09/01/2022
Sunday, September 18th will be the last day of The Light of Seven Matchsticks as you’ve come to know it. We will continue to host private events and the occasional pop-up, but the little speakeasy in the basement of Natalie’s Worthington that we all fell in love with is treating these final 3 weeks as a celebration of all the truly memorable and crazy times we’ve shared together.
The bar with the really long name ..candlesticks or something with matches, stolen from a fake book in a fictional Wes Anderson movie, that has zero signage until you’re at the door with a peep hole ;) The bar that nonchalantly listed the likes of lamb leg and fish sauce as cocktail ingredients, that set many a thing on fire, started the secret menu trend (so we think) hidden in the back of classics with a heroes journey theme, turned Columbus onto duck fat popcorn, spent hours creating spun sugar garnishes for the most famous cocktail of all time (so we think again) Running with Scissors and Playing with Matchsticks, and broke all the rules with long names, long descriptions and run on sentences.
The little leaky bar that somehow always managed to have a staff of people who would agonize over names, ingredients, and presentation- where you could easily be sucked into an hour conversation on whether or not to go with Oh, Vodka Cave Toad, and is the comma even necessary. Who never produced one piece of merchandise (mug, hat, tee, glassware, etc) but spent hours on end thinking up ideas. The little bar that didn’t have the latest equipment or fancy tools, but always had a staff that understood the importance of creating an experience that means something to somebody even if it’s just for a moment in time.
There were many a nights in the bar where the shakes aligned, the vibrations of the customers fell in rhythm, the hot buttered rum set on fire, and you’d look around and be in complete awe of the total fu***ng vibe that is The Light of Seven Matchsticks. This little space that somehow hosted burlesque, jazz, comedy and would even hire “actors” for some of the events.. hell, they even staged a fake raid for repeal day, and hired a love doctor dubbed "Dr. Strangelüve" on Valentines Day who sat at the copper table in the corner and gave fake counseling advice.
This bar could not have done the things it did, and been the bar it was, without the dedication and vision of P.J. Ford, our cocktail director and General Manager, but also everyones go-to person for their harebrained ideas who doesn’t talk you off the ledge, but instead goes down the rabbit hole with you, the one I talk constant shop with. It could not have done the things it did without an amazing staff- this place has honestly attracted the most creative minds this city has to offer. It’s been one of the greatest joys of my work life to create and set impossibly high standards with them. I remember our pitch nights that would last 4 hours and just being in honest amazement of the way these people would discuss their ideas, inspiration, names and when someone truly nailed a drink, the high fives and nods of approval that would go around- it was like the goddamn Olympics for cocktails.
The other great joy has been creating a space that attracts the likes of all of you. Thank you for loving and accepting our weird; it’s been an absolute pleasure serving you for the past 5 and a half years. We have a new space in the works at Natalie’s Grandview and hope you will follow us to another little bar with a really long name coming to you soon… and yes, the hairy merman will be there. Please take a minute and share a memory in the comments-we’d love to hear it
