Good Friends, Great Place

It's always exciting when friends realize a dream they've been working toward for years. And even better when that dream is to open their own bar. Better than that would be a bar with simple noshes located not too far from our house, maybe within biking distance.

Randy at the back-bar sink, not for the first or last time!
So we must have had some good karma stored up, because our friends Nancy Hunt and Randy Goodman decided to open Bar Avignon on the corner of 22nd and Division. To say that it's changed from its days as the Red & Black Cafe is like saying that Michael Jackson had a little work done. With its storefront windows looking out on the street, a 25-foot-long standing bar and cozy banquettes ranged around the periphery, this place is friendly and sophisticated all at once.

Hey, Nancy, when can we get a t-shirt?

And the surprise, tucked away in the back, is a long dining table suitable for up to ten people for tasting dinners, parties, gatherings or what-have-you. The dark walls and sophisticated lighting could have been too uptown for this corner, but in this case they serve to make it feel like a place you could hang with friends, sipping and snacking. You can bet that's what we'll be doing. And soon.

Details: Bar Avignon, opening Friday, June 27, at 2138 SE Division. Phone 503-517-0808.