NightLife
FRUIT BAT 1236 H St. NE 202-399-2323.
www.dcfruitbat.com
7 EZ
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSON/THE WASHINGTON POST At Fruit Bat, a newSouth American-themed bar onHStreet NE, KawikaKukua makes one of the many fruit-based drinks. New H St. gimmick: Self-made cocktails BY LAVANYA RAMANATHAN Theme is king onHStreetNE,where bargoers
canplay rounds of indoormini-golf, sing karaoke between bites of deep-fried sushi and get a taste Germany in liter mugs of Hefeweizen. But if you’re looking for a bar that is just a bar, well, you’re inthewrongplace. FruitBat, the latest arrival, isn’t about to shake
up that divine order of things. The cozy sliver of a nightspot, which opened in August, has posi- tioned itself as H Street’s South American oasis, an export from sunny Cartagena with the tan to prove it. The themeplays itself out inthe sexyLatinjazz
that flows fromthe speakers overhead and in the fruit that hangs in Colombian-made baskets above the bar. Warm, burlap-covered walls and the steady arrival ofbrightly coloredmai-tais and icy caipirinhas onlyheightenthe vibe. Cool enough, but there is one other promising
gimmick at play at Fruit Bat: The bar offers customers a chance to build their own cocktails by ordering one of thebar’s fruit-infusedspirits, a liqueur toadddepthandfreshfruit juicetotopoff the creation. “Wewantedtofigureoutwhatwouldbeaniche
on the block, since everything there is a niche,” saysownerErikHolzherr,whoalsoownsWisdom on Capitol Hill. So he drew on his Colombian heritage (he is half-Colombian, half-German), peppering the barwithfindshis family picked up on South American sojourns and introducing a small menu of snacks that includes Colombian/ Venezuelan specialties and tacos (that themenu includes vegetarian offerings and even soy-milk cocktails is a credit to the bar’s generalmanager, RoxanneFereydouni,who is vegetarian). Holzherr says Fereydouni, who lives in the
neighborhood, also pushed himto turn Fruit Bat into a haven from the construction on H Street andthesightsandsoundsof
thecity.Thegoalwas to create something “that’s tropical and warm andacontrast towhat’soutonthe street,”he says. Coming months will bring a separate bar up- stairs with yet another theme: Holzherr will
revealonly that itwillbealounge-style “churchto cocktails” that won’t be quite as casual as Fruit Bat.But he’snot ready to use the dreadedword— reservations — either. “We want to have the grown-up bar on H street,” he explains, quickly adding: “Butwedon’twant to be snotty.” The scene: Asking customers to invent their
own drink can feel a little like asking them to answer a riddle, but the servers at Fruit Bat will pitch in with ideas. “It’s a really inventive, fun idea,” says Anna Longview, 28,who tried a few of the house-made infusions at Fruit Bat with a handful of friends on a recent Saturday night. “They’re very creative in their approach.” But for the full experience, you’re better off going on a weeknight or before 8 p.m. on a Friday or Satur- day; on weekends, the bar is packed with 20- something customers, the bartendersmix in hip- hopwiththe reggae andtables tendto fillupwith DosEquis rather thancocktails. In your glass: Plenty of folks at Fruit Bat will
stick to caipirinhas or play it safe and try Xingu Brazilian beer, Dos Equis or the two lambics on draft. But the real lure of Fruit Bat is the bartenders
who make it easy to dream; on my visits, direc- tions to make something sweet got us a mai tai; whenIaskedforherbal, Igotacocktail lacedwith the Colombian anise-scented liqueur aguardi- ente, toppedwitha float of raspberry
lambic.The highlight of the fall menu is the habanero-black current tequila infusion: It arrived with fresh lemon and lime, a splash of cranberry and a little triple-sec, and I couldn’t stop sipping the spicy, tart concoction. Fruit Bat also has a couple of curious add-ins
thatwill behardfor the adventurous to resist. Coca-leaf liqueur, for example. The bar stocksAgwa deBolivia, amildlyminty
Dutch drink that gets its kick from the leaves of the Bolivian coca plant, as well as caffeine and guarana. (Yes, caffeine; the bar also lets you add caffeine powder to any drink.) Fruit Bat serves it in the Rum and Coca, with cola and guava rum, but customers can also order it as a shot. It’s a parlor trickmore than anything: The leaves that gointothebeveragearetreatedtoremovecocaine
(it’swidely believedsimilar “decocainized” leaves still go into Coca-Cola). But to order it still feels awfully subversive. Acouple of qualms:Not every infusion (priced
at $7 for a shot, $9 for a cocktail and $12 for a martini) captures the flavor it purports to. A kiwi-basil tequila (which is not on the fallmenu) didn’t taste like basil or kiwi; same goes for the pineapple-cardamom rum. “When you taste a drink, you should taste every note that’s incorpo- rated,” says Longview, who noted that the rum didn’t quite live up to her expectations. Still, they’re a better choice than some of the cloying flavoredrumsandvodkasthebarusesoccasional- ly (drinks are priced between $8 and $12). Infu- sions and juices also rotatemore slowly than one wouldlike,whichcantakesomeof theexcitement out of a return visit and particularly out of building your owncocktails. On your plate: The tiny kitchen turns out a
selection of “Bat bites,” small plates featuring a number of vegetarian offerings, including a cheese-filled arepa served with a sweet and fiery sal- sa ($4), a hearts-of-palm salad ($7) and a pair of vegetarian tacos ($7) as- sembled on thick, flavor- ful house-made tortillas and dotted with avocado and a crave-worthy pine- apple salsa (porktacos are also available for $9). Some of the items can be made vegan, too. (Asmen- tioned, the bar also stocks soymilk. This makes for creamy, dreamy drinks like the Banana Boat and evenWhiteRussians.)The kitchen’s schedule has been erratic since Fruit Bat opened in August but should ultimately be open Tuesday throughSaturday nights.
ramanathanl@washpost.com
“It’s a really
inventive, fun idea.”
—Anna Longview, 28, of Fruit Bat’s build-your- own cocktails
Fruit Bat’s many drinks feature fruit and niche liqueurs.
General manager Roxanne Fereydouni with a coca-leaf liqueur called Agwa de Bolivia. The minty Dutch drink gets its kick from the leaves of the Bolivian coca plant.
the washington post friday, december 3, 2010 l
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