Meet Addendum: Eighteenth Street Lounge’s New Cocktail Bar

The 22-year-old veteran of the Dupont Circle bar scene — commonly dubbed “ESL” — is welcoming a new internal attraction this week.

Come Thursday, Studio Bar will be rebranded as Addendum, pouring its focus into house-made ingredients and upscale cocktails served in crystal glassware.

Guests will find no perishable ingredients in sight, including juices. Bitters and amaros are scheduled to dominate the agenda; Addendum is also expected to showcase bitters developed in-house.

Addendum's arrival marks the end of an era. Thievery Corporation, now an international fixture in the music world, recorded its first tracks inside the bar back in the 1990s — hence the name Studio Bar.

ESL co-owner Farid Nouri, who’s been with the lounge at 1212 18th St. NW since day one, is spearheading the new project. Lukas Smith and J.D. Quioco — big names in the local bartending game — will head up the beverage program.

[Jeffrey Martin/Eighteenth Street Lounge]

Cocktails will be created with ingredients born in the District, such as rums from Cotton & Reed Distillery, liqueurs from Don Ciccio & Figli, and aromatized wine from Capitoline.

The bar can seat 18 to 20 at a time, and reservations are available. Sother Teague, a NYC-based master mixologist (Amor y Amargo), will make a guest appearance at the opening Feb. 9 — and may jump behind the bar to do his thing.

Addendum's website is expected to piggyback on the current ESL website. A new logo will be sparsely placed throughout the lounge.

As for the meaning behind the name, management volunteered the following:

“Much in the same way a constitutional amendment can forge a different implementation of the core document, the simplest modifying ingredients will be mechanisms to reinterpret classic cocktails at Addendum,” Team ESL said in a press release.