NEW WEEKLY PARTY AT THE WAREHOUSE TO BEGIN NEW YEAR’S DAY

Sounds pretty sweet! Sadly, my head feels like it was stepped on by an elephant so I won’t be able to make it tonight. I do look forward to future Thursdays. If anyone goes tonight be sure to let us know how it goes. From a press release:

With the future of the Warehouse Theater and Cafe still up in the air, owners Paul & Molly Ruppert were looking for ways to enliven the space in the new year. So Paul and his partners in the coming-soon-but-still-under-construction Columbia Heights wine bar Room 11, have created a weekly event to help chase away the winter blues.

Room 11 partners Dan Searing, Nick Pimintel, and Ben Gilligan have hatched a weekly party to take place on Thursday nights at the Warehouse, starting on New Year’s Day, called Punch Club. Anchoring a tightly curated beverage selection will be classic and original punches. “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to fill in a few times at the short lived speakeasy Hummingbird to Mars earlier this year and anyone who drank there knows they served some delicious punch” relates Room 11 Bar Manager Searing “It would have been hard not to be inspired.”

Punches have continued to inspire patrons at such cutting edge cocktail sources as Central Michel Richard and Bourbon Adams Morgan. “Punch is really a precursor to the modern cocktail” continues Searing “so the resurgence of interest in a style of drink over three centuries old is a natural extension of the mania for classic cocktail culture that’s sweeping the globe right now.”

Joining the punches on the menu will be a small rotating selection of classic and original cocktails, wine and beer. Searing promises a first taste of some of the house-made ingredients, cocktails, and wine that will make their way to Room 11’s menu. “We intend to have fun mixing up the drinks and the selections,” he says.

Room 11 chef Ben Gilligan will also offer a rotating menu including bar snacks, cheese, charcuterie and sandwiches. Guests attending the Punch Club debut on New Year’s Day can anticipate noshing on one of Gilligan’s favorite hangover cures, grilled cheese sandwiches, with their Bloody Marys, Black Velvets and Corpse Revivers. The event’s regular hours will be from 6 pm to midnight every Thursday but to accommodate recovering bon vivants the debut will begin at 4 pm.

Reanimated New Year’s Eve revelers can leave their bow ties and cocktail frocks at home, however. The hosts promise an atmosphere both convivial and casual. “This is a club in the gentleman’s tradition minus the exclusivity—a retreat in which to enjoy fine food and drink apart from the cares of the world.” says Searing. Speaking of those cares, value will be a focus of Punch Club as well, with no cover charge and drinks ranging from $5 to $8 and bar snacks starting at $1.

Punch Club

Thursdays, 6 pm – midnight

(except New Year’s Day starting at 4 pm)

The Warehouse Cafe

1017 7th St NW