Los Angeles cocktail bar The Varnish closes after 15 years

The Los Angeles cocktail scene was rocked recently when Eric Alperin, co-owner and co-founder of The Varnish, announced the imminent closure of his revolutionary speakeasy.

Launched in 2009 by Alperin, Cedd Moses, and the late Sasha Petraske, The Varnish was an extension of Petraske’s vision for his groundbreaking New York City bar, Milk & Honey. It didn’t take long for Los Angeles to embrace the bar’s vision, and it has become a mainstay of the city’s drinking culture.

Tucked away in a former warehouse behind one of Los Angeles’ oldest restaurants, Cole’s French Dip, The Varnish has focused on classic cocktails with intention, purpose and impeccable technique.

Over its 15 years in business, The Varnish has become one of the city’s most beloved and influential bars, ranking 14th on the World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2012, winning a Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best American Bar that same year, and earning a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination in 2017. The Varnish was also frequented by the late Los Angeles food writer Jonathan Gold and hosted Anthony Bourdain in 2012 for his Travel Channel show, The stopover.

After a decade and a half, The Varnish is finally closing its doors, marking the end of an era. What happened, and what does it mean for the bar landscape in Los Angeles and beyond?

Raising the bar

Before The Varnish, there was a small but growing cocktail scene in Los Angeles, which still lagged behind other major cities in many ways.

“Los Angeles was the underdog city of the cocktail world. Nobody took it seriously,” says Leandro DiMonriva, who spent a decade bartending at Cole’s and frequenting The Varnish before becoming a full-time cocktail educator and instructor at The Educated Barfly.

It wasn’t the first craft cocktail bar in Los Angeles, but The Varnish marked a sea change in the city’s bar and hospitality community.

“Opening The Varnish was kind of a statement, like, ‘This is what we believe,’ you know, a philosophical approach to cocktails. It definitely resonated in a lot of different ways,” says Alex Day, a former Varnish bartender who is now co-owner of Death & Co. and a partner in Gin & Luck.

Varnish’s commitment to its core values ​​sets a high standard for Los Angeles bars.

“This is one place in particular that had no problem saying, ‘We’re going to stick to our standards,’” says Gordon Bellaver, a Varnish alumnus and partner at Penny Pound Ice. “It wasn’t about, ‘Oh, look how great The Varnish is,’” he says. “It was more like, ‘Wow, The Varnish has strong values ​​and a strong point of view, and I can do that, too,’ you know?”

The magic of the bar lay in the combination of several factors, including the attention to detail and the genuine care of those who worked there.

“I could tell you about the hand-cut ice, the fresh juices, the meticulous attention to measuring and temperature of cocktails, the placement of garnishes and even our playlists, but what made The Varnish special was how much we each individually cared to bring it to life each night,” says Devon Tarby, former bartender and hospitality consultant at Varnish.

The tiny 987-square-foot bar offered guests a welcome refuge. Dim candlelight, live jazz musicians, and the constant clink of ice against the can created a timeless, comforting ambiance that invited intimate conversation.

“You walked into this space with the intention of having a cocktail or two, and then you blink and you’ve been there for five hours,” Day says. “You made new friends and there was an incredible sense of community in this space.”

DiMonriva agrees. “There was a lot of camaraderie. It’s hard to describe, it was like walking into a community where everyone was on the same page,” he says. “I was able to absorb all that knowledge. That’s a big part of what motivated me to do what I’m doing now with The Educated Barfly.”

Day, Tarby and many bartenders who cut their teeth at Varnish have gone on to find success in the hospitality industry and beyond.

A changing scene

Although The Varnish seems untouched by time, it is still subject to the material realities of the modern age.

“There’s a kind of dominant narrative right now that we’re all over the pandemic and everything’s fine, but that’s just not the reality,” Day says. “The city of Los Angeles has fundamentally changed and downtown has changed tremendously.”

Running a bar is no easy task, and the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t made it any easier. The number of restaurant and bar closures in Los Angeles in 2024 is staggering and well-documented so far. The costs of running a bar continue to rise, and Los Angeles residents still haven’t returned to their pre-pandemic nightlife routines.

“This closure is a reflection of the housing crisis and the extreme cost of living increases we are seeing in Los Angeles and many other American cities,” Tarby said. “It is unfair that The Varnish and so many other small businesses are being victimized by these systemic issues that are out of their control.”

Downtown Los Angeles, and particularly the area surrounding Cole’s and The Varnish, has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.

“Downtown had a little sketchiness, but nothing that wasn’t exciting in the city that invented film noir,” Alperin says. “When the pandemic hit, I know people left downtown. They just didn’t want to be there, and I don’t know how many came back.”

Former bar manager Samuel Houston was tasked with steering the ship once The Varnish reopened after the lockdowns. “There were a lot of days where I felt like a flotation device, like the bar was treading water,” he says. “But I felt like the city needed it. For whatever reason.”

It’s precisely what made The Varnish so special that has made it particularly difficult for the bar to adapt during the pandemic. Stopping using fresh juices and clear ice or starting to make cocktails in advance for faster service is completely contrary to the ethos established by the bar’s founders.

“Passion projects, or things that are a lot of work and a labor of love, unfortunately get cut very easily when you cut back,” Day says. “You know, it’s just a tough situation. But at the same time, I think it was always one of those places that you thought would be there forever because of its consistency and its notoriety and its recognition.”

Last call

With the Varnish closing, many who loved or worked there felt a certain nostalgia. One pervasive feeling was gratitude for having been a part of something they considered special.

“It’s very difficult for us not to take a piece of who we are and who we are and superimpose it on this thing, this idea that we’ve created,” Day says. “And when that fails, it just doesn’t feel real.”

Houston adds that “normally bars open and close so quickly that we barely notice or feel much emotion when they close. (But) The Varnish was a bar that fought back and invested in this city, fueled by the bartenders and servers who invested in it. It feels like the bar is ready to go with Sasha.”

Ultimately, The Varnish decided to retire on its own terms. After surviving the worst of the pandemic, the people behind the bar still refused to compromise their values. For that reason, the community built around the bar will always remember it as the bar’s founders intended.

“Everything that’s really good and worthwhile has a beginning, a middle and an end. You know, all good things have an ephemeral quality,” Alperin says. “Varnish may have been that little flashpoint that helped the rest of the city do what it needed to do. It’s only fitting that Varnish continues to evolve.”