The Blackbird Buvette was opened by a rock band.
"Spending a lot of time together traveling, we would always think of different ideas of things to do, and that was one that I think everybody was always intrigued with," Brian Knieriem said. "We all had a background in the service industry - restaurants. We have a lot of ideas that come up, and this one seemed like we could pull it off pretty well."
The bar opened February 2007. Knieriem, who is in the band the Dirty Novels, said Buvette is a French slang meaning a small bar or refreshment stand.
"We wanted to be a little ambiguous with the name. We didn't want to have pub, bar or grill - you know, something like that," he said. "We were going for more of a European feel where you can have coffee, espresso, champagne, wine, beer, food and, you know, all those options late in the evening. We didn't want to pigeon hole ourselves and call it a bar or grill and have it have that kind of connotation."
Frank Moschiano has been a regular at the Blackbird since August. He said it's the most interesting place Downtown.
"It's certainly friendly because there is a diverse crowd. It has good food. The energy is different from the other bars Downtown. It's kind of eclectic," he said. "You get old, young, straight, gay, musicians, heavy drinkers, families. It's a really friendly place."
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Moschiano said the bar has great comfort food.
"I like this place because the prices of the food are the same as you get down the street, but it's not bar food," he said. "I love the blue cheese fries. I love the artichoke dip and the Blackbird quesadilla. It's bar food, but it's interesting bar food."
Knieriem said the name was inspired by "Blackbird," a Beatles song.
"We were brainstorming names, and I don't really recall why or how that came about. But I think for us, we're all big Beatles fans. There's a definite Beatles connotation with it," he said.
Knieriem said the owners didn't want a common menu.
"I'm really into the tomato basil mozzarella sandwich, with sweet potato fries on the side," he said. "That's pretty groovy. The chicken salad sandwich with walnuts and grapes, that one's really, really tasty, as well. Yeah, the food's good, you know. We were trying to offer nontraditional club fare - no deep-fried food. We try to keep it a little more healthy. You know, better options later at night."
Knieriem said the Blackbird is supportive of the art community.
"I mean we're obviously all very heavy into, you know, the whole communal sense of everybody and their art," he said. "We have photography, open-mic night, poetry, you know - stuff that is probably not as typical as you would get Downtown Friday night. We do a lot of DJ stuff."
The bar offers a variety of drinks such as blueberry white Russians and raspberry mimosa.
"Recently they legalized absinthe, which is available. We've been getting down on that lately," he said. "It contains wormwood."
Blackbird Buvette
509 Central Ave. N.W.
Monday-Friday: 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Saturday: 12 p.m.-2 a.m.
Sunday: 12 p.m.-12p.m.
