As you may have read, Bar Hygge is opening this week (Wednesday, February 3, is the expected date), and power-couples Peggy Zwerver, Tom Baker (Earth Bread + Brewery), and Stew and Julie Keener (Baggataway Tavern) are excited to bring their "hygge" brewpub to Spring Garden at 1720 Fairmount Avenue.
The Danish term "hygge", pronounced "HOO-ga", can be an adjective, verb, noun, or adverb, but really, it's a general feeling of coziness, conviviality, comfort and snug. The Bar Hygge team worked with CANNOdesign to create an especially warm atmosphere where round booths, comfortable couches, and tall windows make for a great place to bring a group.
The lounge area, with all of its colorful seating arrangements, is situated in front of Brewery Techne, the in-house brewery headed by Tom Baker. Puzzle-pieced reclaimed windows make up the wall separating the brewery from the restaurant — peer through them and you'll witness a bit of the brewing action. Pallet wood was used to build the bar, all the way up to the tap handles.
No wooden barrels went to waste during the build-out of Bar Hygge. Some were kept intact, now appointed as high-top tables, while others were disassembled and reconstituted into lighting fixtures (metal barrel hoops make for a great chandelier), shelving (cut a barrel top in half, and you've got a great shelf), and walling — look closely behind the booths, and you'll notice that the entire backdrop is made up of barrel staves weaved together.
Now, take a look around via the pictures (above) and check it out for yourself on opening day.
