A Downtown institution gets an immersive midcentury-mod reinvention.
Few DTR spaces have lived as many lives as the former Fox Liquor Bar. Now the subterranean stalwart is ready for its next act. Set to bloom this month is Rosebud Cocktail Lounge, the latest concept from Capulet Cocktail Club masterminds Patrick Shanahan and Robby Opperman, alongside Beverage Director Zack Thomas and Culture Curator Jonah “Luckyuno” Henry—reviving years of DTR history, drinks and culture.
Piggybacking off of Capulet’s almost-immediate success, Rosebud will carve out its own lane: a sophisticated midcentury-mod cocktail haven drawing inspo from Japanese culture and ethos, while honoring classic cocktails, multigenerational nostalgia and quality service. Layer in a hi-fi sound system and weekly vinyl DJs, and the mix lands as a distinctive cohesive space tuned to a rhythm Raleigh hasn’t quite heard before.
“Having the opportunity to respect what Ashley [Christensen] and all the great bartenders, including Zack, have done here—keeping what they did well and putting our own new spin on it—it’s really cool to have,” says Shanahan. “This was one of five bars before—now it’s one of 500, it seems.”…