Unlike anything ever seen in New Bern: Local celebrities bringing upscale entertainment venue
Two of New Bern's most widely recognized entertainers are bringing a new high-end music and entertainment venue to a historic building in downtown New Bern. It will also include a restaurant with a famed chef and an award-winning mixologist in its upscale bar.
Baxter’s 1892, located at 323 Pollock St. in historic downtown New Bern, has been under construction for years but will open later this year.
An opening date has not been released, but those who sign up at www.baxters1892.com will be the first to learn the official opening date.
Baxter’s 1892 will be an after-dinner, music entertainment venue serving high-end cocktails and artfully-crafted tapas, as well as exclusive event spaces for private events. The owners plan to have weekly entertainment, featuring everything from jazz to blues to easy listening.
Co-owners Tyler Griffin and Von Lewis, who first met while studying at East Carolina University, were always drawn to downtown New Bern but wanted more options for extending the evening.
Griffin is a Wyse Fork native and has traveled the world for the past 12 years as an entertainment and hospitality consultant boasting clients such as Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Carowinds Amusement Park, and opening for Jimmy Buffett and Maroon 5, before deciding to settle in New Bern, according to a press release.
Lewis, who grew up in Vanceboro, is part of the New Bern-based singing duo Lewis n Clark with his wife Abbey. He has also acted in TV and films, most famously playing Bobby Rydell in the Oscar-award-winning film Green Book.
The two have talked about opening a business for more than a decade when they happened to stumble upon the perfect opportunity.
“We were looking in the area for a while,” Lewis said in the press release. “We were walking around and saw that the Baxter building was available. It was too good to be true. This location is the perfect spot for our dream.”
According to a previous Sun Journal article, the building is thought to have been erected around 1915.
The Baxter family had been in the jewelry business since 1892 when E.B. Baxter opened a jewelry store on Middle Street. According to a book by Peter B. Sandbeck entitled “The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina', Dr. J.O. Baxter bought the building in 1917 from Bettie D. Windley for $20,000, relocating the jewelry store there in 1920.
The building was purchased by its current owners in October of 2019 and has since seen a million-dollar renovation.
The two are meticulously working to keep as much of the original character as possible while updating the building, bringing everything up to code, sparing no expense.
Musical acts will perform on a new stage constructed above the front doorway, giving almost everyone in the building a priceless view.
“We have numerous opportunities to ‘wow’ our audience” Lewis said. “We are making a concerted effort to bring a different and exciting experience to New Bern.”
They’ve hired a professional lighting designer, ECU School of Theatre and Dance’s Michael Shoaf to design a specific look for the venue.
“Our menu is also being engineered to how you want to feel,” Griffin said in the press release. “It’s designed to cater to whatever your mood is or whatever you want it to be that evening.”
Leading the kitchen will be Executive Chef Jordan Minshew. Minshew’s varied background includes serving as sous chef to Bravo’s channel Top Chef, Tom Colicchio, at his flagship restaurant, Craft NYC. He has also served as chef and kitchen manager at Chef and the Farmer and Boiler Room, under chef Vivian Howard. Minshew has worked tirelessly to craft a tapas menu that will be unique to downtown New Bern.
More: ‘It is time to renovate’: Award-winning chef closes restaurant for summer to revamp
Additionally, the bar program at Baxter’s 1892 will be led by Alex Norris. Norris, also a North Carolina native currently serves as chief mixologist alongside Ashley Christensen, winner of Best Chef Southeast 2014 and 2017 Eater’s Best Chef in the Nation awards.
Griffin also said they hired one of his contacts he met on his career path to design the sound for the space, two-time Emmy Award-winning sound engineer Chuck Davis. Davis previously designed sound for the Grand Ole Opry and Walt Disney World, as well as several television programs.
“We have designed the space with music in mind because of its unique architecture and layout,” Griffin said.
Griffin also went on to say that Baxter’s 1892 is going to be very different from anything New Bernians have seen before in downtown. The culmination of three years of hard work and planning has been arduous, but they wouldn’t have done it any other way.
“We’ve taken our time doing it because we wanted to do it right,” Griffin said.
The iconic Baxter's Clock has been a staple in downtown New Bern since the 1920s. Located just outside the location, it is listed on the National Register.
It survived a 1977 tumble when a furniture truck backed into it leaving it bent. The Baxter family hired a crew with a crane to lift it, straighten it and return it upright. But, it was dropped while being hoisted and crashed into pieces. The accident left only the original ornamental paneled base standing.
It stood that way for the next 14 years until Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corp. had the clock restored at a cost of $28,000. The original weights were placed in public view behind a small window in the clock base. The Baxter family, in turn, gave ownership of the clock to Swiss Bear and provided original parts, which had been stored in the jewelry store basement. Swiss Bear then transferred ownership of the clock to the city on April 20, 1991, the day of its dedication, according to the previous Sun Journal article.
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern entertainers opening new bar, restaurant, music venue
