At the table
DRINK
at the T.K.O.
HAYMAKER
H
by MIMI MONTGOMERY
“Haymaker” is a term for a wild punch in boxing – a final, loose, unexpected blow. A knockout. It’s also the inspiration for The Haymaker, a recently opened cocktail bar in downtown Raleigh that lives up to its off-the-cuff namesake.
Developed by the restaurant group Eschelon Experiences, which owns and runs six local establishments, The Haymaker is the group’s first stand-alone bar. Creative director Dustin Slemp calls it “a brainchild,” a combina-
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tion of creative ideas that aren’t obviously cohesive, but somehow come together under the Haymaker roof. Take ’90s hip-hop and boxing. Not typically thought of as a pair, here they form a theme. Bathroom walls feature light blue toile wallpaper designed by a member of the Beastie Boys; instead of French pastoral scenes, however, the paper is dotted with images of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. and Brooklyn subways. A collection of vintage boxing gloves hangs from the wall, and a giant stuffed moose head reigns over the bar (the guys have plans to hang a big clock on a chain around its neck photographs by KEITH ISAACS
