Scoop: Wonder Bar - First Cafe, Part II?
Ya heard it here first…
Roger’s back.
Most cocktail lovers associate First Cafe, the former and my all-time favorite Beijing bar, with the popular bartenders, George and Echo. In fact, First Cafe began with Roger and Keiko, and the former has a strong bar background in Taipei.
While George and Echo went on to Q Bar and Keiko went on to Opener? (then Japan), I lost contact with Roger - until about 30 minutes ago in The Rickshaw. What a pleasant surprise to learn he’s taking over the so-far underwhelming Taniwha in Tongli Studios, where ex-First Cafe bartender Daniel has been toiling as a bartender.
The new spot will be called Wonder Bar and, says Roger, redesigned to be “a bar”, which means good seating, breaking up that all-too-open space with a circular bar in the middle to match the long bar inside the door, and playing good jazz. If they can cozy the spot up and get the First Cafe-level cocktails going, that’ll be a nice addition to the bar scene.
(Note: Roger expects to open the bar next week. I’ll have more details on the opening and the bar during the next few days.)
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