Not so long ago, home entertaining was the gold standard for an evening out—a drinking and dining experience where guests were made to feel simultaneously special and comfortable. It’s this old-school vibe that co-owners Seth and Jenni Bregman have tried to replicate at Bardo Lounge and Supper Club, where 60s-inspired furniture, cocktails and dishes reign once again.
Photograph: Courtesy Bardo
To achieve a home-dining feel, the husband-and-wife team scoured vintage furniture stores from the Bay Area to Washington for Bardo's mid-century modern decor, transforming the former Michel Bistro on Oakland’s Lakeshore Ave into an impassioned ode to the 1960s dinner party. Downstairs, the cocktail lounge is carved into intimate living room-style nooks fashioned with minimalist leather couches, pendant lamps, and sculptural wood credenzas, tables and shelving. Upstairs, the dining room has room for thirty at a central communal table nestled up close to the balcony overlooking the bar below.
For the menu, Michelin Bib Gourmand alums Anthony Salguero and Brian Starkey (formerly of Michel Bistro) have mined the country's best-loved 1960s-era cookbooks to create a menu of dinner party classics with a modern twist. In the downstairs lounge, small bites include porcupine meatballs made with pork and fried rice and deviled duck eggs with red wine jus and fried duck skins. Upstairs, there's a three-course menu for $59, featuring elevated party favorites like sea urchin fondue with marinated pepper and quail egg and green bean casserole with brown mustard and gruyere.
Photograph: Courtesy Bardo
At the swanky bar, dressed up with dark upholstered panels and comfy leather chairs, Jason Huffman (formerly of Rich Table and Roka Akor), head of Bardo’s beverage program, has creatively interpreted 1960s cocktail culture. Drinks like the Papa Bear, with hibiscus-washed tequila, Pimm’s, botanical infused gin, passion fruit and fresh lemon juice, and A Walk In the Orchard, made with double rye, cynar 70, apple cider, lime juice, white pepper thyme and maple syrup, are served in mismatched vintage glassware the owners have collected for years. Low ABV and non-alcoholic drinks like the Loving Sobriety (blackberry rosemary simple, fresh lime juice and rosemary scent) hold up beautifully to Bardo’s flavorful fare.
Bardo Lounge and Super Club opens October 10 for happy hour, dinner and late-night bites.
Photograph: Courtesy Bardo