We first heard the rumor way back in late 2010 that Kink.com owner Peter Acworth was seeking to branch out into the bar business with a watering hole near the company’s headquarters in the Armory (14th and Mission). A year ago we broke the news that he’d acquired the former Ace Café (1799 Mission Street), and now next month Kink will finally unveil the Armory Club in the space, just in time for the Folsom Street Fair. Today Grub Street learns that the new bar will have a serious cocktail focus, with a weekly changing cocktail menu, farmers’ market ingredients, and even a Champagne cart on weekends. As for the décor, it’s going to echo the sort of dark-red, heavily draped Victorian interior of their Upper Floor, a set they use at the Armory for a BDSM video site.
If you’re not easily offended and in a place where you can click something NSFW, you can get a general idea by looking here. Think velvet wallpaper, tin ceiling, leather furniture, salvaged wood, and cast-iron fireplaces, with under-lit onyx bar tops. Also, there will be erotic art installations from local artists, and a private lounge that’s available by reservation with its own separate entrance. It also sounds like they’ll be using this private barroom as a launching point for the popular public tours of the Armory.
But true to its Mission locale, you can expect the cocktail program to be ambitious. Bar manager Kristopher Ramirez and his staff will be doing house-made grenadine and bitters, and using fresh-squeezed juices and, of course, Kold Draft ice. (Also, they’re currently hiring bartenders, FYI.)
As for how kinky the actual bar will get, that will largely be up to the Kink.com staff, who will obviously be regulars. Alas, there will be no dildo chandeliers, as Uptown Almanac has joked.
We’ll let you know an exact opening date when we know it, but rest assured they’re trying hard to be open in time for the kinky tourists arriving for Folsom Street Fair, which happens the weekend of September 21.
Earlier: Kinky S.F. Porn Studio Tour Prompts Call for Groupon Boycott
The Name of Kink.com’s New Bar? The Armory Club
