SPEAK OF THE DEVIL

SPEAK OF THEDevilFRIENDLINESS IS ON THE MENU AT THIS LORAIN BAR

BY RICH WARREN PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN KOPANSKI

Picture someone entering a bar and a group of people already inside shouting out, “Speak of the devil! We were just talking about you!”

It’s that kind of camaraderie, that shared sense of community that’s the aim of the appropriately named bar Speak of the Devil in downtown Lorain. Like the legendary watering hole in the iconic television show Cheers, it’s a neighborhood bar where people gather to commune with friends and acquaintances. Along with feeling of being among friends, it’s the high-quality, highly creative craft cocktails that are the main draw at this friendly gathering place.

Owner Kurt Hernon has been making craft cocktails for a long time, all the way back to the 1990s. After a period of brewing beer in his home, he developed an interest in the history of spirits and distilling. Out of that sprang a habit of crafting old-time cocktails from yesteryear — first for his friends, then for a catering business at various events around the city. So much enthusiasm greeted his cocktail creations that he opened Speak of the Devil in 2017 in downtown Lorain.

“I preach the gospel of classic cocktails made just the right way and with attention to detail,” Hernon explained. “We’d developed a reputation and a clientele around the city, so I had a feeling that if I provided a regular place for them to gather, that they’d do just that.”

And gather they do, not just from Lorain but also from as far away as Cleveland, where patrons who’ve made the pilgrimage

to Hernon’s establishment enthusiastically urge others to travel there. Even people from Detroit have occasionally stopped by, which tells Hernon that the word is spreading, since word of mouth has been the bar’s primary form of advertising since opening day.

Speak of the Devil’s cocktail menu gets swapped out three times a year, and just for fun, Hernon periodically offers themed events like whiskey tastings, or cocktails from specific countries — like Cuba. Still, a constant on the menu are historic cocktails like The Bee’s Knees, made with gin, honey, and lemon, or other almostforgotten ones dating from the Prohibition era like Aviation or White Lady, which also use gin as a base.

Other drinks are of Hernon’s creation, like something he calls the 5th Street Finisher, a Scotch-based sour. And with more than 90 bourbons and 40 whiskeys on hand, the knowledgeable bartenders can even create as many as 25 different riffs on an Old Fashioned, including substituting sugar with Benedictine or an Italian amaro.

The bar’s biggest seller is the Painkiller, a cocktail created in the British Virgin Islands using rum, pineapple and orange juice, and coconut cream. But the second most requested drink is something Hernon calls The Conversation, where bartenders quiz their patrons about their likes or dislikes in cocktails, and then custom-make a concoction based on what they’ve learned about the customer’s tastes.

“Over time, our guests have learned to trust us and know we’re going to give them something they like,” Hernon said. “And we like to shake things up, not just

SIP AT HOME

Try this historic cocktail created at the New Orleans restaurant, La Louisiane, in 1881. It’s a variation of the famous Vieux Carré, a heady mix of rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, and bitters.

À LA LOUISIANE

2 oz. rye 3/4 oz. Benedictine 1/2 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth 3 dashes Angostura bitters 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Stir all the ingredients in a mixing glass, then pour into a glass.

Popular cocktails include the À La Louisiane, pictured in front of the Negroni and Painkiller.

offer them the same old, same old.” He notes that regular patrons who once were timid about trying something new now frequently scan the “specials” board when they arrive to see if there’s something exciting they’d like to try.

Speak of the Devil is often credited with a downtown revitalization in Lorain, having proved that plenty of customers are willing to venture there for an enjoyable experience. Since the bar’s opening, new restaurants have moved in like Union Town Provisions, whose chef was trained at the Culinary Institute of America. The Ariel Broadway Hotel inside a landmark structure built in 1925 has re-opened its doors, and the city completed a refurbished streetscape for the entire several blocks long stretch of Broadway just steps away from Speak of the Devil.

“For a long time, downtown Lorain had an underdog vibe to it,” Hernon said. “Before we opened and were telling people where the bar was going to be, they were aghast. They’d say ‘Lorain? Why are you opening a cocktail bar in Lorain?’ But it turns out we’ve found lots of people who like what we’ve got to offer. We’ve grown because we’ve grown the palates of our guests.”

Try the creative 5th Street Finisher.

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