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By Stacy Shoemaker Rauen
Photography by Jason Sato
"We wanted it to look like it had been there forever," says 32-year-old owner Matt Eisler of his newest project, Empire Liquors, located in Chicago's hip Wicker Park neighborhood. "It's like a pair of jeans that break in well. [Local designer Kevin Heisner and I] left a lot of the space raw and chose materials and colors that look better over time."
Take the candelabra by the DJ booth. Now that the wax has burnt down a bit after being lit every night since the 2,000-square-foot space opened, it seems to fit in better. And they kept the space's original exposed brick walls and intentionally poured the 32-foot concrete bar top with imperfections. "It's a gothic, casual lounge with a modern feel," Heisner says. "But we didn’t want to overdo it." Minimal but effective textural solutions come in the form of a long banquette backed by black leather panels done in a brick pattern, dark paneled walls, herringbone-slate floor, crown moldings, and gothic-inspired arches (behind the color-changing illuminated bar, in a doorway, and lavatories).
"At the same time, we wanted to bring the outdoors in," Eisler says. White custom tree trunk barstools by Heisner, white cast resin antler racks, and chandeliers reminiscent of tree branches dangling in mirrored coves in the main room create "a clean, contemporary take on a rustic lodge," he says. And in the black-leather paneled backroom, which is wrapped with a banquette that seats roughly 20, hangs one of Eisler's favorite pieces: a floor sample sunburst chandelier that has a lone red crystal rose since one of the clear ones broke. Instead of ordering a new one, he went with the damaged fixture. "It worked with the outdoorsy, organic idea," he says.
This may be Eisler's third bar (he also owns Elm Street Liquors, which he calls a "sibling" in looks to Empire, and sports bar Victory Liquors) but he doesn't plan on stopping there: he and Heisner have two more bars in the works.
For more information on Empire Liquors, visit www.empireliquors.com.
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Aged to Imperfection
Feb 26, 2008By Stacy Shoemaker Rauen
Photography by Jason Sato
"We wanted it to look like it had been there forever," says 32-year-old owner Matt Eisler of his newest project, Empire Liquors, located in Chicago's hip Wicker Park neighborhood. "It's like a pair of jeans that break in well. [Local designer Kevin Heisner and I] left a lot of the space raw and chose materials and colors that look better over time." Take the candelabra by the DJ booth. Now that the wax has burnt down a bit after being lit every night since the 2,000-square-foot space opened, it seems to fit in better. And they kept the space's original exposed brick walls and intentionally poured the 32-foot concrete bar top with imperfections. "It's a gothic, casual lounge with a modern feel," Heisner says. "But we didn’t want to overdo it." Minimal but effective textural solutions come in the form of a long banquette backed by black leather panels done in a brick pattern, dark paneled walls, herringbone-slate floor, crown moldings, and gothic-inspired arches (behind the color-changing illuminated bar, in a doorway, and lavatories).
"At the same time, we wanted to bring the outdoors in," Eisler says. White custom tree trunk barstools by Heisner, white cast resin antler racks, and chandeliers reminiscent of tree branches dangling in mirrored coves in the main room create "a clean, contemporary take on a rustic lodge," he says. And in the black-leather paneled backroom, which is wrapped with a banquette that seats roughly 20, hangs one of Eisler's favorite pieces: a floor sample sunburst chandelier that has a lone red crystal rose since one of the clear ones broke. Instead of ordering a new one, he went with the damaged fixture. "It worked with the outdoorsy, organic idea," he says. This may be Eisler's third bar (he also owns Elm Street Liquors, which he calls a "sibling" in looks to Empire, and sports bar Victory Liquors) but he doesn't plan on stopping there: he and Heisner have two more bars in the works.For more information on Empire Liquors, visit www.empireliquors.com.
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