A new cocktail bar and jazz venue opens this week in the Old North: Adelaide’s Gin Joint! Adelaide’s makes its home in the old house that was previously Trillium Kitchen & Patio, but most famously Alana’s Food & Wine for many years.
The building has been handsomely redone to resemble a modernized Prohibition-era cocktail bar and live music venue. Here’s a look at the main dining room from the front door.
The northern dining room has been converted into a small stage. The music is piped throughout the whole building, so no matter where you sit you can’t enjoy live jazz.
In the same room as the stage sits the long bar.
Here’s another glimpse at the main dining room from the rear of the building.
As you’d expect, the cocktail menu leans heavily into gin, and they get creative with a variety of gins, including local editions from Watershed and Middle West Spirits.
This is the Ginnocent with MWS’ Vim & Petal gin, raspberry, St. Germain, lemon, lavender, and sparkling wine. Sweet and refreshing.
I lean more towards bourbon, but I really dug the Gin-Fashioned made with Watershed’s bourbon-barrel gin, sugar, bitters, and applewood smoke.
Co-owner Rodrick Pauley said the menu is designed more for lounging and snacking, although you’ll still find heartier dishes. Their website says chef Tyler Minnis (currently kicking butt at Goood Friends at Jackie O’s) created their menu.
We started with the marinated olives, doused in citrus and vermouth.
The devils on horseback were a knife and fork affair. The dates are wrapped in bacon (prosciutto, really) with smoked bleu cheese, sprinkled with bourbon maple, cocoa, and flake salt, and served on a bed of a rich espresso cream. There’s a lot going on.
The crispy brussels also arrive on a coffee-flavored cream, this time an espresso aioli. They’re tossed with dates, bacon, sherry, lemon, mint, and grated grana padano cheese.
We’re seeing tinned fish on more and more menus these days (including similar outposts like Ginger Rabbit Jazz Lounge), so it’s no surprise to see it on the fish board at Adelaide’s. It’s served with hummus and a mint crema, pickled onion, grilled shishitos, and lettuce.
One of our favorite dishes of the night was the Maine mussels. They’re served in a zesty sauce with vermouth, coconut, ginger, garlic, shallot, chilies, cilantro, and a side of garlicky truffle shoestring fries.
Finally, the Moody Blue burger is packed with a wagyu beef patty, shallot jam, smoked bleu cheese, pickled onions, crispy onion rings, and garlic aioli, with a side of the truffled shoestring fries.
Each room has its own vibe, from the front room with couches, plush chairs, old chandeliers and fireplace.
Or the back room (formerly the wine shop at Alana’s) all done up hushed blues.
Along the hallway leading to the back door and the restrooms, a wall-sized panorama shows downtown Columbus in the 1920s.
They’ve redone the front porch and patios, too.
The front patio has always been a wonderful asset to that building, and Adelaide’s has updated it nicely with four-tops and a firepit.
Adelaide’s Gin Joint soft opens this week, with a grand opening over the weekend, Oct. 13-15.
Regular hours are Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5-11 p.m., and Friday-Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight.
Adelaide’s Gin Joint
2333 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 450-1902
Web: adelaidesginjoint.com
FB: Adelaide’s Gin Joint
IG: @adelaidesginjoint