Drink.Well. Breaks Ground in North Loop

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• Ben Edgerton of Contigo and Michael Sanders of drink.well.
• Michael and Jessica Sanders of drink.well.
• Michael Sanders of drink.well.
• Muchael Sanders of drink.well.
• Jessica Sanders of drink.well.

Yesterday evening Michael and Jessica Sanders broke ground on their new neighborhood restaurant and bar, drink.well., in the North Loop district. Located just a block away from Foreign & Domestic, it will open in early 2012.

The menu will feature regional American favorites as small plate pub food and bar snacks. Jessica Sanders notes that the key is "simple ingredients and simple preparation that people understand with amped up flavor." They are creating their cocktail menu in consultation with local experts David Alan and Joe Eifler of Tipsy Texan.

Michael and Jessica are aiming for a vibrant, local spot that people walk to and become regulars. "A bar makes a neighborhood. We learned that in New York City, and Austin doesn't have much of that yet," Jessica says.

Michael is consulting with a long-time friend, hip-hop Chef Roblé Ali of New York City, whose cooking show Roblé & Co. was picked up by Bravo earlier this year. They chose Rick Price of Red Arc One as the project's architect and Rick and Cindy Black as their designers.

Also at the event were Jake Maddux of Thirsty Planet Brewing Company, Ben Edgerton of Contigo, Pam Pritchard of Tigress Pub, Sandra Spalding of Twin Liquors, and David Alan and Joe Eifler of Tipsy Texan.

Once you are off your post-holiday diet and paid off your credit card debt from all that gift buying, check out drink.well. in late January 2012.

· drink.well. [Official Site]
· All drink.well. Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]