Stage Lounge & Bar aims to amuse with expanded drink options

As befitting a spot called Stage, there are dramatic — and tasty — changes in play at the Stage Lounge & Bar. With manager Dusty Grable directing the action, the Stage Lounge is seeking to step into the spotlight.

The experience

In the lounge, you can sit at the long bar, with its attractive array of specialty liquors to admire, or on low couches arranged to face each other across a table. This spot is especially inviting in the golden hour before sunset, when light streaks in from the high windows above the bar. Conveniently, this overlaps with happy hour much of the time.

Just adjacent to Stage, sister spot Amuse Wine Bar has long been a popular pau hana destination, with its darkened room, high tables and state-of-the-art wine stations offering more than 100 wines by the glass, not to mention the happy hour offer of a $50 wine-tasting card for $30. But many patrons don’t realize that they can also venture into the Stage Lounge as an alternate place to park for a drink and small plates. Grable, formerly a partner in the duo that brought Lucky Belly, Livestock and Tchin Tchin to Chinatown, rousing an excited clientele, wants to get the word out. He’s been working with Stage for the last six months.

Grable is making changes to make the welcome more clear; in March, he said, Stage will physically move the doors between Amuse, the bar and lounge, and Stage’s restaurant area, opening the bar to the wine stations and creating a rearranged dining area.

The food

Executive chef Ron de Guzman specializes in combining bold flavors of blended ethnic traditions with classical preparation techniques, with the aim of pleasing an adventurous eater. His happy hour menu hits the target.

Patatas Bravas ($5, regularly $8) are a near-perfect blend of tastes that seem especially designed to appeal to Japanese visitors. Dense, crispy potatoes are topped with an aioli spiced with togarashi (chili), and sprinkled with katsuobushi (dried, fermented skipjack flakes) and tobiko (fish eggs). You have to like fish, potatoes, fat and chili to like it — you mean not everyone does?!? — but if you do, it’s soooo satisfying.

A similar process is at work with the Roast Pork Kiwale ($10, regularly $14). The pork is served in oversized, sizzling and crispy-skinned chunks, with a drizzle of hoisin on top and vinegary fish sauce underneath. There’s an addictive mix of flavors and textures here — sweet and sour, crispy and chewy — along with a bow to both Chinese and Filipino tastes. Seriously could. not. stop. eating it!

The nicely edited happy hour menu also includes calamari ($9, regularly $13), cooked properly, lightly coated and served in a generous portion, and edamame.

Vegetarians will be happy with the avocado toast ($7, regularly $11), which o ut-classes many a purveyor’s offerings; it’s served here in an attractive style, rather than as mash slathered on boring, stiff bread slices. Stage brings out its avocado toast looking pretty, with slightly smushed slices of fresh, green fruit on top of surprisingly soft, tasty ciabatta bread, then embellished with Romesco (a Spanish sauce of roasted red peppers and almonds) and aged balsamic dressing. My healthy-eating dining companion gobbled this up.

The drink

Stage Lounge has a brand-new cocktail menu, developed by Allie Haines (who worked with Grable at Livestock Tavern). It made its debut Tuesday; all the offerings are $12.

I was charmed by the very drinkable Momo Hana, a refreshing, colorful, complex drink made with Damrak gin, hibiscus, Italian aperitif Cocchi, Nami Hana Shochu, lemon Giffard’s Peche (a French-made peach liqueur), Regan’s Orange Bitters and orange blossom water. It was hard to put this one down, and it was a beautiful example of Haines’ creativity.

A glowing Mad Hatter was also a highlight, made with Bacardi and Arios rum, orgeat, lime, orange curacao, egg whites and a splash of Maui Brewing Company’s Coconut Porter.

Cocktails aren’t discounted for happy hour, but wines by the glass and a rotating selection of beers ($6 each) are on special. On my visit, a California Zinfandel, Italian Pinot Grigio and Sangria were the wine offerings; and Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada’s Hop Hunter IPA and Maui Brewing Company’s Bikini Blonde were the specialty beers.

The verdict

With Grable and the culinary/beverage team taking a fresh look at the assets, Stage and Amuse are revamping their productions. So far, the taste-forward offerings are worth the price of the ticket. Get yourself down there and taste the exciting food and drink options.