A hidden cocktail bar recently opened on the lower level of a downtown Rochester business that is known for its bean-to-brew craft coffee and specialty baked goods.
The Eastman is a new and upscale cocktail bar from Nathan Hamood, the owner of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters (DOCR) with several locations in metro Detroit.
The cocktail bar is in the basement of the building, which Hamood owns, and below the DOCR coffee shop. Hamood named the cocktail bar after Jefferson Eastman, the person who built the building in 1890.
“Being such an old building and the amount of history that is there, I thought it would be cool if we commemorate it in that way,” Hamood said.”
While the Eastman is in the basement of the building and below the cafe, its entrance is like a speakeasy and is accessed through a door in the alley behind the building.
“We started thinking a lot of the cocktail scene and surrounding areas and how cool it would be to create something elevated that is, ironically, at basement level.”
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After an extensive remodel, Hamood said the cocktail bar is truly hidden and unsuspicious, much like a speakeasy, until it opens. The Eastman is behind walls that slide open and its tables fold down into place out from the walls.
“So up until five o'clock, when the Eastman opens, it's relatively unsuspecting,” Hamood said. “You just go down what looks like a very nice hallway."
Once open, Hamood said, you don’t see the tracks for the walls and the space looks like “a cocktail bar that’s been there the whole time.”
The space is intimate, Hamood said, at about 1,000 square feet with seating for about 40, including bar seating.
In creating the Eastman, Hamood partnered with Trevor Wheeler, a more than 25-year beverage industry veteran. Wheeler was most recently the beverage manager at the Meeting House in Rochester.
At the Eastman, Wheeler's cocktail program is rooted in classics such as the Old Fashioned or Manhattan cocktails as foundations.
Hamood said they will create “riffs” on the construction of those classics, bringing in more complexity with flavor fusions other than simple syrups and swapping out different bitters. For example, Hamood said, on the cocktail menu the Southern Gentleman No. 2 is a classic old-fashioned featuring northern Michigan's Mammoth Bourbon with a twist that includes Lapsang souchong-infused honey.
The Eastman’s craft cocktails, Hamood said, include some higher-end spirits paired with crafting the components and housemade infusions that go into them.
While the focus is on mainly cocktails, there are a few snacks available and a charcuterie option is planned.
Transitioning the Rochester location's lower level into a cocktail bar came about during the build-out of DOCR's new Ferndale location.
The Ferndale location opened in April this year and is now the company’s headquarters, houses a cafe as well as the company’s bakery and coffee roasting operations.
Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters also have a location in Detroit at Capitol Park and in Royal Oak.
The Eastman is located at 336 S. Main St. in downtown Rochester; hours are 5-11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.
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