The concept for Fern Bar began almost five years ago when Natalie Goble of successful Sebastopol restaurant Handline had an idea to open up a cocktail bar, a concept missing in Sebastopol at the time. The original desired location for a speakeasy-type bar was a shed across from The Barlow, Sebastopol’s outdoor market that revitalized the former apple cannery buildings into a dining and shopping destination for locals and tourists alike. Along with head chef Joe Zobel, a kitchen veteran whose career began at restaurants in San Francisco, including the popular smokehouse Wexler’s, the team imagined a bar and restaurant filled with live music, interesting cocktails, delicious food, and jovial conversation.
A few years later in September 2017, a fortuitous conversation with The Barlow’s owner Barney Aldridge brought to light that a spot was opening in The Barlow right across from the shed that had originally inspired the bar. The available space was perfect: set off from the main drag in the Barlow, high ceilings, and it shared a space with the production facility of the Nectary, a plant-based drink company owned by their friend Gia Baiocchi. Although The Nectary already had a small retail space in the Barlow, Gia had also dreamed of opening a place that spoke to friends gathering together in a warm and opening space, so the group formed a natural partnership.
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