Extra Brut was the first establishment in the metro area to serve only champagne and sparkling wine. No other wine, hard liquor, or beer was offered.
After 18 months of weekends-only service, however, the concept proved untenable and closed February 15. A similar but broader-based idea, Bemiston Cocktail Club, is slated to open in the space in April and operate Wednesday through Saturday night.
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Extra Brut was an anomaly, albeit a pleasant one. Initially, there was no delineation and no signage, just a cursive EB on a wooden door along Bemiston Ave. just north of Louie’s Wine Dive. Food offerings were limited, as were the hours—open only after 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights (and by appointment or private booking during the week).
“There are wine bars everywhere, but not many places—even across the country—that focus exclusively on champagne,” owner Whitney VinZant explained at the time. That was the raison d’être for Extra Brut (named after the dry style of champagne), a charming, 55-seat rustic-walled room that utilized the vacant space adjacent to Louie’s, which VinZant also owns.
Extra Brut was a noble first-of-its-kind effort but by all admissions adventuresome. VinZant knew at the outset that the market for a narrow-focus bar in St. Louis would be small (hence the limited hours), and indeed it was. Jeremy Hogan, director of marketing for Louie’s Wine Dive, called it “a worthy gamble that unfortunately wasn’t able to make the best use of a great space.”
Bemiston Cocktail Club will cast a wider net while providing something that Hogan believes Clayton is lacking: a cozy, moderately priced, cocktail-based bar that also provides a place to gather later into the evening.
Base cocktails will be offered for $9–$10, and beers and wines will be priced $11 and under. And in a whimsical nod to working St. Louisans everywhere, a can of Old Milwaukee and a shot of house whiskey (hashtagged the #Bemmy) will be priced at $5 and be available all the time, according to beverage director Ryan Miller.
The existing kitchen equipment has been taken out, and a mirrored back bar with bronze trim is being built in its footprint. Extra Brut’s a propos-but-clunky wine barrels have been removed, making way for both indirect lighting and cozier seating. The exposed brick will remain, as will the green horseshoe booths and wood elements. The whitewashed areas will be darkened and a drink rail will be added—small changes that will result in “a warmer, less sterile space that’s more amenable to socializing,” says Miller, “one that looks and feels like a classic but modern cocktail lounge.” The emphasis will be on “comfort over contemporary.”
To keep beverage times quick, the bar will offer walk-up (rather than table-style) service. All of the prep that takes time will be done in advance, so bartenders can grab a couple of bottles and serve a cocktail in less than a minute, says Miller, who intends to offer quality drinks quickly and at approachable prices. In other words, crafted cocktails will be served at gin-and-tonic speed with no stigma, pretension, or high price points.
Expect to see a few cocktails on draft and maybe even a few in bottles, “depending on where the neighborhood takes us,” Miller says. Cocktails and bottled wines (including leftover inventory from Extra Brut) will rotate with the seasons.
A large blackboard will list cocktails, and a limited food menu consisting of bar-appropriate snack food (“tater tots, mini-chili dogs”) will be prepared in the adjoining Louie’s kitchen.
Guests ambling down the entry hall will be greeted with “modern music, soul, funk—whatever it takes to get the party going,” says Miller.
Bemiston Cocktail Club is slated to open in early April. Follow the progress on Instagram @BemistonCocktail.
