Listening bars are popping up around the city. So what are they exactly?
Chef Jamie Bissonnette recently announced, after a split with longtime partner Ken Oringer, a return to the Boston dining scene in a big way: With new partners Andy Cartin and Babak Bina, he plans to open a Korean restaurant, sushi counter, and listening bar in Downtown Crossing next month.
If your ears perked up at the phrase “listening bar,” you’re not alone. And Bissonnette’s Temple Records, isn’t the only upcoming concept that combines drinking and listening to music in Boston. (That concept is pretty simple: Less talking, more listening.)
Listening bars, also known as vinyl or hi-fi bars, have been part of the music culture in Japan for decades, going back to the 1950s. These were hangout spaces where people would gather to listen to records, as personal record players weren’t common at the time. With vinyl making a big comeback since the start of the pandemic, the concept of gathering for a shared vinyl-listening experience has gained steam around the country, and now Boston seems to be seeing an influx.
Bissonnette says to expect a relatively low-key vibe at Temple Records, which will have a sound system he’s building out himself. “The system is built to have great sound, and the music will definitely steer the vibe.”
You’re not going to have a DJ blasting the latest dance hits, and people probably won’t be doing shots. Even the cocktail list is steering away from shaken drinks so the noise of it doesn’t compete with the music, Bissonnette said, though they’ll “still shake a drink” if one
is ordered.
“Mostly we will play entire sides of albums or entire records, rather than DJ a song here and there. … We want to celebrate all of the styles of music we love, and that programming is going to have to be fluid,” he said. “If Hall and Oates doesn’t feel right, then maybe it’s time for Tatsuro Yamashita, or the Talking Heads, or Oscar Peterson.”
Trillium Brewing, which has been growing its footprint for the past few years, with locations in Canton, Fort Point, and the Fenway, and seasonal pop-ups on the Greenway and Boston Common, is also looking at getting into the groove at its Fort Point location.
“For the past year, we’ve been thinking about how we can do something new on the second-floor space at Trillium Fort Point, while keeping the firstfloor taproom and roof deck as is,” JC Tetreault, founder and brewer, said. “I’ve always been into music, and especially love the idea of building an immersive listening experience and really letting the sound be the star. I remember my grandfather playing Miles Davis and big band on his hi-fi system. That wasn’t the music I was necessarily into as a teen, but I remember that deep, rich reproduction on his reel-to-reel. While we’re still figuring out all of the details for bringing a listening lounge to Trillium, I do know that I’ll be displaying his machine and records.”
One common thread in all conversations about listening bars is how much music is a huge part of chefs’ and restaurateurs’ lives, and how much they want to share that with their guests.
Will McNeill, Trillium’s director of food and beverage, said, “[We] wanted to create a place where you can really sink into an album. As a kid, I loved listening to my stepdad practicing drums to Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. That music still drives the sound that influenced me my whole life. Music, food, and drink are simply meant to be together.”
Bissonnette is well known for being a big music fan: Just check out his social media or the excellent playlists in many of his past restaurants. “I have always been a record collector and audio nerd. … While on my very delayed honeymoon in May 2023, we visited some record bars that helped me hone the idea for Boston.”
The food and beverage program planned for Temple Records will lean into Japanese influences, Bissonnette says. And the drinks menu will “feature some highballs and a curated list of spirits that [partner Andy Cartin] and his crew are stoked on,” including whiskeys, Japanese gins, wine, sake, shochu, and beers.
Also on deck, from the MAZI Food Group (behind the popular South End restaurants Kava Neo-Taverna, Ilona, and Gigi) is Desnuda Cocina, part restaurant and part listening bar.
With a planned opening on Tremont this summer, Desnuda will focus on “nostalgia and ritual. Growing up in the era where vinyl was it, it is inspiring to see it return,” says George Axiotis, coowner and partner of MAZI Food Group. “The quality of vinyl sound and the act of carefully handling a record, placing it on a turntable, and listening from start to finish.”