Breaking schmooze: CWE spot will expand to downtown

By Deb Peterson

Of the Post-Dispatch

12/08/2004



WITH STYLE: One of our town's most New York-style restaurants, Bar Italia, is set to open a downtown outpost on the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and 15 th Street. The new venture will be a lounge and bar only, with an intimate setting and urban feel, says Lassaad Jeliti, part of the talented extended family that has kept the CWE-based Bar Italia at the forefront of many favorites' lists the past 21 years. Jeliti says the family is hoping to open the new club ?- which will be called Lotus off Washington -? by the end of January. This is the first venture since opening Bar Italia that the family has begun, which Jeliti says is a sign of how optimistic they feel about the continued growth of the Wash Ave. scene.

The loft district is changing fast, the underground clubs of yesterday are long gone, and the second wave of style clubs are giving way to upscale lounges.



Any bets on where the style dance clubs will surface? My money is on the Machester Strip east of Kingshighway or maybe east of Grand Center where a few have popped up recently.



While I do miss The Green Room, Deep Cool, Evolution, The Other World, 1227, I do like what has been opening and planned for Wash Ave. Those older clubs were not good fits for a loft area, what made them cool was the fact that it was kind creepy and desolate around Wash Ave in the late 80's and early 90's You really were going to "Another World"



But Alternative music is not what it was (IMHO), House has become Passe, you can get it on Muzak now, and well, I am getting too old for the club scene, urban lounges are fine w/ me.

this is good news... another grand addition to this ever fast growing district.

I am getting excited about returning to a city that I once left because of the lack of excitement.

Ya ill be back in 5 months after 4 years away.

Bar Italia isn?t opening a bar in downtown!!!!!!!!!!! Before you freak out, here?s the real story. The space at 15th & Washington (monkey building) where Club Lo used to be located, is begin renovated into a new lounge named Locust. The new club will open in April, & will be directly across the street from red-moon. The confusion about Bar Italia stems from Megisha (the owner of Bar Italia) involvement in the property, his role is as a silent partner in the venture.

Prophett wrote:Bar Italia isn?t opening a bar in downtown!

Yeah, that is what the article said also. Maybe the name of the thread should be changed.

"Jeliti says the family is hoping to open the new club ?- which will be called Lotus off Washington -? by the end of January. This is the first venture since opening Bar Italia that the family has begun"

Is the entire Monkey Building being renovated, or just the first floor space?