a day ago
Inside the Speakeasy Boom of Annapolis, Maryland
Stacy and her husband Ari Gejdenson, owners of Italian restaurant Acqua Al 2 and its sister speakeasy Harold Black, already had a lease on its 300-year-old building off Church Circle in Annapolis when they made the tough call to close the original Harold Black in Eastern Market during the pandemic. (And now, five years later, Stacy says they are currently in the process of taking that D.C. space back.)
The couple's Annapolis offshoot of Harold Black has all the historical touches of a spot-on speakeasy. Elements of its bygone days as a bank remain intact, from the vault with its weighted pulley system to the night drop door (236 Main Street). 'We just wanted to give a nod to that time when these interesting cocktails were being created and the space just lends itself to that,' says Stacy.
Customers can access Harold Black down the stairs from Acqua Al 2 or through a more tucked-away entrance on School Street. Drinks like the Corpse Reviver made with gin and lemon juice and the Navy Grog join bar snacks like fried calamari, artichoke hummus, and a crowd-pleasing cheeseburger, plus semi-frozen hazelnut mousse topped with a chocolate sauce for dessert. Patrons can also order off the menu from Acqua Al 2 upstairs.
Harold Black is part of a speakeasy resurgence in Maryland's state capital. Its rich speakeasy history back centuries ago, starting with the 1747 Tavern off Church Circle that famously served George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin back in the day. Fast forward to the present, restaurateurs in the idyllic waterfront town located 30 miles from D.C. are focused on bringing back that hidden-bar intrigue.
Cody Monroe and Clint Ramsden, two U.S. Naval Academy alums and former helicopter pilots, spared no expense in creating distinct speakeasy-lounges in the basements of two of their boutique hotels in Annapolis. The Black Pearl sits in their newly opened 86 State Circle, which sits directly across from the state house. They knew they wanted to do something different in transforming a former office building into a nine-room hotel. After perfecting the rooms upstairs, they added the guest-only speakeasy as a final touch.
The guest-only Black Pearl is accessible through a dimly lit staircase off the main floor. A mural made of oyster shells will line one of the walls as a tribute to the thousands of oysters they dug up when excavating the floor to create the lounge's nine-foot-tall ceilings. The entryway to the bar maintained its original brick floor with muted lighting provided by sconces and picture lighting above the maritime-themed artwork that includes an original map of Annapolis. Despite being in a historic building, the tucked away bar has all the modern amenities. Snacks imported from France join cocktails made with house-infused spirits.
Monroe and Ramsden, both 36, met as midshipmen at the revered Annapolis institution. After graduating in 2011 and finishing their tour of duty, they both returned to the area and founded Severn Grove Hospitality Group.
The duo also run a horse-themed, guest-only speakeasy dubbed the Jockey Club Lounge at their other boutique hotel at 1313 West Street. Here they drew not only inspiration from NY's preppy Polo Lounge, but also the equestrian past of West Street — which actually functioned as a horse racing track hundreds of years ago.
'Famous figures like George Washington would come down and he'd bet on the horses and he'd lose all the time,' says Monroe. 'You've got this very cool but somewhat forgotten history right here outside of our front door.'
With room for only 20 hotel guests at a time, the Jockey Club sends out classics like a smoked Old fashioned, lemon gimlet, Negronis, French 75, and Moscow mule.
'I always say that this is the coolest bar in Annapolis that's not actually a publicly accessible bar because it is guest-only access,' says Ramsden. 'But that exclusivity, I think, really makes people appreciate it more.'
To drink like a founding father, head to the depths of the Reynold Tavern — one of the oldest taverns in the country — to find the publicly accessible 1747 Pub. Tucked off Church Circle, the iconic drinking den that once called the nation's first president a customer now holds trivia nights and jazz guitarist performances. See More:
