Next Wave Awards Bar of the Year: Vandell
Vandell exists as a testament to creating a sense of place. Once co-owners Shawn Lickliter, Vay Su, and their partners from the Los Angeles-based Park Hospitality group settled on opening their bar in L.A.’s chill, artsy enclave of Los Feliz, they hard-coded it to fit the neighborhood. Vandell’s Art Deco design, artwork, and name reference the hill-dotted district’s past in ways both obvious and subtle. For instance, it gets its moniker from Vandell Griffith, the man responsible for building up Griffith Park. These elements also grant the space a level of decorative timelessness.
“We are trying to bring back a sense of community, but we also needed to create a nostalgic feel, like it was around for a long time, even if it’s new,” Lickliter says. “It’s why we created this bar specifically for this neighborhood. You couldn’t place our bar anywhere else and have the same feeling.”
Credit: Shelby Moore
That vibe is precisely what makes Vandell so special. Its supercharged aura completely relies on feel, like a master jazz virtuoso who picks up their instrument and starts to improvise within the constructs of a specific time signature. There’s a strategic structure in place that guides the experience: The music gradually shifts from old school punk to eclectic contemporary sounds as the night progresses; the lights dim over time; the sound system’s acoustics vary by section.
These elements are soft and subtle enough to steer the room’s energy in ways that are unpredictable but always somehow right, whether you’re sunk into a broad banquette with a few friends when the bar opens or sweetly canoodling in a corner two-top in their semi-reclusive Red Room snug bar section near closing time. They aren’t new or inventive tactics per se. They’re just perfected, like the harmony emanating from the ingredients of a succinctly balanced Daiquiri. This gives Vandell the propensity to produce perfect “it” moments throughout the night, inevitably making it the “it” bar of Los Angeles, if not the country.
This doesn’t even account for the fact that the cocktails slay. The menu codifies the nature of the drinks: The “market fresh” offerings emphasize the drinks’ culinary elements, with its star fruit or vegetable often doubling as the cocktail’s name. Such simplicity is justified — there is no flavor ambiguity involved when a guest orders the smoked tomato creation. The “olden days” section name-checks a couple familiar tipples before segueing into classic cocktails made with vintage spirits, like a Sidecar featuring Courvoisier from the 1970s. Their modest food menu also displays a high level of care and provides worthy complements to the drinks, but just don’t call Vandell a gastropub because of the provisions’ quality — this is unequivocally a bar first and last. The food is merely a bonus.
Credit: Shelby Moore
Locals immediately caught on to Vandell’s charm. Lines formed outside the space about a half-hour before they opened for the first time in December. Part of the pre-opening buzz may have been due to reputation: Lickliter and Su initially drew attention for their work behind the stick at the perennial James Beard-nominated Republique. It was a stint Lickliter says changed the trajectory of his career. “I never thought about opening something until I met Vay,” he says. “Now, I get to do the things that I really wanted to do.”
Vandell’s lines persist nearly a year later, and the bar’s avalanche of awards, accolades, and general media buzz during that time have further fortified the duo’s reputation for excellence. But the acclaim isn’t the element driving their success. “Our guests are the best, and a lot of them don’t even know about our awards,” Su says. “They’re not coming in because of the momentum of recognition. They’re coming in just to come in.”
Credit: Shelby Moore
While their clientele includes the occasional actor or musician, the vast majority of patrons are locals or drinks enthusiasts. Regardless of status, when guests arrive, they immerse themselves in an experience that ultimately points to Vandell’s core mission of being a gathering point that builds community. At a time when the economy and self-induced screentime-addled isolation seem a threat to the classic third space, this objective seems more critical than ever. Fortunately, Vandell’s excelling at meeting this moment.
“We want this place to be the type of place where you can start talking to a stranger and you become friends with that person by the end of the night,” says Su. “After all, that’s what people used to do at bars, right?”
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