#omar yeefoon

Before entire music libraries and players fit in your hip pocket, there was the age of console stereo systems. Back then, you'd veg out to the vinyl crackle of REM or Pink Floyd in the darkness, the light of the receiver glowing from behind the frequencies on the AM/FM radio display.

That's the feel you get at The Establishment, the long-anticipated cocktail lounge from Mike Martensen and Brian Williams in Dallas' Knox-Henderson neighborhood.

It's no accident, because if The Cedars Social, the James-Beard-nominated bar Martensen and Williams co-own south of downtown, is decidedly 70s retro, The Establishment is even more so -- dark, cozy and swank, with sleek wood paneling creeping from the walls onto the ceiling above the bar.

Plush, U-shaped booths wallow in the murk. A shag-carpeted back room features vinyl-ornamented shelves. The whole scene is soul-ified by a soundtrack courtesy of Al Green, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire and recalling a time of gold chains, leisure suits and bell bottoms.

"I feel like I could walk into that (back) room and hair would grow on my chest," said Ian Reilly, who runs the bar at Dallas' Bowl and Barrel.

The speakeasy atmosphere begins on Travis Street, where no obvious sign or entry marks The Establishment's existence. An unlit hallway bends into the nightlight-dim lounge, where the bar glows in the darkness like the Yamaha tuner in your daddy's man cave.

"I think this is what my dad thought his basement bar looked like," said Charlie Papaceno, the stalwart behind Dallas' Windmill Lounge, admiring The Establishment's wood-paneled setup with a Manhattan in hand. "I’m sure when he looked at it, this is what he saw."

In its purposefully quiet, early opening days, small numbers and familiar faces demonstrated the intimacy of the space, snug as a den. So far there are no stools at the bar and plenty of room to move around or melt into the shadows, as long as the numbers remain limited. And Martensen insists that's the idea: A host will make sure attendance tops out at 48, which is why reservations may ultimately be recommended. “It’s never going to be crowded,” he says.

Not everything about the room is perfect: A prominent staircase, set off by a pair of stanchions, leads temptingly to nowhere but offices. But that's a small trifle, and of course it's the drinks we're here for. There’s no menu, just a list of spirits, your own desires and the whims of the dapper wizards behind the bar. Name a poison, vote spirit-forward or not, claim a preference for bitter or sweet -- whatever you fancy. Mezcal is how I dive in: bartender Mike Steele churns out the Slow Trombone, an apricot-tinged concoction he's still perfecting. Later, Omar Yeefoon, The Establishment's bar program manager, works magic with Hum, one of my preferred liqueurs.

“That’s the great thing about working here,” says Steele, exhibiting a sheet of note paper with scribbled ingredients and proportions on both sides. “All these drinks, I came up with last night.”

If hit-or-miss experimentation isn't your thing, go safe with a classic; in the hands of these bartenders, you won't go wrong.

And when Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" comes on, you'll know you've officially crossed the Boogie Nights barrier.

It was way too much fun for a Tuesday night. Then again, with five of the city's best barmen joining forces at Dallas' Windmill Lounge to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy, the revelry was all for a good cause.

For four-plus hours, the star lineup churned out a New York-inspired menu of cocktails including Manhattans, Brooklynites and Green Hornets. "The Penicillin was the star of the show," said Omar Yeefoon, who did bar duty along with Jason Kosmas, Mate' Hartai, Julian Pagan and the Windmill's own Charlie Papaceno.

It was the final stop on the group's All 4 1 tour of four Texas cities, benefiting bar and restaurant owners in New York's East Village who suffered superstorm damage. 

There were T-shirts. There were toasts. There was even a bullhorn: The group auctioned off some rare and not-so-rare bottles of booze. Tuesday's event raised about $3,000, Yeefoon said, with about $8,000 raised in all.

"We're pretty stoked, to be honest," Yeefoon said. No doubt those business owners will be, too.

The Libertine's Mate' Hartai plays auctioneer as Kosmas, Pagan and Papaceno look on.

Omar Yeefoon, of Cedars Social, takes a breather.

Happy revelers Mikki Mallow (center) and Jodi Mallow Maas.

The commemorative T.

Mr. Charlie Papaceno.

A great cocktail: Definitely a day-brightener. Giving to a good cause: Ditto. Doing both at the same time: Awesome.

Consider it charitable multi-tasking. From 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, you can enjoy New York-themed cocktails AND benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy as four of the city’s best barmen do duty at Dallas’ Windmill Lounge to raise funds for bar and restaurant owners in Manhattan’s East Village.

The effort, called All 4 1, is the handiwork of four accomplished bardudes -- Omar Yeefoon and Julian Pagan of Cedars Social, Libertine Bar’s Mate Hartai and Marquee Grill & Bar’s Jason Kosmas -- who last week stepped behind bars in Austin, Houston and San Antonio raising money for the cause. Originally the four had been looking for a way to do guest spots around Texas, but when the largest Atlantic storm on record pummeled the East Coast last month, they suddenly had a purpose.

Kosmas, a New York transplant who still co-owns Manhattan’s Employees Only, personally knew people in the East Village whose businesses had been devastated by the superstorm. A fun idea turned into a focused one.

“We’re just trying to make sure some of these places don’t shut down, or at least not for long if they do,” Yeefoon said.

Tuesday night, the four will be at the old-school Windmill Lounge making New York-themed cocktails for a minimum $5 donation apiece. T-shirts will be available too.

“Of course we have a good time while we’re doing it, but now we’re, like, really into the charity,” Yeefoon said.

Go. Be like Omar. Have a good time while you’re doing it, and be really into the charity. It’s a double-whammy of feel-good.

The event is one of two going on around town Tuesday as the ongoing Manhattan Project moves northward to Plano’s Whiskey Cake (not Hibiscus, as originally planned). From 7 to 9 p.m., the bar will be dishing up free Manhattans in a periodic series of events designed to promote whiskeys, and the classic cocktail, throughout the colder season.

Some of the whiskeys available for sampling at ongoing Manhattan Project events.