Salar adds new Pisco cocktail bar

Manager: “We want people to come back in for all sorts of reasons.”

Who says Beer Nuts, popcorn and a cold beer are the only way to watch the game at the bar? Not that there is anything wrong with Beer Nuts,  popcorn and cold beer... 

Instead, how about seafood empanadas, chicken chicharrones and a cold pisco sour?

>> PHOTOS: Inside the new Salar in the Oregon District  

Salar Restaurant and Lounge officially opened its new pisco bar , manager Megan Shaw told this news organization.

No, Salar isn’t a sports bar, exactly, but it hopes some new additions may help bring in more sports fans to enjoy the games there.

WHAT’S NEW

The new bar has a full selection of alcohol, wine and beer but will feature pisco sours, a brandy drink made with egg whites and angostura bitters.

“Pisco is everything in Peru,” Shaw said. “(The bar) is something fun, something different.”

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Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Salar owner and executive chef Margot Blondet is from Lima, Peru, where she studied at Le Cordon Bleu.

The restaurant’s name means salt in Spanish and its menu is filled with dishes inspired by Peru.

The restaurant located at 400 E. Fifth St. in Dayton’s historic Oregon District celebrated its reopening Sunday with a special party benefiting Dayton Children’s Hospital’s Burn Program.

>> Beloved downtown restaurant is reopening 

Soft opening days were held last week.

Like the new bar located near the entrance, the restaurant will be open today for regular service. The restaurant has been closed for nine months recovering from damage from an early morning blaze on Dec. 29, 2017.

HOW THE PISCO BAR WORKS

Guests can select from a pisco cocktail list or customize their drinks with a variety of pisco flavors that currently include apricot, coca tea, concord grapes and pineapple.

The syrup varieties include honey, agave, cinnamon and clove, cactus blossom, lavender, simple, vanilla and demerara.

The bar features a large-screen TV, and three smaller televisions will be installed behind the bar.

>> Salar owner after fire: ‘My heart is broken for my people’ (Dec. 30, 2017)

There are still no televisions in Salar’s main dining room.

The bar’s bites menu includes empanadas, chicharrones and cebiche.

Anything on the restaurant’s full menu can also be ordered from the bar, Shaw said.

She said the idea behind the new bar and addition of TVs is to appeal to more customers. Several customers have said they want a place to watch University of Dayton basketball games and other sporting events.

“We want people to come back in for all sorts of reasons,” she said.

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

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