Aug 06, 2004  |  By: BRIAN MOYLAN  | COMMENTS     

Party promoters Ed Bailey and John Guggenmos have made a career out of making a splash. So it was surprising when their newest effort unceremoniously opened its doors to the public on Friday, July 16, with barely a mention.

For Halo, the swanky new smoke-free lounge in Northwest D.C., at 14th and P streets, to not create a buzz is, in itself, a way to create a buzz.

“We do things that are big and crazy and promotionally off the wall. We offer that at VelvetNation once a week, and this is a completely different feeling,” Bailey says. “Halo is much more subdued and relaxed.”

Bailey and Guggenmos, operating partners in this new venture, also run the popular Saturday night gay dance party VelvetNation in Southeast D.C., and were the brains behind other nightlife hotspots, including the original Cobalt, Millennium, and Ozone.

The promotional silence surrounding Halo is a departure from past practices, and so is the new design of the space. Located above the gay-owned Empire Video on P Street, the building where Halo now sits used to be the Safe Light Auto Glass store. The second floor, where the bar is, was used as storage for car windshields and supplies.

Because of the space’s background, this was the first time the duo had to build a bar from the ground up, rather than buying an existing space and tweaking it.

“We had a design vision, and our goal was to create something that approached a boutique hotel-type lounge, the likes of which there just isn’t in D.C. for the gay community,” Bailey says.

The redesign, with the help of designer Greg Keffer, leaves no trace of the room’s industrial roots. The curved ceiling, stark white walls, and colorful accent lighting make Halo, which so far has attracted a mostly male crowd, look more like an art deco bungalow than the attic of an auto shop. Everything about the place is sleek, from the silver bar stools and huge ottomans to the snazzy bathrooms and the winding banquette that provides most of the seating in the bar.

Halo, which has no cover charge, is like a well-tailored Oxford shirt: crisp, clean and always fashionable. The capacity for the venue is just more than 100 people, with seating for 80 percent of the crowd. Everything about the place, including the understated, down-tempo music, is meant to get patrons to just chill out.

“There’s too much going on in everyone’s lives to navigate the complicated sea of promotions at every bar — what night is it? Who’s the DJ? It’s too much,” Bailey says. “We are a lounge; we open at the same time every day [5 p.m.]. Our drinks are the same price every day; our format is the same every day.”

Halo also plans to promote more experimental fare, and will be offering special concoctions each month. August brings the blueberry mojito and a chocolate-covered strawberry martini.

There also are non-alcoholic frozen drinks and smoothies available at Halo for those who want to opt out of the more potent potables. Bailey says that in the colder months, Halo will offer a variety of coffee drinks, with and without booze.

The bar also has the distinction of being D.C.’s only gay bar that is smoke-free.

“We made this decision for a number of reasons. First and foremost is we believe it creates a more comfortable environment for everyone there,” Bailey says, adding that it was the most difficult decision to make.

“We ask people to smoke outside the front door,” he says, “and on nights that are busy and there’s a line, we let people go out and smoke and come back in without having to wait in line again.”