This beautiful bar with dark wood tones and exposed brick is the perfect place to cozy up with a friend and a perfectly balanced cocktail and enjoy the State Street life passing outside the large, antique windows. Gallery-appropriate artwork and a casual-yet-distinctive atmosphere make Redlight special. Chic enough to be at home in Paris or Berlin— and yet so essentially Bellingham— this fine place makes some of the very best cocktails in town.
The red book by the glassed-in seating nook is a collection of every cocktail the bar has ever created (and it’s a huge list). You can order from the book if you’re looking for something in particular. The experienced mixologist can whip up whatever your heart desires, and can work from your own kooky uncle’s recipe as well. And it is from the red book that this issue’s drink emerged: Elk Street. A throwback and nod to the future all at once, Elk Street evokes the card rooms and speakeasies that once dominated this stretch of town, and yet has a cosmopolitan flair all its own.
The bourbon gives this lovely drink a nice smooth undertone, complementing the vermouth, while the assertive Campari and cedar poke through, assertive and clean. A drink that you either love or hate (we love) Elk Street will have us coming back for more. And more. And another.
