T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Brian Gray, owner of The Cellar Door, stands in front of the spirits he will offer patrons when the bar opens Feb. 1 at 207 E. Main Street in the basement of Dave & Sally’s. Gray plans on providing inventive cocktails and a creative atmosphere for his customers.

A new bar experience is coming to Marshalltown.

Brian Gray is opening the Cellar Door on Feb. 1, and he will bring inventive and interesting concoctions for people to enjoy. An espresso chocolate chip martini with a little cookie? That doesn’t sound too outlandish. How about a chicken noodle soup cocktail? Future patrons will have the opportunity to try both, and more.

Gray said the Cellar Door will have a “stacked” menu of cocktails for people to enjoy — both savory and sweet. Some of the drinks will be paired with a dessert side. He will bring tiki drinks, riff cocktails and modern twists to classic drinks, such as the gimlet and the old-fashioned.

“These are just to get the ball rolling, and show off what we can do down here,” Gray said. “All my bartenders love making cocktails.”

The plan is to provide a wide range of drinks. His experience as a Des Moines bartender offering tiki drinks is something Gray will be bringing to Marshalltown. He wants to give customers the full experience, such as watching a drink set on fire and getting a full cinnamon show.

“It’s a lot of fun times,” Gray said. “That has influenced me. I would really like to do stuff like that here.”

That doesn’t mean the only beverages served will come with a show. While he said they want everyone to try different stuff, simpler tastes will also be met. Patrons can still order a Jack and Coke or a screwdriver. Some craft beers will also be available.

“We want everyone to be welcome,” Gray said. “We don’t want just one type of people, such as the crazy or younger kids. We want everybody to be able to enjoy this space. That’s the whole thing behind it.”

Before the doors open to the public, he is focusing on training his staff and finishing the final touches to the space.

“It’s a lot of work,” he said.

A big fan of dive bars and basement bars, Gray said he enjoys the venue. Located at 207 E. Main St. in the basement of Dave & Sally’s, which is owned by his father Denny, the space was already set up for a bar. Previously, Brian tried to run a bar there before, but it did not go as planned. It was difficult to get the word out, but Gray learned valuable lessons in marketing — particularly with social media. He is applying that new knowledge to the Cellar Door.

“I wasn’t doing things the way I should,” he said. “I was going to bars and telling people to come here and let me make them a drink. I was doing the word-of-mouth thing, and I decided it would be better to have more people help me with it and get more of a team in here, rather than me doing everything myself.”

With his first bar, Gray thought if he could do a task, why would he need someone else to do it? Now, he is changing the whole approach and sharing the workload. Gray will maintain his employment in Des Moines, but will be at the Cellar Door on his days off to help his staff with necessary cocktail preps, such as dehydrations and garnishes.

“I won’t be here too often,” he said. “I will leave it up to them. I want them to have a place where they can be creative, as well.”

Not seeing a lot of venues in Marshalltown for patrons to display their creativity, Gray intends to make one. Growing up here, he has not been to anyplace which offers live poetry readings. That is one of the regular events Gray intends to bring downtown.

“I think anything for people to show that creative side would be amazing,” he said. “I’ve been to open mic nights where there’s been music and comedy. I’ve never seen anyone go up and spill their heart out with their poetry. I don’t know if people are shy, but I thought it would be something fun to do here.”

Gray would also like to host magicians, comedians, burlesque — anything creative which people would like to show off.

He is even tossing around the idea of offering classes for people who want to learn to bartend or produce cocktails at home.

“I would love to be able to teach more people,” Gray said. “Not everybody wants to do the hustle and bustle of bartending, but being at home with friends and being able to make a good cocktail and impressing your friends – that’s a whole different story.”

Food cocktails

The chicken noodle soup cocktail does not involve opening a can, dumping it into a container and topping it with alcohol. There are quite a few hours that go into the concoction. Gray said the cocktail is actually a different flavor martini.

To start, carrots, celery and onions are sauteed and seasoned according to a chicken noodle soup recipe. Once cooked through, the sauteed ingredients are kept in gin and set aside for at least one day, allowing the flavors to infuse. The solid ingredients are strained out of the gin. Then, Gray makes a rich chicken broth, and tops it with the gin.

They are working on the garnishes for the drink, such as creating chicken broth caviar pearls. The pearls would give customers an explosion of taste, he said.

The pearls are an example of molecular mixology — drinks created using science to alter ingredients — Gray wants to bring to Marshalltown.

“I really hope this place can hold that, because I don’t know anywhere else I can do it,” he said.

Gray only knows of one bar which creates food cocktails, and it’s in New York City.

“I want to do something crazy and off the wall,” he said. “I want people to think outside the box. I want people working here to be crazy and do stuff with food. My manager wants to do an orange chicken cocktail. I think that sounds delicious. Food and cocktails go hand-in-hand. Getting to the point where we can have it all together would be the best thing ever – doing food-heavy cocktails. Being able to enjoy that in the middle of small town Iowa would be awesome.”

Some other food cocktails to be offered at the Cellar Door are tomato-basil, cheesecake and Gray’s upcoming Ramen noodle cocktail.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.