Providencia, an ambitious cocktail bar with just 15 seats, is opening in an H Street alleyway on Wednesday backed with some big talent from Maketto .
Why it matters: The sipping nook bills itself as a "neighborhood cocktail bar," but the offerings — Salvadoran rums, chicharrones with caviar — promise much more.
Dig in: Providencia is a personal project from Maketto chef/owner Erik Bruner-Yang and two of his longtime bartenders, Daniel Gonzalez and Pedro Tobar.
- The Asian-Latin menu speaks to Bruner-Yang's Taiwanese and Cambodian heritage and the barmen's homeland in El Salvador.
What they're saying: "Thematically the bar is about how people's life journeys come together," Bruner-Yang tells Axios. "We're all three immigrants who landed on H Street and worked together over a decade. That's the heart and soul of the bar."
- The curated menu of cocktails and snacks is "a callback to memories" from each of the partners' childhoods and experiences.
Cocktails with a story. Photo: courtesy Vina Sananikone
In your glass: Cocktails that tell a story. An Earl Grey tea-infused gin drink with pilsner nods to Tobar's family hanging out in their pupusería. The house margarita — tequila or mezcal, yuzu, worm salt espuma — brings together Latin and Asian flavors.
- Many of the cocktails can be made non-alcoholic.
On your plate: Snacks and sweets. Think daily tamal specials, eggplant pupusas, or matcha minutas (shaved ice) with strawberries and coconut syrup.
Between the lines: The walk-in-only place is the kind you might drop in before or after dinner. There's a tiny lounge above for less than a dozen drinkers.
If you go: Providencia . Open Tues-Sat, 5pm-midnight (last seating).
Peek at the opening menu:
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