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Northern Comfort
This is a study of privacy in the face of hype, a picture of laid-back
cool, surprising in a world where self-perpetuating press runs rampant.
It’s the story of the quiet reopening of the North Star Bar by an
unlikely set of prime movers: Joanna Pang and her partner, Sloan, both
of the Trocadero.
Drive past the Old English tavern at 27th and Poplar and you can see
the familiar black-star-in-circle insignia that was North Star’s
symbol. On an icy day, Sloan walked me through the
still-under-construction corner bar, past the mess of planks and broken
lighting fixtures left behind by previous owners.
"I’d like to leave this mess here and lock the door," jokes Sloan
about what once was (and will again be) a well-heeled billiard room.
Back in ’81, Pete Kelly and Charlie Abdo opened the North Star Bar,
a relaxed restaurant/bar and live music venue in the Art Museum area,
to suit the increasingly gentrified neighborhood and to serve the music
community. Fans of groovy blues, funky folk, punk poets,
singer/songwriter rock and an odd combo of Tex-Mex and Pan Asian food,
tucked in for a long comfy ride. But the place changed hands in 1996
and was closed by April of ’99, perhaps due to slackening interests in
live music or the Old City boom. Enter Pang and Sloan.
Pang, an international banking type before she got to the Troc,
refused to be interviewed for this piece, opting for humility over hype.
"She’s just a very private woman," Sloan says. "She worked in the
banking world, got sick of what she did for a living, came back to
Philly at the right time and quickly did what had to be done. She
scrubbed. She gutted, much like she’s doing here. But she doesn’t want
to talk about it."
Sloan, 35, doesn’t seem too comfortable talking either. A tall
Nordic-looking Chestnut Hill native who started life in Philadelphia’s
club scene as a bouncer at the Khyber in 1989, he figured he’d live a
more outdoorsy life.
"Before bar life, I was living on the islands, captaining charter
boats in the Caribbean. And yes, when people ask me how I wound up back
here, I still answer, ‘I don’t know.’" From there, he followed
then-Khyber owners Dave Simons and Jo Nguyen to the Troc, eventually
winding up its manager when Pang and booking agent Jon Hampton took
over.
The first-floor pub has been part of this corner bar since
Prohibition. The mahogany bar, wooden ceiling fans and tin roof remain,
only painted pale orange. The bathrooms still have the same cameo
male/female symbols.
The balcony area, now painted tavern gold (a far cry from the ugly
dark red with blue spots it once was), will be more private. Ornate
church banisters open up a view of the stage.
"Now you can actually watch the band as opposed to seeing the tops of their heads," Sloan laughs.
Hampton will carry his love of music over to the North Star and
bring in an eclectic roster of shows like inaugural act Jim and Jenny
and the Pine Barons on Feb. 18 — a sound not too far from the very
WXPN-like vibe that made the North Star famous — along with the
possibility of mellow jazz and DJ nights.
In a couch-filled spot off the balcony, a tiny nightly menu of
specials and finger foods — somewhere between the upscale fare at Rouge
and the hearty eats at Monk’s Café — will be served.
In the stage area, booths have been removed and the bar relocated
to the North Star’s bright back atrium space, widening the dance floor
considerably. Beams are newly revealed, original heating ducts shine.
Behind the atrium, the infamous neon Howard Johnson’s sign is being
removed and returned to Lenny Davidson’s traveling neon museum. The
neon Levi’s hot dog will remain atop the building as a Bat symbol of
sorts, signaling when the space is open.
"This room, along with the balcony, will be a nice relaxing
atmosphere — a living room feel — so that people will feel at home,"
says Sloan. "I think people’d like to get away from the hustle of
Center City, raw attitudes and loud music."
All of which is as much a part of Joanna and Sloan’s personal vibe as it is the North Star’s.
(by a.d. amorosi / CityPaper /
February 10–17, 2000) |
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