It looks like Mark Peel and Jay Perrin’s throwback cocktail bar The Tar Pit is soon to start muddling in Hollywood, with an opening planned for late November. Los Angeles has photos of the space and lets us know that bar duties are being put in very good hands. Audrey Saunders, “the godmother of the New York cocktail scene” and founder of Manhattan’s Pegu Club, is in charge of drink detail, collaborating with Tar Pit’s partners on cocktail recipes and groovy-if-not-anachronistic sixties-style drink ware (Tar Pit recalls a forties-era supper club).
Even if Saunders feels L.A.’s recent embrace of cocktail culture means “there shouldn’t be any more paying homage to the bartender,” we can’t help but get excited at the news of who will run the bar itself. Daily Dish reports that Marcos Tello, the passionate cocktail historian who has made a reputation as one of the city’s best drink craftsmen at The Edison and Varnish, is coming to Tar Pit as head bartender. We expected Peel to come correct on his first nightlife venture and with Tello behind the bar, think he’s off to a great start.
Inside: The Tar Pit with Mark Peel [Los Angeles]
Audrey Saunders on the Tar Pit [L.A. Times/Daily Dish]
Earlier: Mark Peel Has Plans for The Point and The Tar Pit
