The Night Watchmen

The Future Bars trio relishes a challenge. “The next place we open, we’ve got to raise the bar even higher,” says Brian Sheehy—no pun intended. The three are tight-lipped about the new Financial District spot they’re set to open this fall, but they will say that it’s like nothing SF has ever seen: “It’s being done elsewhere, in London and in New York,” says Dahi Donnelly. “It won’t be exclusive, but we’ll make you jump through a couple of hurdles to get there—’cause those work really well for us.”

Work they do. Bourbon & Branch, the country’s first reservations- and seating-only bar, has exceeded everyone’s expectations—it was named one of 2007’s Best New Bars in America by Esquire and received multiple industry awards. “When we first opened, people were taking bets on how long we’d survive,” says Sheehy, who lives in Oakland (his partners both live in SF). “Now, people want to be buried there—more than one person,” adds Donnelly.

The guys consider every guest a VIP, which may explain their celeb following. Coldplay and The Wallflowers are regulars at Swig when they’re in town, and last year, when former Stone Rose Ian Brown landed in jail for allegedly assaulting a bouncer while playing the Great American Music Hall, it was Donnelly who got a phone call, “used some connections to secure his release” and made sure Brown got to Portland in time for his next gig. Now that’s what we call service.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Q&A

Secret ingredient to great atmo?
Sheehy: The first thing for us is lighting. You won’t find a bulb in any of our three bars that’s not on a dimmer. Even in our office—even in the bathrooms.

What do you guys do at night?
Sheehy: Dahi roams around our three bars, Doug roams the party circuit and I stay home because I’m married.
Donnelly: I walk into a bar, and I can tell in the first minute what’s not right. I don’t think ‘Oh, I’ve got to go to work now, dammit.’ I can’t wait to get out to see what’s going wrong.

Hottest thing about SF?
Donnelly: The ’Loin.

What would you change about SF?
Donnelly: Get rid of bottle service.

Who would you choose for the Hot 20?
Donnelly: Peter Acworth of Kink.com.

On their door ethos:
Donnelly: We try to put ourselves in the guests’ shoes and provide them with what they want. Standing in line is not what they want.
Sheehy: We don’t play games of holding people outside to make it look like there’s a scene. We want everyone in. We want everyone drinking.

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