GuitarMania®
GuitarMania® is a Greater Cleveland community public art project that has raised more than $2 million for its two benefiting charities – United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s education activities. The project consists of 10-ft-tall guitars creatively transformed into works of art by local artists and national celebrities. The inaugural GuitarMania took place in 2002, with three following acts in 2004, 2007 and 2012. You’ll find these guitars displayed on the city streets of Cleveland, in our airport and in locations throughout our community for residents and visitors to enjoy. Corporations, organizations and individuals sponsor the guitars and select from a variety of local artists to paint, sculpt or decorate them. Celebrity artists also painted and decorated guitars.Nicolette's guitar design was selected as one of the few to go on and be sold as a miniature collectable sculpture.
GuitarMania®
GuitarMania® is a Greater Cleveland community public art project that has raised more than $2 million for its two benefiting charities – United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s education activities. The project consists of 10-ft-tall guitars creatively transformed into works of art by local artists and national celebrities. The inaugural GuitarMania took place in 2002, with three following acts in 2004, 2007 and 2012. You’ll find these guitars displayed on the city streets of Cleveland, in our airport and in locations throughout our community for residents and visitors to enjoy. Corporations, organizations and individuals sponsor the guitars and select from a variety of local artists to paint, sculpt or decorate them. Celebrity artists also painted and decorated guitars.Nicolette's guitar design was selected as one of the few to go on and be sold as a miniature collectable sculpture.
CLEVELAND.COM
Tudor Arms Hotel
CLEVELAND.COM
Tudor Arms Hotel
PROPERTIES
Tudor Arms Hotel
WHAT
Morris American Bar Debuts Feb. 1 with $12 Cocktails and a Surprising Setting
The sister bar to The Sheppard is from industry veteran David Strauss.
JAN 24, 2018 2 PM
Photography: Laura Hayes
Bar man David Strauss was most recently attached his name to The Sheppard in Dupont Circle. The speakeasy is as dark and brooding as they come, so it's surprising that his first full-scale solo project is decorated in shades of light blue with flowery accents. Morris American Bar is set to debut Feb.1 at 1020 7th St. NW, near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, serving nothing more than a list of $12 cocktails.
"Cocktails and food just don't pair," Strauss says. "I don't believe they ever [were] intended to—it's really aperitif, intermezzo, and digestif ... Cocktails are my focus, my profession, my passion. I don't want to do a half-assed food program when there's something we do exceptionally well. One of the things that drives great cocktails bars is being near really great restaurants. We'll be the place you come before and after."
There are ten cocktails on the menu, as well as a bartender's choice option where patrons can tell their bartender what spirits and flavor profiles they enjoy. The drinks will change monthly and will feature seasonal ingredients and hand-cut ice. The "Forrest Hills" is on the opening menu and includes gin, apple brandy, lemon, pistachio orgeat, orange flower water, and egg white.
While on the surface it appears Strauss is keeping things simple, the longtime bartender who worked under the late Sasha Petraske at Philadelphia's Ranstead Room is obsessed with precision and speed.
"I teach my bartenders to build drinks in a specific order of operations built around getting all styles of drinks out the table at the same time, at the right temperature, and at the right dilution," Strauss says. "Everything has to arrive in five minutes because they do it the exact same way every time." Morris bartenders are well acquainted with Strauss's stop-watch and temperature reader.
Standing is not permitted at the 52-seat, split-level bar designed by SWATCHROOM. Guests must be seated either at the bar, in funky corner nooks, or on the mezzanine where there are ample green-leather booths that each have a power outlet where customers can charge their devices. A wood-burning fireplace is suspended from the ceiling but it doesn't work.
Strauss has also worked at Founding Farmers, barmini, Le Diplomate, and Petworth Citizen. He created Morris American Bar in partnership with Vinoda Basnayake, who is also behind Heist, The Sheppard, and Ivy Room.
Morris American Bar will be open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 6 p.m. to midnight; Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sundays from 6 p.m. to midnight. Reservations are not accepted and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.