Natural Wines Are on Rotation at Venice’s New Listening Bar
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Only The Wild Ones, the new wine and vinyl listening bar in Venice Beach, began life as a makeshift party. It was 2021, and a space along Abbot Kinney Boulevard next to vegetarian mainstay the Butcher’s Daughter opened up. Owner Heather Tierney decided to take over the unused space for a few months, serve some wine, and see what happened.
The popup quickly became a busy neighborhood hangout for West siders emerging from lockdowns. “We hit it right at the height of the natural wine wave, and we always had live music there — whether it was a DJ or a little jazz,” says Kari Hendrick, Director of Brand and Cultural Development for the Butcher’s Daughter.
The success of the nine-month experiment left the team hungry for more, and on the hunt for a permanent space. Earlier this year, they finally got their chance, in a century-old bungalow two blocks down on Abbot Kinney. Tierney and co. installed a high fidelity sound system, called up some of the best DJs in town, put together a tight food and drink menu, and even managed to put a speakeasy inside the bar (more on that in a bit).
Spruced up with the help of Tierney’s design expertise, Only The Wild Ones puts a laid back, SoCal spin on the listening bars of Japan. And whether you stop by the bar for an evening aperitif with friends, or plan a full night of listening to eclectic records play over the speakers, here’s everything you should know before your visit:
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Small Plates, Same Plant-Based Ethos
Richard Rea, the executive chef of the Butcher’s Daughter, created the menu for Only The Wild Ones, meaning that those who have come to love his plant-forward dishes will find plenty to enjoy here. “It’s small plates, but a rather robust and intricate food menu,” Hendrick says. Summer offerings include a smoked hummus served with zhoug and pita, sweet corn raviolo with goat cheese and artichoke pesto, and a dessert of pistachio-flavored crème brûlée topped with rose.
Feed Your Ears, Too
“Heather [Tierney] is a real music lover,” says Hendrick. “And we have a really incredible music curator whose name is Erez, so we just decided to go for it. We wanted to create something really raw starting with the sound this time, rather than everything else, and let the sound drive the experience.” To achieve that sound, Only The Wild Ones installed high fidelity Klipsch x Ojas kO-R1 loudspeakers around the space cranking out music from an Accuphase Laboratory e-500 amplifier. As for who is spinning the records? Some nights it’s professional DJs, like the crew from beloved shuttered hi-fi bar In Sheep’s Clothing, while on other nights, neighborhood regulars might be on the decks. “And that’s what we want,” says Hendrick. ”We want you to come in and find a vinyl and be able to put it on the system.”
Natural Wines Are Just the Start
There’s no intimidating book of wines to choose from at Only The Wild Ones — just a handful of labels that rotate frequently. “It’s absolutely a mix, but the ethos of sustainability and the natural movement are what we look for,” notes Hendrick. Fres.co’s “Fire Fuego” skin-contact Sauvignon Blanc is a popular selection on the summer menu. A glass of Piquette’s Lola Malvasia Bianca is fun sparkling white. Then, most days between 4 and 6 p.m., “We splash you with whatever we’re pouring for the day, you get cozy, we play a record front to back, and then you can order whatever you want,” says Hendrick. “It’s us introducing the wine to you.”
If beer or cocktails are more your speed, the bar has a list of classics with a spin — the Hi-Thai, for example, features Thai basil-infused vodka with pandan, coconut, and a spicy chile arbol rub. “It makes you feel like you’re on an island in Thailand,” says Hendrick. The Rose Mezcal Negroni mixes pineapple-infused mezcal with rose extract and Lillet Blanc.
The Bar Within a Bar
Head behind the turntables and up the staircase to find a door to a speakeasy called Force of Nature. The space is owned and run by Leena Culhane of Crudo e Nudo and the now-shuttered Isla, and is technically separate from Only The Wild Ones, though Hendrick emphasizes that the relationship between the two bars is like family. Culhane’s intimate space seats only a few, and a balcony opens out to Abbot Kinney below. Force of Nature’s focus is small-batch female-made wines, along with a few drinking snacks.
Found Objects
Only The Wild Ones was designed by Tierney, who also owns a design agency called Wanderlust and oversees all of the Butcher’s Daughter locations as well. “She travels a ton, so she has warehouses full of found items like these mudcloths from Morocco,” Hendrick says of the banquets’ rough-hewn upholstery. The ceiling of the bar is corkboard, evoking a wine bottle. And the colors throughout the space are a variety of earth tones “reminiscent of a Moroccan palette,” she adds.
More Locations May Be Coming
What began as a fun experiment during the pandemic has become a hit among the Venice Beach crowd. “We just want to nurture the community, and that’s what happens during the week,” says Hendrick. When the Butcher’s Daughter opens soon in Austin, Texas, the team is putting a new Only The Wild Ones behind it. As Hendrick teases: “Maybe now they go together!”
