First Look: Ginger Rabbit – Columbus Underground
Jazz Lounge Ginger Rabbit will open its doors in the Short North on Tuesday, April 19.
The cocktail-focused bar and lounge, 17 Buttles Ave., comes courtesy of Chapman’s Eat Market’s Bronwyn Haines and Chef BJ Lieberman. Although he’s had his hands in seven to eight openings over his career, Lieberman says he’s probably never been more excited for an opening. He calls it one for him – the kind of bar that he’d want to go to. And the focus of that bar will be gin.
He and Beverage Director Seth Laufman share an affinity for the spirit that will be heavily featured on the menu.
“You can’t get away from the fact that we’re in a basement and that just immediately leads you to speakeasy vibes, and you know prohibition, gin was the thing,” Lieberman says.
The cocktail menu will be broken down into three sections. First are classics – cocktails with a long history and tradition that maybe not everyone has heard of. Then there are the originals. Lieberman says to expect some very tongue-in-cheek references with plenty of names harkening gin, jazz or rabbits, including the Ginger Rabbit itself – a mix of gin, sherry, ginger syrup, carrot juice and celery bitters. Finally there will be a build-your-own gin martini bar. They’ve collected gins from around the world – Japan, Denmark, London, etc. – to pair with a variety of sweet to dry vermouths. (If you’re looking for vodka, the only available will be from Watershed.)
Food falls into snack territory – marcona almonds, olives, caviar, cheese and conservas. There’s a heavily local influence on the menu, with cheese plates featuring Columbus’ own Black Radish Creamery and Cincinnati-based Prospect Jam Co. Hen of the Woods potato chips will be paired with three levels of caviar and crème fraîche.
Conservas, however, are not local. The tinned seafoods come from places far and wide – from Washington to Spain, Portugal and Denmark. Lieberman says narrowing the conservas down to a lineup of 10 was a difficult task, so they’ll keep rotating through and trying new varieties on the menu.
As for the jazz, Ginger Rabbit’s stage is booked through May, with live tunes in store every night they’re open. The stage will see a mix of solo artists, a pianist or a jazz guitarist during the week, with weekends geared toward duos, trios and quartets. When a band’s not on the stage, it’s all vinyl, with, of course, jazz and jazz-adjacent spins.
Ginger Rabbit will be open from 5 – 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday with live music from 6 – 9 p.m. Hours on Friday and Saturday are 5 – 11 p.m. with music from 7- 10 p.m. The lounge is walk-in only, no reservations. Once the joint fills up it’s on to the waitlist.
For more information, visit gingerrabbitjazz.com.
All photos by Susan Post unless otherwise noted
