Bar Betsy transforms Altadena with a café by day, wine bar by night
Bar Betsy transforms Altadena with a café by day, wine bar by night
Bar Betsy transforms Altadena with a café by day, wine bar by night
A mountain version of a Parisian wine bar opens in Altadena
Chef Tyler Wells' restaurant opened one month before the Eaton fire tore through the scenic mountain town of Altadena, but it didn't destroy the community - or his restaurant space. He relaunched it as Betsy last September, and this month, debuted Bar Betsy: an adjacent cafe by day and wine bar by night.
"Having those 30 days and having it taken away puts a different perspective on it," Wells said. "You have this gratitude for what you have in the moment. Every day we're just present."
Bar Betsy serves what Wells calls "sunny, beachy, really simple food": roast-carrot sandwiches, hearth-fired pecan cinnamon buns, heirloom-grain grits topped with thick-cut bacon and runny eggs, market tomatoes with strawberries and burrata.
Like Betsy, the menu pulls nearly all of its ingredients from local and independent farms. At night, Wells sees it as a kind of mountain take on a Parisian wine bar, with cheese, charcuterie, cara cara tuna crudo, lemon pie and a more robust by-the-glass wine list than can be found at Betsy.
He'd signed the lease on the Bar Betsy space before the fire, and happened to store some of his belongings there, including boxes of photos and his camping gear - the latter of which would come in handy post Eaton fire, when he spent a summer camping and cooking outdoors on a farm. "I feel like either the necessities survived, or the things that survived became necessities," he said. "I don't know which came first."
During the holidays Wells and his team started construction, adding a small kitchen, prep room and bakery to the former floral shop, along with banquette and bar seating.
Wells tapped Avanthi Dev - a Vespertine, Destroyer, Gra and Blue Hill at Stone Barns alum - to lead Bar Betsy's food menu alongside Betsy executive chef Paul Downer.
The team also flipped a small alleyway lot that was formerly nursery space for the since-burned hardware store. This year they've planted garden boxes of tomatoes, berries, herbs and citrus trees, and added an outdoor oven, a composter, and a long table for private events. Bar Betsy is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
871 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, barbetsy.com
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