Interview: Alex Black on Bagheera, Laowei and speakeasies

When my good friend Ron Oliver gave me the news that he was shuttering his beloved Mamie Taylor’s in early January 2020, my heart sank a little. Mamie’s had become a big part of my life during its seven year run. A somewhat home away from home kind of place. 

• A look back: I wrote a short goodbye letter to Mamie’s just after its closing. You can read it here.

So when I got wind of who would eventually take over the space (the team who bought it from Ron didn’t end up moving in thanks to the pandemic) a renewed sense of optimism hit as I knew the joint was ripe for a fresh start. 

Laowai and the team behind it have proved worthy of all that I knew that location to be. It’s a great room and my friend Alex Black is a big reason for that. As co-owner, he’s imagined a creative setting wholly unique to the feel and flavor of Chinatown. However, not one to be satisfied by the success of just one concept, he and his partners pushed to build another just around the corner. It’s called Bagheera and it opened just before Christmas. I love it! The vibe is completely different and on the whole a touch more intimate. 

To better give you a fuller description of what Bagheera is, have a listen to the latest episode of my podcast, Track and Food. Alex and I dig into Laowai, Bagheera and much much more. We even go over his Michelin thoughts and why the ice machine sector is ripe for innovation. 

Additionally though, even in spite of our lengthy podcast chat, there were a few questions I wanted further clarity. Below are five with an added bonus even I didn’t ask for, which I will say is a beauty. 

1. What drew you and your business partners to do the concepts you’ve created?

For Laowai, most of the bones of the idea were already concepted. I came in a few years after Lewis had originally dreamt up the idea. He had already moulded it together in theory pretty well, I just got to put some finishing touches on it and help bring it to life and actualize it based on his vision. 

With Bagheera, it was one of the many ideas we tend to throw back and forth from time to time. Along with it, we still have one or two other ideas that could have just as easily happened and are still on the back burner as a possibility for a future project. 

But, the catalyst for Bagheera was definitely how excited our investor got when the idea was brought to him. That's when we knew it was something special. So, we hyper-focused on the concept and started really immersing ourselves into what the life of a world traveler and a person of "sport" and leisure would have been like around Kipling's time. We're talking about the Charles Bakers and Emily Hahns of the world. 

Then, as with most things, the more questions asked, the more you have until you've got this massive pile of material to draw from, and from there it's about chiselling away what you can until you're left with what (we hope) is an amazing, unique venue that people are going to fall in love with.

2. What was the biggest lesson you learned going from Laowai to Bagheera?

Building and establishing a brand is exponentially harder than maintaining that brand. Laowai was an uphill battle right from the get-go. People came into Laowai with differing expectations based on their own metrics of what a cocktail bar should be. 

But, now that people are coming to Bagheera for the first time knowing how we operate at Laowai, it sets much more straightforward ideas of what the guest is to expect. Keeping true to ourselves and what we offer helps us sleep at night, but also has been a massive help in maintaining such an amazing clientele between both venues.

3. While developing Bagheera’s concept, what was the most surprising or fun thing/fact you learned during your research?

Firstly, I'd say the massive amount of work that Kipling put out is astounding. Initially, the idea was to have drinks named after works from Kipling and possibly his contemporaries, but once we got a hold of the full catalogue of his work it became apparent that there was no need for any outside inspiration. 

He has more than enough in his arsenal alone. That, and the deep dive I did to build the gin programming and set up the staff education surrounding it. Even though I was distilling award-winning gin less than three years ago, I completely forgot the breadth of the category and the versatility of that spirit. I'm really appreciative of how the gin program has been received out of the gate and I'm looking forward to expanding on its success.

4. How is Bagheera different from Laowai?

We try and consciously separate the brands as much as possible while at the same time making sure we're using the successes and failures from both the educate us moving forward in each of them. Primarily, from a product standpoint, the value of Laowai's drinks is the effort put in on the prep and execution part. 

It's a lot of foams, gels, clarifications, ferments, etc. and that effort takes a lot of time and money to execute consistently at the level of quality we expect of ourselves. Bagheera on the other hand has much more classic styles of drinks but is utilizing more premium brands of spirits and liqueurs to execute them. Friends don't make friends with well gin and $10 vermouth I always say.

5. What do you love the most about working and owning businesses in Chinatown?

Existing in Chinatown is amazing. The community surrounding us has been so welcoming and supportive. It warms my heart to walk by the same butcher, bakery, tea store, or fishmonger every day and say hi to the staff working there.

It's got an Olive Garden vibe to it, you know, "when you're here you're family". It does take existing in this space to get a full grasp of what it fully takes to operate here, but also the rewards that come with success. It's definitely Chinatown vs the World and I'm here for it.

Bonus question - on "speakeasies":

Along with "mixologist" this word tops my list of words used by the drink media that make me throw up in my mouth. Speaking personally, we've never said our venues are "speakeasies". Have the media done that? Yes, ad nauseum. Do they make it seem like we approve? Yes. Has it ever been uttered from our mouths or in a press release? No. That's known as the 'sword around the workplace. 

And, in the English-speaking world, generally speaking, people who call their own bars "speakeasies" are either uneducated about what the word actually means, or douchebags who think it gives them some industry or social clout. Sometimes both. Even the grandfather of the hidden bar movement, PDT, never used the term speakeasy. I won't speak for Jim Meehan (PDT's founder), but I'm sure you can find snippets online of his feelings about the phrase.

The one defining characteristic of a "speakeasy" is that it's illegal. That's it. Not that it's dimly lit, behind a secret entrance, or any other descriptor. It's that it's illegal. Full stop. And, I assure you, our business, liquor, health, and other licenses are up to date and fully legitimate. 

We are not an illegal bar. Also, historically speaking, "speakeasies" were more liquor retail operations than full-fledged bars as you see in Boardwalk Empire. We have to think that during times of Prohibition affluent people had access to private spaces and member's clubs where they could indulge and imbibe. 

And, the less affluent weren't about to get caught drinking in some shady underground bar serving neutral grain alcohol flavoured with turpentine. Most people's consumption was at home. So, you'd swing by the speakeasy, grab a bottle of hooch, and have your friends over to share it. God, I hope we can retire that term.