BABYBAR
In the fall of 2025, we turned a vacant industrial garage in South Bend into a two-night pop-up bar, in collaboration with Permit Pending and Vested Interest. BABYBAR was a small, temporary bar that doubled as a love letter to intimate hospitality: the kind of room where you don't need much more than a few seats, a short drink list, and an excuse to brush shoulders. The name defined both the scale and the mood. Small, close, reckless, and romantic. BABYBAR borrows from a long tradition of bars where the constraint is the concept: Tokyo's Golden Gai, Berlin's Kneipe culture, Mexico City's natural wine pop-ups. Small rooms with short menus where the space itself is the experience.
- My contribution
- Created the concept, name, identity, and visual world · Designed the room, signage, menu, and beer-and-wine drink program · Led the build, launch campaign, partnerships, and on-site operation
- Project
- Independent hospitality concept · South Bend, Indiana
- Year
- 2025
From raw storage space to fully realized bar in one month, the process was fast, scrappy, and intentional. We started with a blank, utilitarian shell and built everything from the ground up. Layout, flow, materials, lighting, and identity all developed in parallel, allowing decisions to stay responsive rather than overplanned. As hoped, the tight timeline forced clarity. Every element had to earn its place. What emerged is a space that feels cohesive and considered, but still carries the energy of how it was made.
The city only allowed beer and wine—no spirits license or back bar. We looked to Europe, where they’ve been doing more with less for centuries, and built the menu around that logic. Spain gave us the kalimoxo and tinto verano. Italy gave us the Aperol spritz, which we created on BABYBAR terms, using the non-distilled Cappelletti, and dubbed it the Baby Spritz.
Before the first night, we ran a TikTok and Instagram series documenting the build in real time. The garage went from empty to open in a matter of weeks, and we brought people along for it. We promoted via Eventbrite and email, and sold out both nights.
