Bubbly News
Pinky's uncorks Champagne and jazz in Fort Worth's Near Southside
UPDATE 3-18-2022: Pinky's opens on March 18.
There's a new lounge coming to Fort Worth's Near Southside that will specialize in three great things: Champagne, booze, and live jazz. Called Pinky's Champagne Room & Velvet Jazz Lounge, it's dubbing itself "a place for cool cats to break it down, imbibe, and enjoy local jazz," and it will open at 615 S. Jennings Ave., which was most recently a bar called Low Key Tavern, but has also been home to CraftCade, The Last Word Bookstore, and at one time, was part of Tony's Pizza.
Pinky's is from husband-and-wife John Cocke and Dena Mangrum-Cocke, who both have worked in the food & beverage industry and are opening their very first place.
John, who worked for Consilient for many years, moved to Fort Worth to work at Fireside Pies (then called Thirteen Pies) in the West 7th District. He also worked at Hotel Otto, the little hotel from chef Tim Love.
They're hoping to open Pinky's by March.
"Dena and I were thinking, 'What does Fort Worth need?'" John says. "And we thought about all these places that used to have jazz, like Sardine's, that have now closed. We're talking about jazz with no cover charge. We love the Scat Lounge downtown, but they're a different kind of place, and they charge cover."
Their inspiration was a lounge with the same name that they visited on a road trip.
"We visited a place called Pinky's Champagne Room, it's in the middle of Missouri, it's been closed for a while, but it was this little tiny room with so much charm," he says.
They're very into bubbles, which is fortuitous, since champagne bars are starting to trend.
"We're spotlighting sparkling wines," he says. "We'll be doing five glasses of champagne plus five other bubbles from around the world. And then a menu of 10 concoctions featuring bubbles like an Aperol Spritz, plus a few New Orleans-style cocktails. The back part of the menu will have about 14-15 bottles of champagne."
"We will be a Champagne room with live music — that's what we’re trying to accomplish," he says.
They're currently in the thick of construction which includes repositioning the entrance so that it's on the side of the building, speakeasy-style. The room will have 100 seats, and come with a certain degree of swanky kitsch, perhaps previewed best by their logo: A black background with Pinky's and a sexy coupe champagne glass with a few bubbles floating on top, all done in hot pink.
Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov
