Doctor’s Orders

Written by Melissa Mahanes

Discretely off Broadway in the Hume-Fogg School’s shadow and just a stone’s throw from the Lower Broadway scene lies an inconspicuous brick building distinguished only by an intriguing red phone booth. Behind this façade lies the ultimate 1920s prohibition-era speakeasy experience, Red Phone Booth Nashville. Red Phone Booth is a club featuring premium hard-to-find spirits, craft cocktails, and cigars catering to the connoisseur. To enter, you dial a secret telephone number on the rotary phone inside the cannibalized British phone booth—a number that can only be obtained through a member, friend, or a concierge of one of 12 nearby luxury hotels (until now...).

The 100-year-old building that houses Red Phone Booth has quite a fascinating history, having been home to several businesses, including the Tin Cup Coffee House, a tailor who made costumes for country music stars, and most notoriously, the Classic Cat “gentleman’s club.” Passing through the phone booth entrance into the club, a wall with private humidors on the left is crowned by “the Cabinet of the Gods,” an illuminated glass case of bottles with some of the rarest spirits on Earth. The club’s front portion is the Bar, or “The Pharmacy,” which features a robust back bar of fine “medicine.” The lounges are furnished with custom Italian leather couches on floors of reclaimed tobacco barn wood. The walls are embellished with still-life paintings by renowned artist Christian Waggoner, who, among other accomplishments, was sanctioned by Lucas Films LTD to create images commemorating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. The very back of the club houses the private “Mafia Room,” with a pool table and lounge with a large flat-screen TV to enjoy sports events, concerts, etc.

The creator of the RPB concept, Steve de Haan, started tending bar early on at TGI Friday’s in Atlanta. There, Steve discovered he had a flair for mixology and was even a competitive flair bartender. His grandfather, W.J. “Bill” Boortz—a pharmacist, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Squire, and cigar aficionado—was a tremendous influence on Steve. He introduced him to the early 20th-century art of making craft cocktails and the etiquette of entertaining. The food and beverage menu at Red Phone Booth pays homage to his grandfather’s favorite wood-bound cocktail recipe book Here’s How. De Haan honors Boortz by writing, “Please share the Red Phone Booth with like-minded individuals, those friends with whom you would leave the keys to your house without a second thought.” It is clear that de Haan wants to show his guests the best possible experience.

Red Phone Booth’s original location is in Atlanta when it began as Prohibition in 2002. Another site is soon to open in Buckhead. Nashville seemed to be a logical next step, and de Hann looked for the perfect spot for quite some time before settling on 8th Avenue. Michael Cudlitz – an award-winning actor best known for his roles as John Cooper in Southland and Abraham Ford of The Walking Dead is partners with de Haan in Nashville after enjoying hanging out at RPB in Atlanta.

Red Phone Booth makes available some of the finest and rarest bourbons, scotches, and Japanese whiskeys in the world. Bourbons include Woodford Baccarat, Weller Non-Chilled Filtered, and several varieties of Pappy Van Winkle’s. Center and top of the bar are hard to find Octomore Scotch and MacCallan 25. Yamaguchi Japanese whiskey is also a gem. The bartenders carve ice daily from 300-pound double-reverse pass osmosis blocks. Garnishes are cut to order, and juices are freshly squeezed daily, including blood orange, mango, and cranberry. The back bar also includes a collection of some of the most exotic liqueurs available. The staff has a comprehensive knowledge of the spirits and craft exceptional retro-inspired cocktails. “So step up to the bar, tell your likes and dislikes to our master mixologists, and allow them to craft you the freshest, finest cocktail of your life.”

Red Phone Booth boasts a walk-in humidor containing over 100 specially curated labels. The air is triple-filtered and is kept at a constant 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 percent humidity. Their house cigar is the 18th Amendment, a dark, medium-bodied cigar made of a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers encased in a Brazilian Arapirca Maduro wrapper. Other phenomenal, rare smokes include the Rocky Patel Special Edition, Davidoff Zino Rockets, and Luciano Meirelles’ The Dreamer. Red Phone Booth is also a Limited Cigar Associate for Privada Cigar Club.

With regard to cuisine, Red Phone Booth offers expertly prepared Neapolitan-style pizza with a few creative liberties taken. Stephen De Haan studied in Italy under Pizzaiola Maestros and is a certified Pizzaiola. The pizza is baked at 900 degrees for 70 seconds in a 6000-pound Acunto brick oven imported from Italy burning white oak. The pizza crust alone is an elevated epicurean experience, and the pie will melt in your mouth. Other dishes include a shrimp cocktail prepared in the pizza oven, salads, pasta dishes, and traditional Italian desserts.

Air quality and sanitization are taken very seriously. The entire club’s air is scrubbed and replaced every four minutes by a Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization System developed by the Mayo Clinic and installed at the White House. Also, MonoFoil Disinfectant is used to sanitize all surfaces, the efficacy of which lasts a minimum of 30 days.

For a deliciously crafted cocktail and a smooth smoke, check out the unique experience of the Red Phone Booth. Please email us at nashville@slmag.net for our Sophisticated Living Nashville telephone number for entry.

The Red Phone Booth offers three levels of membership. All members receive priority entry via a Bio-metric scanner, soft reservations for members until 9:00pm, and invitations to membersonly events. The Premium Associate Membership starts at $250 annually. With the $600 Premium Locker Membership, members are also entitled to one year rental of a humidor locker with a personalized engraved nameplate and 25% off cigars boxes. A Corporate Membership ($1500) includes all that the Premium Locker Membership offers for three individuals with additional memberships available, plus the ability to have their humidor locker stocked monthly by the Red Phone Booth team.