Jade Rabbit cocktail bar is named for the Moon Rabbit, common in Asian mythology, who makes elixirs for everlasting life on the moon.
Hoping to score a seat at Jade Rabbit, the Main Line’s first subterranean speakeasy? Be quick like a bunny. Friday’s Grand Opening sold out in a flash.
With just eight bar stools, five tables and limited hours, this handsome hideaway below Maison Lotus in downtown Wayne is as exclusive as it is exotic.
You won’t have to give a secret handshake or password but you will go down a bit of a rabbit hole to get here.
There’s no sign and a lush mural camouflages the entry doors.
Deep-green palm leaf tiles envelop the walls. Bronze rabbit heads dangle jade beads from Thailand. The lighting is muted and moody.
While the ambiance is alluring, the theatrical cocktails and smashing small plates steal the show.
Bartender Curtis D’Aulerio’s intricate Asian-fusion elixirs are rich and balanced but never cloying.
A mint bubble sits atop the fruity “Velvet Hour.” When the “moon smoke” over the “Jade Rabbit Moon Landing” pops, effervescent vapors rise from the, er, lunar surface.
“That Circle Jawn” is another showstopper: a rum-and-sherry cocktail-for-two infused with pho spices and poured from a porthole.
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The Silk Press dessert cocktail is toasted tableside:
Food is available à la carte or in a $145 five-course cocktail-and-wine pairing.
Co-owner Pearl Somboonsong insists you won’t get sloshed if you choose the pairing. The alcohol content totals about two stiff drinks, she says. Our pairing started with the low-alcohol “The Way of the Cocktail” – a honeyed Negroni-esque highball – and became boozier until the dessert cocktail. A three-course cocktail progression is also available.
On the menu:
Small bites of elevated bar food like $8 umami popcorn, $10 Japanese Street Corn, and $14 Tree Caviar:
Jade Rabbit’s Tree Caviar: golden curry madeleine, coconut crème fraiche and Japanese field-grown caviar. The speakeasy’s creator, WIN Hospitality’s Pearl Somboonsong, first tasted it at Michelin-starred 11 Madison Park in NYC.
“Bigger bites” include $18 pork “flower dumplings,” $21 yellowtail hamachi, $25 Chilean sea bass and the buttery-est beef around: $45 A5 Miyazaki Waygu steak (below).
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WIN Hospitality made its name with larger restaurants like Teikoku in Newtown Square, Mikado Thai Pepper in Ardmore, and gone-but-not-forgotten Azie in Villanova.
“This is a whole new ballgame for us,” says Somboonsong. “The intimate space lets us push everyone to their limits. We’re trying to maximize experience here.”
WIN Hospitality co-owner and CEO Pearl Somboonsong (center) with Barbara Bigford and yours truly, Caroline O’Halloran, at the preview night for WIN’s latest venture, Jade Rabbit.
Somboonsong says she was inspired by the speakeasy scene in New York and the rarified cocktail culture of Chicago.
“This kind of speakeasy vibe wasn’t present on the Main Line so I thought, ‘Build it,’ right?’”
Right. She built it and they will come. In droves.
Jade Rabbit, 175 Lancaster Ave., Wayne (lower level of Maison Lotus) is open Thursdays and Fridays from 5:30 p.m. but nights and hours may change. Reserve bar seats and tables via Resy.
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