Carolyn Fath
As Chad Vogel’s mobile bar heads south for the winter, work begins here on the Robin Room.
The Robin Room, bartender Chad Vogel’s lounge slated for 821 E. Johnson St., is finally making progress. In its original alcohol license application with the city, October was the projected opening. But Vogel is just now starting the buildout, having been sidetracked in a Catch-22 situation with the city regarding the physical state of a rear parking lot — one that customers can’t actually park in.
At any rate, Vogel and the landlord are making the fixes to the lot, and no, you still won’t be able to park there. Vogel cheerfully describes himself as absorbed in HVAC and plumbing issues and not thinking much about design or asethetics, much less the cocktails or the food menu (“snacky-type stuff”) — yet.
“The space is prohibitive for a full kitchen,” says Vogel. He likes the vibe of a drinks-centered space where the practical needs of a restaurant (big tables, for instance) don’t get in the way of people meeting for a cozier, darker, more intimate gathering. He envisions the Robin Room as “kind of like Maduro without the smoke. After five years at Maduro, I’m kind of done standing in smoke.”
Expect nice things from the Robin Room. Jake Morrison, who lately designed Estrellón, is the architect. Currently, Vogel describes the space as looking like “1950s high school science lab meets art deco.” Vogel hopes to open the Robin Room by mid-December or early January.
Vogel’s other project, Barmadillo, the 1956 Airstream/mobile cocktail bar, closed up shop for the summer season Oct. 3 with a stint at Stalzy’s Deli. Barmadillo is now headed to spend the winter in Austin, Texas, where co-owner JR Mocanu, formerly bar manager at Merchant, will take charge.
This summer, Barmadillo served craft cocktails at events from weddings to street fairs, from Detroit to Washington Island. “We can produce cocktails as good as or better than a hotel’s, without electricity, in a field,” says Vogel.
He’d like to get the Barmadillo into the Austin music-film-tech fest South By Southwest as a vendor, though he’s not sure what the chances are: “People don’t really get it until they see it.”