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When Ansel Vickery transformed the former Sweet Hereafter space on bustling Southeast Belmont Street into Bar Loon last spring, cocktails weren’t the first thing on his mind. Sure, he would offer a respectable selection of well-curated liquor-based bevvies, but Vickery viewed food and wine as the primary focus from day one. The bright, airy space resembling a casual but classy brasserie felt perfect for showcasing a respectable wine list that could contrast with the darker and moodier, cocktail-focused Mount Tabor sister bar Bellwether that Vickery helped establish in 2021.
Yet soon after opening Bar Loon’s doors last June, Vickery noticed thirsty patrons perusing the cocktails on menu’s back page—positioned there intentionally to give more prominence to the wine and food—and ordering drinks with quirky names like Cheval Blanc ($15), Big Time Sensuality ($15), and Kiss Them for Me ($15), and a selection of adorable “Littles,” mini versions of classic cocktails.
The people had clearly spoken; it was time to step up the mixology game. When veteran bartender Hanna Hogge took the reins as bar manager, Vickery saw an opportunity to lean into the cocktail menu and let her have some fun that would further distinguish Bar Loon’s offerings from the myriad of specialty cocktail bars soaking up Portland.
“I think Hanna is taking this menu in a more creative direction than I could ever take it,” Vickery says. “With Hanna here now, I think we are going to present as more of a cocktail joint.”
Hogge brought an invigorated sense of artistry to developing cocktails, which Vickery credits to her “cook’s palate” after previously working in that role at P.R.E.A.M. and Expatriate in addition to her several years bartending at Dig A Pony and 5 & Dime. This is perhaps best encapsulated in the newly launched tomato mint gimlet known as Eternal Life ($15). The near-perfect and wildly delicious riff on the classic combination of gin and citrus arrives, by design, just in time for Portland’s warm weather season when deliriously excited revelers make a mad dash to the nearest patio to sip on seasonally appropriate libations. Hogge says the recipe was inspired at the peak of last year’s tomato season.
“It’s so fresh and almost savory—there are definitely some spring/summer salad notes,” she says. “I tend to lean very much into seasonal presence with whatever I’m looking to create, and I think that was largely how I felt about this one.”
When most of us hear tomato and cocktail in the same sentence, our minds immediately go to the spicy best friend of brunch, the bloody mary. But a bloody mary this is not. Hogge achieves an element of savoriness by muddling cherry tomatoes and mint with orange bitters and salt before infusing the mixture into Fords Gin, one of her personal favorite gins.
Eternal Life gets a local spin with a smidge of Accompani Mari Gold, a vibrantly floral and rich amaro produced just down the street at Straightaway Cocktails, and coconut syrup made by Northeast Portland syrup savants The Commissary. The resulting concoction served in a tall Nick and Nora glass practically glows with pastel pink color. Taking a sip throws your taste buds in a tizzy as you are greeted with a strangely refreshing burst of citrus and mint that works in harmony with tomato and an herbaceous quality that brings to mind freshly picked basil. It’s a garden of flavors that feels totally different from any cocktail you’ve had yet vaguely familiar and ideally suited for sipping on Bar Loon’s boho garage patio still preserved from the Sweet Hereafter days. This is summer in a glass.
At Bar Loon, you can indulge in a menu of bites created by chefs Jimmy Askren and Will Boothe that includes albacore tonnato ($17), tuna niçoise ($26), and warm olive oil cake ($15). When pressed on what would make the ideal pairing to go with the tomato mint gimlet, it’s meat that comes to mind, and the bar has that too.
“This cocktail is sort of like a caprese salad in the loosest definition with tomato and herb. When I have a caprese, I want to have grilled meat alongside it,” says Vickery, referring to the bar’s lightly charred grilled New York strip with bordelaise butter ($29/$56). “Have a steak, have some broccoli, and have your savory spring tomato cocktail!”
Bar Loon may be proud of a wine list flush with champagne, Alpine red and pet nat, yet Eternal Life may be the clearest expression of what makes it stand out in Portland’s eating and drinking landscape. At a time when most of us have grudgingly resigned ourselves to the post-COVID reality of the $15 cocktail, it’s validating to spend our hard-earned dollars on something completely original. After all, there’s no shortage of spendy, mediocre old fashioneds and Negronis out there.
At Bar Loon, they are stirring up the kind of fun, risk-taking flavors that get you hungry for more and into sunshine celebration mode. For Hogge, that is exactly the point.
“I think what I’m typically going for as far as drinks as an experience are concerned is, let’s make something weird that works but it’s surprising and therefore a delight,” she says. “I want that experience to be intentional and thoughtful, always.”
SEE IT: Bar Loon, 3326 SE Belmont St., barloonpdx.com. 4–11 pm Monday–Friday, noon–11 pm Saturday–Sunday.