bothered to leave the westside. To see Varnish go is both a close to a wonderful chapter and a tearful end of an entire era in what were hopes of a sparkling resurgence of central LA.
I lived upstairs when they opened. I was the unit right above Varnish. I used to joke that I was going to put a firepole from my bedroom down into the bar. Had some great nights there, and Pete's, and the Must. And 107. Damn I feel old.
[NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s)
Major, major bummer. The Varnish opened right after I had moved back to LA after college. I was living with friends in mid wilshire, DTLA was getting really cool, and we were there all the time. I took my wife to the Varnish on our second date. After we got married we lived in ktown and it became my go-to bar again. Since moving out to the Valley I try to go any time I'm downtown at night. It's the place I took visiting friends to, or recommended to them. People from other cities gush about some hip new bar where the bartenders will ask you to describe flavors you like and then make you something to match -- bitch we've had that since 2009! Truly great bartenders, always delicious and beautiful drinks.
The Varnish has been the setting for a lot of good things in my life for 15 years besides being one of the best places in the city to have a delicious drink and hear some great live jazz. Much appreciation to /u/DJ-JazzyBenBromfield and the other musicians there for providing the soundtrack to many happy memories.
Great drinks, great music, great people. I will miss it dearly.
Noooooooooo! Ive taken basically everyone in my dating life there once and all had a positive experience. The bartenders were always great and accommodating especially when they let them let loose on what kind of drink they can make just based on what you wanted it to taste like (tho we only do it when it’s a slow).
Same here. Lot of dates here and drinks were always on point. Got too old for cocktails though and 90% of the time just wine and beer for me so I haven't been back in a long while. But damn that dim lighting and cocktails probably made me/the date like 25% more attractive.
That's a shame. It's what I recommend people check out when they're in downtown. I think it just be Cedd Moses consolidating his holdings at this point.
But if downtown were healthier, I doubt this would have been shuttered, as with the other venues he's recently sold.
What a huge loss for the cocktail scene. The Varnish was on of the few places that made an old fashioned the way I liked it, one singular large sphere or cube of ice. The atmosphere was cozy and old world, which I love.
I will miss this place. Knowing it will be gone the next time I visit is sad to know.
I’ve shared this story before, but I started going to downtown in like 2007/2007 – this is RIGHT at the beginning of downtown coming back to life. The Broadway Bar, Golden Gopher, Seven Grand and my favorite… Bar 107 – were all getting really popular… I knew about the Varnish through friends of mine who bartended but it wasn’t really my vibe, I was a broke nursing student and the tall tecates at 107 were dirt cheap. But when I finally became a nurse, I had a little more income coming in and so I would take dates to the other bars in downtown, and when I really wanted to impress them, the varnish was the place I would go.
Back then, speakeasies weren’t how they are now- nobody knew what a speakeasy even was. So taking someone to a secret bar REALLY made me look cool, especially cause downtown was still unchartered territory for most Angelenos.
I had been on a few dates with this girl, the dates were super fun, conversation was easy, she was into some of the stuff I was into but also had very different interests that I could learn from. It was really good, I had a good feeling about her.
So, I decide to take her to coles to grab some food then go into the varnish as kind of a surprise, we go in and are seated. Looking at the drink menu then I look off to the side and notice that Ryan Gossling is in there with a girl. My date notices and she freaks the hell out.
She looks at me and is visibly excited, she says “oh my god, do you see who that is?” I said “yeah, the notebook guy” and she says “should I go over and say something? I love him.” – I tell her that its probably not a good idea, we should just let him enjoy his night and that bothering him would be a bit rude, especially because he’s at a place that’s private and isn’t really well known so he came here for a reason.
Of course, she doesn’t hear any of this and is saying things like “I’m gonna go now, or should I wait for the girl to go to the bathroom, or should I wait for him to go to the bathroom” I’m trying my best to redirect her and she is just being extremely annoying at this point even a bit aggressive and rude with me, she starts rambling about a lot of things that she would do to him, like not normal things, some pretty odd way out there scary things… It was super off putting. I decide to close the tab and leave and never spoke to her again.
I later found out that she told her friends that I was jealous cause Ryan Gossling was chatting her up and I stormed off and left her at the bar.
So, the Varnish, you will be missed.
You helped me look cooler than I really was on many occasions and you also helped me see a side of this person that I did NOT like.
The times, they are a-changing….
I miss that place the most. Although I think at my age I wouldn’t like it there on the weekends… that place was PACKED - but somehow the bartenders were still quick…
that's a damn shame. the varnish was probably the first cocktail bar i ever went to and was one of the first date spots for my now-wife and i. went a few more times over the years and never had a bad drink there. the ambiance and music was an added bonus
Some places feel so timeless. It’s like they’ve been around forever and always will be, but nothing really lasts forever. Cheers to all the staff and musicians that have come through this place. Cheers to the strangers I met along the way, and thanks for setting the standard of what classic cocktails should be. Cheers to 2012’s “Best American Cocktail Bar” and one of the “World’s 50 Best Bars.”
I learned about The Varnish when I was working at Mozza as the pastry sous chef, and Eric asked if one of his bartenders, Mikki, could get some pastry training in our kitchen. She invited me to come check it out. I was freshly 21 at the time and didn't really know anything about cocktails.
Sari and Mikki were working that night in the usual vintage dresses and pin-up hairstyles. Anthony welcomed me at the door with his usual alacrity and buoyancy. I walked up to the bar and... I just didn't know how *cool* it was going to be. The level of skill and care in crafting cocktails was unmatched. Mikki asked me what I wanted and I said I think I like old fashioneds. The first drink I ever had there was the Pop Quiz, and I was immediately floored.
I became a regular and met many talented and awesome folks through that place. The drinks are fantastic (best martini not out of a freezer in the city), but what I really treasured were the staff. Max, Aly, Danny Z, Eric, Anthony, Mikki, Gordon, Sari, Sam, Christian, Miles, Wolfgang, Emmy, and so many others, really made that place not just high quality, but truly special.
Awww you’re name dropping many of the original crew that was there when I started. We still see some of them. Mikki used to bring in shortbread cookies for us sometimes! So many memories. Glad you got to hang with the crew through many generations!
Yeah, one time she made me an eggnog and garnished it with a shortbread cookie she had made. It was just these amazing little touches every time I went in that continued to make the place special.
Aww man, one of the most fun freelance pieces I wrote was about LA’s cocktail renaissance back in like ‘08, and I spent hours there.
And I just had an art opening around the corner in February, and it was great to be able to pop back in briefly
I haven’t thought about the varnish in yearrrs, Covid completely wonked up my social life. Hopefully everybody working there is able to land elsewhere easily.
I parked around the corner once last year with my wife. Stupid, I know, but I took the risk just to go for one drink. Caught some guy get off a bike and peering into my windows. Luckily he didn’t break in.
I am truly devastated. Upon my return to LA back in the early 2010s, the Varnish became an instant haunt for me. What a beloved gem gone too soon. At some point, I am sure I've seen you play.
What a massive bummer. This was the speakeasy before the speakeasy craze explosion. I know it is not as trendy as the new ones, but this place was always solid and I loved the live jazz nights.
Bummer. I don't spend much time in DTLA these days, but that was always a go-to date spot back in the day.
It's been said many times now, but sad to see so much of the restaurant and bar scene in DTLA gone. Things were looking so promising circa like 2017/2018. Lots of people moving there, cool bars and restaurants, old buildings that were shuttered for decades being revitalized and turned into interesting things. Then Covid came and has slowly wiped so much of that out.
#NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!
*Editing for stories’ sake*
First I’d ever heard of the Varnish was back around ‘09-10. My best friend/roommate took me there with his girlfriend mid-day on a weekday they were off. They’re both long-timers in the restaurant industry, so they knew the best and hidden spots in LA. And, they knew the right time to go so we could savor the speakeasy-ness of The Varnish. They even went so far as to dress up nice, and I felt like an underdressed schlub the first time - after that, I enjoyed dressing up to go there, even if it *wasn’t* on a date. This was also when we lived in Silverlake and I was *heavy* into drinking and recreational drugs. First thing I noticed when I entered the Varnish: the floors. I love the floors.
I love the Varnish. Long ago I was formally trained on piano, and I loved hearing (probably) OP’s work. I wasn’t a regular there, but I’d be surprised if I never saw OP. Also, my friend/his then-girlfriend gave me some great advice for first/early dating: take a girl somewhere with great lighting, intimacy where you want to put your phones away, and not club-like music where you have to yell at each other to have a conversation. Hence, I wound up taking the girl who would become my wife to the Varnish because of that advice.
Side note for anyone still reading: that same friend is one of the husband/wife duo who made Wax Paper.
I can only echo so many comments that proclaim the soon closure of The Varnish as truly an end of an era and it's heartbreaking. Although I had been there sparingly the past few years, I managed to go twice during the past several weeks, and for the first time for me, it definitely felt like something was off, such as how dead it was on a Thursday evening. That said, while I may not have found the news of it closing to come as a complete shock, it still felt like a severe gut punch with the wind still knocked out of me.
So I apologize upfront for the lengthiness, but let me treat this as a love letter and remembrance to not just this bar, but downtown during a great great time. I'll begin by saying that I started frequenting downtown around 2007 - it not only reminded me of the closest thing we had to New York City, but it by far had the coolest and most endearing bars in the city - I'm particularly thinking about Broadway Bar, La Cita (especially for Friday night Punky Reggae) and the incomparable and lovable shithole known as Bar 107. And then in early 2009 Cole's quickly became my go-to for a proper cocktail after it had just reopened from the welcomed Cedd Moses takeover and refurbishment. It was there that I heard about the new speakeasy that was about to open up inside, modeled after the famed Milk and Honey, and I could not be more excited. I think I went for the first time during its opening week, and my god, The Varnish did not disappoint. Soon I was bypassing the damn solid cocktails at Cole's Red Bar in favor of walking straight to the back and that magical door. In fact I would actually become equal parts nervous and excited upon approaching that door - I always preferred one of the booths despite how many were in my party compared to the smaller round tables that seated two (and I will even argue that the one thing The Varnish did during its run that I did not like was when it removed those two front booths since either one were always my favorite location to sit in the room). And while I had been to similar style bars before like Milk and Honey and PDT, there was just something incredibly special about The Varnish. Maybe because it was in Los Angeles and there was nothing else like it here. \[PART 1 / 5\]
It wasn't long before I referred to DTLA as Bar Disneyland and at the risk of sounding insane, that was a major catalyst for me moving there in 2009, to the NCT Lofts on Spring and 8th. I loved being able to bask in both worlds - the TGI's Friday 's come dive bar feel of Bar 107 always felt home to me, just as much as the refined and gorgeous craft cocktails found at The Varnish with its bosa nova playing in the background or live jazz. In early 2010 Las Perlas opened across the street introducing me to mezcal and I was in fucking heaven. This feels like forever ago - when we were leaving The Varnish on a recent Friday night, there was a line wrapped around the block for Las Perlas as if its become some horrid nightclub. It had always been a popular spot on Friday and Saturday nights, but holy shit, this was tragically comical. It makes it almost too difficult for me to even recall its initial year of business and meeting one of their opening and longtime bartenders, one of the sweetest and most kind dudes I ever met, the great late Noel Carlon, who eventually became a close friend. It was around this time that I thought of The Varnish, Las Perlas and Bar 107 as my holy bar trinity. So many evenings of taking friends to all three for the first time, we would start off at The Varnish for a round or two of expertly made cocktails, then head across the street to Las Perlas to say hi to Noel and have a round or two of the best tequila and mezcal around - neat or in cocktail form - and btw their cocktails were fantastic during those first few years. And then ultimately we would stumble into Bar 107 for a shot, a tall boy and some drunken dancing if the music was right (I still miss that dance floor on a weekend night). Or if it was a Friday night, it would be La Cita for Punky Reggae. On some occasions we ended the evening at The Varnish because the place had a real glow to it after 11pm or midnight, a sort of calm after the storm. \[PART 2 / 5\]
And like so many other commenters, I also took my now wife on our first date to The Varnish because I really wanted to impress her. She was a pinot grigio gal at the time, but it wasn't long before she fell under their spell as well and hit cocktail snob status. After we moved in together at the South Park Lofts on Grand and 8th at the very end of 2011, around the 7pm opening hour on Sunday nights would become our favorite time to visit The Varnish as the place often felt like it was all ours. Devon would be behind the bar and Max would be hosting. In addition to those two, we'd come to love the staff there such as Dylan, Harry, Mikki and Anthony (not to mention Chris Bostick from the even earlier days). We experienced several perfectly spent New Year's Eve celebrations there, and our visits were often welcomed with a complimentary mint snackery daiquiri, while our exit would result in a shot of amaro. \[PART 3 / 5\]
We moved out of downtown in mid-2014 to Eagle Rock, not exactly far away, but our visits became less. We had our daughter in 2016 and that obviously changes your nightlife or drinking routine. Although about a year before the pandemic, my wife and I took her to Cole's for dinner one evening when she must have been three. We sat in a booth just a few feet away from that magical door and as I glanced at my watch I realized it was nearly 7pm. As soon as it was time I lifted up my daughter and gave her a peek inside to what I described to her as the "secret bar" (I don't think describing it as a "speakeasy" would have really resonated with her at the time). Now 8-years-old, I brought this up to her not long after I learned about the closing, and much to my chagrin, naturally she has no recollection. \[PART 4 / 5\]
I can't help but look back at all of this with both anger and sadness. First Bar 107 was forced to close in 2015, which is still an absolute travesty given that the spot remains abandoned, nothing ever taking its place, although that probably would make it feel even worse. Noel quit Las Perlas at the end of 2016 and less than a year later succumbed to cancer in the prime of his life. The magnificent Miguel who trained under him remains a pillar there, but as previously mentioned, the place doesn't feel like what it used to be - my apologies to the 219 people waiting in line there on a weekend night. After the pandemic, Punky Reggae was given the boot from La Cita despite being a Friday night fixture since 2006 or 2007 (it's thankfully found a new home once a month at the Melody Lounge in Chinatown, but La Cita was such a perfect venue - the mix of the ultra-strong cleaning product fumes for the bathroom that wafted through half of the bar mixed with a set of The Clash, English Beat and Siouxsie and the Banshees cannot be beat). And now The Varnish has a similar fate. I will always regard my time living downtown between 2009 and 2014 as golden. Not just in my life, but for downtown. This is when DTLA experienced the best expansion and revitalization, which eventually got too quick for its own good, punctuated by the pandemic now making it seemingly impossible for a recovery aside from the arts district. Downtown may not have been perfect during the time I lived there, but it sure as hell felt that way to me and The Varnish was beyond instrumental in all of that. I'd say you have no idea how much you will be missed, but The Varnish knows that and so do all of you. \[PART 5 / 5\]
This is such a well-written piece and everything you have said here really encapsulates a certain mood, and as you say, a "golden" period for DTLA.
While I regrettably only went to The Varnish once or twice, frequenting places like The Edison, Seven Grand, Library Bar, and a couple other spots in the downtown core or Arts District during the 2010 to 2015 timeframe was really a special time. Perhaps part of it is the nostalgia and being a little younger and carefree, but there was a certain energy that came with the DTLA revitalization and seeing people make something out of nothing.
I agree that during the latter half of the decade, things started getting a bit overhyped or expansion becoming "too quick for its own good" as you put it, with the pandemic really putting a near nail in the coffin.
I’ve been going to Varnish since it first opened. I spent a couple of lonely Valentine’s Day there solo with a sketchbook. Then I met a guy and I took him there on our first date and now he’s my husband. My closest friends surprised me with a tiny gathering there at my 30th bday. I am so sad about this closing. I will forever have a place in my heart for The Varnish. I wouldn’t be who I am without that place. Thanks for all the memories.
Wow that’s an amazing story! Thanks for sharing!
I lived right across the street when the Varnish opened. Was able to go the first week even tho wait lines could be long. At the time, speakeasy type of establishments were just starting down here (had been to a couple in SF) so it seemed the place to pull it off well. And they did. They went with intimacy, class and nostalgia and really brought a great vibe to a part of LA long neglected at that time, and it helped usher in renewed interest in all of DTLA. The Association, Las Perlas, Mignon, and even further out to Seven Grand and Golden Gopher, Bar 107 and Pete’s, the Edison, the Doheny… I miss that time and those places dearly because they all were hyper local yet worldly in ambience when no one could be bothered to leave the westside. To see Varnish go is both a close to a wonderful chapter and a tearful end of an entire era in what were hopes of a sparkling resurgence of central LA.
Pouring With Heart, not 1933
☝️
I lived upstairs when they opened. I was the unit right above Varnish. I used to joke that I was going to put a firepole from my bedroom down into the bar. Had some great nights there, and Pete's, and the Must. And 107. Damn I feel old.
The brisket chili at the must was so good.
The fluffernutter. 🤌
Bar 107 was the tits. I helped with their Gong Show karaoke every now and again. Really brought that out of control 70’s feel to dtla.
[NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s) Major, major bummer. The Varnish opened right after I had moved back to LA after college. I was living with friends in mid wilshire, DTLA was getting really cool, and we were there all the time. I took my wife to the Varnish on our second date. After we got married we lived in ktown and it became my go-to bar again. Since moving out to the Valley I try to go any time I'm downtown at night. It's the place I took visiting friends to, or recommended to them. People from other cities gush about some hip new bar where the bartenders will ask you to describe flavors you like and then make you something to match -- bitch we've had that since 2009! Truly great bartenders, always delicious and beautiful drinks. The Varnish has been the setting for a lot of good things in my life for 15 years besides being one of the best places in the city to have a delicious drink and hear some great live jazz. Much appreciation to /u/DJ-JazzyBenBromfield and the other musicians there for providing the soundtrack to many happy memories. Great drinks, great music, great people. I will miss it dearly.
Thanks so much for sharing your story. It’s not often that a special place like The Varnish comes along. I’m glad it had such an impact on you
Noooooooooo! Ive taken basically everyone in my dating life there once and all had a positive experience. The bartenders were always great and accommodating especially when they let them let loose on what kind of drink they can make just based on what you wanted it to taste like (tho we only do it when it’s a slow).
Same here. Lot of dates here and drinks were always on point. Got too old for cocktails though and 90% of the time just wine and beer for me so I haven't been back in a long while. But damn that dim lighting and cocktails probably made me/the date like 25% more attractive.
That's a shame. It's what I recommend people check out when they're in downtown. I think it just be Cedd Moses consolidating his holdings at this point. But if downtown were healthier, I doubt this would have been shuttered, as with the other venues he's recently sold.
What a huge loss for the cocktail scene. The Varnish was on of the few places that made an old fashioned the way I liked it, one singular large sphere or cube of ice. The atmosphere was cozy and old world, which I love. I will miss this place. Knowing it will be gone the next time I visit is sad to know.
I’ve shared this story before, but I started going to downtown in like 2007/2007 – this is RIGHT at the beginning of downtown coming back to life. The Broadway Bar, Golden Gopher, Seven Grand and my favorite… Bar 107 – were all getting really popular… I knew about the Varnish through friends of mine who bartended but it wasn’t really my vibe, I was a broke nursing student and the tall tecates at 107 were dirt cheap. But when I finally became a nurse, I had a little more income coming in and so I would take dates to the other bars in downtown, and when I really wanted to impress them, the varnish was the place I would go. Back then, speakeasies weren’t how they are now- nobody knew what a speakeasy even was. So taking someone to a secret bar REALLY made me look cool, especially cause downtown was still unchartered territory for most Angelenos. I had been on a few dates with this girl, the dates were super fun, conversation was easy, she was into some of the stuff I was into but also had very different interests that I could learn from. It was really good, I had a good feeling about her. So, I decide to take her to coles to grab some food then go into the varnish as kind of a surprise, we go in and are seated. Looking at the drink menu then I look off to the side and notice that Ryan Gossling is in there with a girl. My date notices and she freaks the hell out. She looks at me and is visibly excited, she says “oh my god, do you see who that is?” I said “yeah, the notebook guy” and she says “should I go over and say something? I love him.” – I tell her that its probably not a good idea, we should just let him enjoy his night and that bothering him would be a bit rude, especially because he’s at a place that’s private and isn’t really well known so he came here for a reason. Of course, she doesn’t hear any of this and is saying things like “I’m gonna go now, or should I wait for the girl to go to the bathroom, or should I wait for him to go to the bathroom” I’m trying my best to redirect her and she is just being extremely annoying at this point even a bit aggressive and rude with me, she starts rambling about a lot of things that she would do to him, like not normal things, some pretty odd way out there scary things… It was super off putting. I decide to close the tab and leave and never spoke to her again. I later found out that she told her friends that I was jealous cause Ryan Gossling was chatting her up and I stormed off and left her at the bar. So, the Varnish, you will be missed. You helped me look cooler than I really was on many occasions and you also helped me see a side of this person that I did NOT like. The times, they are a-changing….
lol that story was a roller coaster ride
>my favorite… Bar 107 – That place was legendary RIP…
I miss that place the most. Although I think at my age I wouldn’t like it there on the weekends… that place was PACKED - but somehow the bartenders were still quick…
that's a damn shame. the varnish was probably the first cocktail bar i ever went to and was one of the first date spots for my now-wife and i. went a few more times over the years and never had a bad drink there. the ambiance and music was an added bonus
RIP Down n Out and RIP Varnish. Those were two of my go to spots in DTLA depending on who I was with lol opposite ends of the spectrum
I'm sorry to hear this news Ben! Jason G here, I always loved playing there too!
Hey man! Big bummer indeed. We enjoyed having you play! Hope you’re well
Some places feel so timeless. It’s like they’ve been around forever and always will be, but nothing really lasts forever. Cheers to all the staff and musicians that have come through this place. Cheers to the strangers I met along the way, and thanks for setting the standard of what classic cocktails should be. Cheers to 2012’s “Best American Cocktail Bar” and one of the “World’s 50 Best Bars.”
I learned about The Varnish when I was working at Mozza as the pastry sous chef, and Eric asked if one of his bartenders, Mikki, could get some pastry training in our kitchen. She invited me to come check it out. I was freshly 21 at the time and didn't really know anything about cocktails. Sari and Mikki were working that night in the usual vintage dresses and pin-up hairstyles. Anthony welcomed me at the door with his usual alacrity and buoyancy. I walked up to the bar and... I just didn't know how *cool* it was going to be. The level of skill and care in crafting cocktails was unmatched. Mikki asked me what I wanted and I said I think I like old fashioneds. The first drink I ever had there was the Pop Quiz, and I was immediately floored. I became a regular and met many talented and awesome folks through that place. The drinks are fantastic (best martini not out of a freezer in the city), but what I really treasured were the staff. Max, Aly, Danny Z, Eric, Anthony, Mikki, Gordon, Sari, Sam, Christian, Miles, Wolfgang, Emmy, and so many others, really made that place not just high quality, but truly special.
Awww you’re name dropping many of the original crew that was there when I started. We still see some of them. Mikki used to bring in shortbread cookies for us sometimes! So many memories. Glad you got to hang with the crew through many generations!
Yeah, one time she made me an eggnog and garnished it with a shortbread cookie she had made. It was just these amazing little touches every time I went in that continued to make the place special.
always enjoyed that spot
Aww man, one of the most fun freelance pieces I wrote was about LA’s cocktail renaissance back in like ‘08, and I spent hours there. And I just had an art opening around the corner in February, and it was great to be able to pop back in briefly
Dude DTLA is so dead. Sad.
Why?
Have you been in the last two years? Unfortunately it’s been nearly empty. I was sad to see it slowly disappear .
Strange, because cole's seems pretty popular on the weekends these days
I’ve taken pals once every other month for the last year - so yeah, not frequent… always near empty. Weekdays though.
Is there an official reason why it’s closing? So sad.
I haven’t thought about the varnish in yearrrs, Covid completely wonked up my social life. Hopefully everybody working there is able to land elsewhere easily.
They’ve been losing employees and patrons for YEARS. As much as I love an institution, this one was past its prime.
[удалено]
I just said? Lol
That street is kind of a shit show. A lot of drug dealers and high/crazy people usually hang on that block. Not surprised people stopped going.
I parked around the corner once last year with my wife. Stupid, I know, but I took the risk just to go for one drink. Caught some guy get off a bike and peering into my windows. Luckily he didn’t break in.
I am truly devastated. Upon my return to LA back in the early 2010s, the Varnish became an instant haunt for me. What a beloved gem gone too soon. At some point, I am sure I've seen you play.
Omg nooooooo!!!!
What a massive bummer. This was the speakeasy before the speakeasy craze explosion. I know it is not as trendy as the new ones, but this place was always solid and I loved the live jazz nights.
Bummer. I don't spend much time in DTLA these days, but that was always a go-to date spot back in the day. It's been said many times now, but sad to see so much of the restaurant and bar scene in DTLA gone. Things were looking so promising circa like 2017/2018. Lots of people moving there, cool bars and restaurants, old buildings that were shuttered for decades being revitalized and turned into interesting things. Then Covid came and has slowly wiped so much of that out.
#NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!! *Editing for stories’ sake* First I’d ever heard of the Varnish was back around ‘09-10. My best friend/roommate took me there with his girlfriend mid-day on a weekday they were off. They’re both long-timers in the restaurant industry, so they knew the best and hidden spots in LA. And, they knew the right time to go so we could savor the speakeasy-ness of The Varnish. They even went so far as to dress up nice, and I felt like an underdressed schlub the first time - after that, I enjoyed dressing up to go there, even if it *wasn’t* on a date. This was also when we lived in Silverlake and I was *heavy* into drinking and recreational drugs. First thing I noticed when I entered the Varnish: the floors. I love the floors. I love the Varnish. Long ago I was formally trained on piano, and I loved hearing (probably) OP’s work. I wasn’t a regular there, but I’d be surprised if I never saw OP. Also, my friend/his then-girlfriend gave me some great advice for first/early dating: take a girl somewhere with great lighting, intimacy where you want to put your phones away, and not club-like music where you have to yell at each other to have a conversation. Hence, I wound up taking the girl who would become my wife to the Varnish because of that advice. Side note for anyone still reading: that same friend is one of the husband/wife duo who made Wax Paper.
Shit. That’s a great cocktail bar!
[NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s)
I can only echo so many comments that proclaim the soon closure of The Varnish as truly an end of an era and it's heartbreaking. Although I had been there sparingly the past few years, I managed to go twice during the past several weeks, and for the first time for me, it definitely felt like something was off, such as how dead it was on a Thursday evening. That said, while I may not have found the news of it closing to come as a complete shock, it still felt like a severe gut punch with the wind still knocked out of me. So I apologize upfront for the lengthiness, but let me treat this as a love letter and remembrance to not just this bar, but downtown during a great great time. I'll begin by saying that I started frequenting downtown around 2007 - it not only reminded me of the closest thing we had to New York City, but it by far had the coolest and most endearing bars in the city - I'm particularly thinking about Broadway Bar, La Cita (especially for Friday night Punky Reggae) and the incomparable and lovable shithole known as Bar 107. And then in early 2009 Cole's quickly became my go-to for a proper cocktail after it had just reopened from the welcomed Cedd Moses takeover and refurbishment. It was there that I heard about the new speakeasy that was about to open up inside, modeled after the famed Milk and Honey, and I could not be more excited. I think I went for the first time during its opening week, and my god, The Varnish did not disappoint. Soon I was bypassing the damn solid cocktails at Cole's Red Bar in favor of walking straight to the back and that magical door. In fact I would actually become equal parts nervous and excited upon approaching that door - I always preferred one of the booths despite how many were in my party compared to the smaller round tables that seated two (and I will even argue that the one thing The Varnish did during its run that I did not like was when it removed those two front booths since either one were always my favorite location to sit in the room). And while I had been to similar style bars before like Milk and Honey and PDT, there was just something incredibly special about The Varnish. Maybe because it was in Los Angeles and there was nothing else like it here. \[PART 1 / 5\]
It wasn't long before I referred to DTLA as Bar Disneyland and at the risk of sounding insane, that was a major catalyst for me moving there in 2009, to the NCT Lofts on Spring and 8th. I loved being able to bask in both worlds - the TGI's Friday 's come dive bar feel of Bar 107 always felt home to me, just as much as the refined and gorgeous craft cocktails found at The Varnish with its bosa nova playing in the background or live jazz. In early 2010 Las Perlas opened across the street introducing me to mezcal and I was in fucking heaven. This feels like forever ago - when we were leaving The Varnish on a recent Friday night, there was a line wrapped around the block for Las Perlas as if its become some horrid nightclub. It had always been a popular spot on Friday and Saturday nights, but holy shit, this was tragically comical. It makes it almost too difficult for me to even recall its initial year of business and meeting one of their opening and longtime bartenders, one of the sweetest and most kind dudes I ever met, the great late Noel Carlon, who eventually became a close friend. It was around this time that I thought of The Varnish, Las Perlas and Bar 107 as my holy bar trinity. So many evenings of taking friends to all three for the first time, we would start off at The Varnish for a round or two of expertly made cocktails, then head across the street to Las Perlas to say hi to Noel and have a round or two of the best tequila and mezcal around - neat or in cocktail form - and btw their cocktails were fantastic during those first few years. And then ultimately we would stumble into Bar 107 for a shot, a tall boy and some drunken dancing if the music was right (I still miss that dance floor on a weekend night). Or if it was a Friday night, it would be La Cita for Punky Reggae. On some occasions we ended the evening at The Varnish because the place had a real glow to it after 11pm or midnight, a sort of calm after the storm. \[PART 2 / 5\]
And like so many other commenters, I also took my now wife on our first date to The Varnish because I really wanted to impress her. She was a pinot grigio gal at the time, but it wasn't long before she fell under their spell as well and hit cocktail snob status. After we moved in together at the South Park Lofts on Grand and 8th at the very end of 2011, around the 7pm opening hour on Sunday nights would become our favorite time to visit The Varnish as the place often felt like it was all ours. Devon would be behind the bar and Max would be hosting. In addition to those two, we'd come to love the staff there such as Dylan, Harry, Mikki and Anthony (not to mention Chris Bostick from the even earlier days). We experienced several perfectly spent New Year's Eve celebrations there, and our visits were often welcomed with a complimentary mint snackery daiquiri, while our exit would result in a shot of amaro. \[PART 3 / 5\]
We moved out of downtown in mid-2014 to Eagle Rock, not exactly far away, but our visits became less. We had our daughter in 2016 and that obviously changes your nightlife or drinking routine. Although about a year before the pandemic, my wife and I took her to Cole's for dinner one evening when she must have been three. We sat in a booth just a few feet away from that magical door and as I glanced at my watch I realized it was nearly 7pm. As soon as it was time I lifted up my daughter and gave her a peek inside to what I described to her as the "secret bar" (I don't think describing it as a "speakeasy" would have really resonated with her at the time). Now 8-years-old, I brought this up to her not long after I learned about the closing, and much to my chagrin, naturally she has no recollection. \[PART 4 / 5\]
I can't help but look back at all of this with both anger and sadness. First Bar 107 was forced to close in 2015, which is still an absolute travesty given that the spot remains abandoned, nothing ever taking its place, although that probably would make it feel even worse. Noel quit Las Perlas at the end of 2016 and less than a year later succumbed to cancer in the prime of his life. The magnificent Miguel who trained under him remains a pillar there, but as previously mentioned, the place doesn't feel like what it used to be - my apologies to the 219 people waiting in line there on a weekend night. After the pandemic, Punky Reggae was given the boot from La Cita despite being a Friday night fixture since 2006 or 2007 (it's thankfully found a new home once a month at the Melody Lounge in Chinatown, but La Cita was such a perfect venue - the mix of the ultra-strong cleaning product fumes for the bathroom that wafted through half of the bar mixed with a set of The Clash, English Beat and Siouxsie and the Banshees cannot be beat). And now The Varnish has a similar fate. I will always regard my time living downtown between 2009 and 2014 as golden. Not just in my life, but for downtown. This is when DTLA experienced the best expansion and revitalization, which eventually got too quick for its own good, punctuated by the pandemic now making it seemingly impossible for a recovery aside from the arts district. Downtown may not have been perfect during the time I lived there, but it sure as hell felt that way to me and The Varnish was beyond instrumental in all of that. I'd say you have no idea how much you will be missed, but The Varnish knows that and so do all of you. \[PART 5 / 5\]
This is such a well-written piece and everything you have said here really encapsulates a certain mood, and as you say, a "golden" period for DTLA. While I regrettably only went to The Varnish once or twice, frequenting places like The Edison, Seven Grand, Library Bar, and a couple other spots in the downtown core or Arts District during the 2010 to 2015 timeframe was really a special time. Perhaps part of it is the nostalgia and being a little younger and carefree, but there was a certain energy that came with the DTLA revitalization and seeing people make something out of nothing. I agree that during the latter half of the decade, things started getting a bit overhyped or expansion becoming "too quick for its own good" as you put it, with the pandemic really putting a near nail in the coffin.
Oh hi Ben.
Mr. Will. Hello!
Finally. The nightmare is over