WASHINGTON 鈥� Six years ago, when veteran bartender Gina Chersevani told friends she wanted to open a soda bar in D.C., the typical response was, 鈥淲hat the heck is that?鈥�
And she didn鈥檛 exactly have an answer at the ready.
“I didn鈥檛 know, because one didn鈥檛 exist, so I had to come up with a way to make it happen,” said Chersevani, who is known around town as “the mixtress,” thanks to her award-winning career in cocktails.
Her idea was to bring back the Brooklyn soda shop experience of her mother鈥檚 childhood, but with a few updated twists and personal touches 鈥� think booze and bagel sandwiches.
After tracking down a vintage 1930s Bastian-Blessing soda fountain from a Chicago-based refurbishing factory (Chersevani found out she couldn’t just buy a new machine 鈥� they don鈥檛 make them anymore), she opened inside Union Market.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of wonderful, because what we鈥檝e created here is a nostalgic place,鈥� Chersevani said.
At the horseshoe-shaped counter, diners can order soda-shop classics, such as the egg cream, which gets its name from the meringue-like head of foam that forms on the top of the drink. More than 10 homemade syrups make up the soda selection (lemon-lavender, root beer and pineapple-cardamom are a few of the available flavors 鈥� booze is optional), and all orders come with a show, of sorts, from the nearly 90-year-old steel fountain.
鈥淧art of [the experience] is the banging of everything,鈥� Chersevani said, referring to the classic swing and 鈥渏erk鈥� of the soda arm on the 12-pump fountain 鈥� a skill that took her about nine months to master.
鈥淪he is temperamental. 鈥� And, one thing I love about these things that most people don鈥檛 know is that in these soda arms are leather gaskets 鈥� there are no plastic pieces in there.鈥�
Soda shops rose to popularity during prohibition, Chersevani explained, but lost their luster in the 1960s and ’70s, when soda was more readily available in cans and bottles. However, the concept experienced a recent (Chersevani said it happened around the same time of the craft cocktail movement), and in D.C., she saw a demand for even more.
鈥淐rafting soda has become a thing again,鈥� said Chersevani, who also lists cocktails, knishes and an array of bagel sandwiches on Buffalo & Bergen鈥檚 menu.
This spring, Chersevani will open a second location of Buffalo & Bergen on Massachusetts Avenue in Capitol Hill. The new spot will expand its food offerings to include three meals a day with deli/diner fare. It will also showcase another vintage soda fountain, albeit a smaller one.
Chersevani hopes that just like the Union Market location, which brings in diners of all ages, including those who frequented soda shops in their prime, the new Buffalo & Bergen will be a gathering place for all Washingtonians.
“That鈥檚 what a soda counter is, it鈥檚 family. It鈥檚 a harmony of flavors, people and experiences,鈥� Chersevani said.
