Meltdown at Icehouse
A darkened door greeted me at Icehouse on Thursday night and further investigation revealed that this bar - the first to fly in blues bands from Chicago, a regular venue for Beijing Cheese Society events and home for Chopschticks comedy shows - has closed after a long struggle to push the high-end envelope in Wangfujing. Word has it that Icehouse will re-open elsewhere this fall as part of The Legation group of restaurants. Icehouse is an interesting story because of the involvement of Handel Lee (Three on the Bund in Shanghai, Courtyard in Beijing, The Legation) and other influential investors, because RBL (Restaurant, Bar and Lounge), of which it was a component, received positive coverage in the international press and because it exposed Beijing residents to Chicago blues (and with no cover charge!), among other things. I’ll have more on this soon…
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