In May, we reported that the Lightning Bar Collective (LBC) would choose its first partner, Lisa Victoria Hare, the bartender (Kask, Jackknife) behind the idea for Victoria, a 200-seat Humboldt neighborhood cocktail bar. As of yesterday, Hare and her team poured their very first drinks.
To quickly recap: the boys behind the Sweet Hereafter, The Bye and Bye, Dig A Pony, Jackknife and the upcoming Century, have formed the LBC, a cooperative consisting of ten-plus architects, lawyers, builders and bartenders bent on creating vibrant cocktail bars while providing a leg up for aspiring chefs and bartenders who have the skills but lack the cash flow to get their own thing going. The LBC evenly divides its shares between investors and the chosen kitchen or bar star.
If you've ever been inside any of LBC's businesses (you have), you've come to expect a masculine touch. But as you can see in the gallery, the Victoria space, while still sticking to the dark wood look, is much more vibrantly colored and lit than the usual LBC haunt.
"We were there to help her realize her vision of what a northeast cocktail bar could be," says the LBC's John Janulis.
And when it came to drinks, he says Hare's running the show. Expect signature cocktails like the Battle of Wits (Irish whiskey, dry vermouth, black pepper, lemon and peach syrup) and the Miracle Max (aged rum lime, ginger beer and jalapeño syrup).
LBC tapped Russell Van Der Genugten, the Collective's vegan-trained and carnivore-friendly executive chef, to steer the kitchen toward Southern coastal flavors. That means lowcountry boils (shrimp, kielbasa, corn and green beans) and vegan farmers market gumbos, with sides and starters like grits, grilled corn and boiled peanuts.
Victoria: 4835 N Albina Ave., Hours: 3 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and noon to 2:30 a.m., Saturdays and Sundays
