Castalia at Sfumato: Detroit

Photo courtesy of Featherstone Moments

3980 2nd Ave at W. Alexandrine St, Midtown, Detroit MI

By Erin Hildebrandt, Guest Writer

The Place: Fragrance shop by day, cocktail bar by night, set in the basement of a Victorian mansion. It almost feels like you’re being inducted into a secret society when you walk in, and I am here for it!  

Wintry Mix at Castalia

The Time: Saturday December 7th, 7:30PM. I finished all of my Christmas shopping in record time this year and am ready to treat myself! Knowing my affinity for fun scents, a friend of mine suggested Castalia a few weeks ago, so I head to Detroit to check it out for myself. As I approach Midtown, I am filled with dread as it dawns on me that tonight is Noel Night, and therefore finding a parking spot will likely be a sick joke. For those of you unfamiliar, Noel Night is a holiday themed open house where more than 110 venues ranging from bars, churches, art galleries, museums and more come together in a community development effort, produced by Midtown Detroit Inc. It’s a special evening and is important to help improve certain suburbanites’ opinion of the city (read: boomers), but I severely dislike crowds and was hoping for a more chill evening. Nevertheless, she persisted. Fortune favors the bold and I locate street parking within a reasonable walking distance - huzzah! 

The Vibe: The upper level of the mansion is home to Detroit Clothing Circle. To find Castalia, I proceed down the steps of the former estate to enter the basement level establishment - and boy-oh-boy is it busy. The interior looks like a sexy cave with exposed brick peeking through cement walls and awesome stained glass geometric-shaped light fixtures. The space is very intimate and typically only seats about eighteen. Knowing tonight would be hectic, the staff has removed the barstools, tables, and chairs to accommodate more patrons. There is one small section of the bar available so I immediately claim it; albeit - garnering a few strange looks from two nearby couples for flying solo (I presume) and I think to myself “no need to be alarmed folks, women are allowed out by themselves after dark nowadays.” The bar has a cement top with copper (and confetti!) inlay that reads “Mathematics is the language by which god made the universe” in Italian morse code. I’m uncertain what this Galileo quote has to do with fragrances or cocktails, but the bar looks great! Your usual contemporary holiday music is playing and I enjoy perusing the various cocktail accoutrements (bitters, cocktail recipe books, fancy muddlers, etc.) set out, and testing out their fragrances displayed on nearby tables while listening to Michael Bublé and sipping my drink.  

The Bartender: Two ladies are behind the bar, expertly taking care of their guests and addressing questions about the daytime fragrance shop and evening cocktail bar. I learn that the entire cocktail list is designed around their gender neutral scents, and the concept behind opening the bar portion of the business was to explore how significantly scent influences the way we perceive flavors. I dig it! 

The Drank: Each cocktail is paired with one of the all natural scents made in-house. Due to Noel Night, the menu is restricted to two cocktails, the “Wintry Mix” and “Hoho Cocoa.” I select the Wintry Mix ($7) which consists of pear brandy, rosemary, mint, soda water and is paired with the scent titled “Apricity.” I am given the direction to “sniff-drink-sniff” in order to get the full effect. I love the combo of flavors and scent but admittedly would appreciate more potency in my drink. 

Was I Hit On?: Nope! The only awkwardness I experience this evening is the mildly uncomfortable gazes from those few neighboring couples. Do they think I’ve been stood up? Or are they put off by a woman enjoying an evening alone? The world may never know, but mind your own scent, Janet!

Should You Drink Here Alone?: Without a doubt! Also, if I was single and in the dating scene, I’d be very impressed if someone brought me here. I cannot wait to come back, try a new cocktail and sniff-drink-sniff. 

Erin Hildebrandt is a Michigan native, a newlywed, an actor, and recently relocated to the Metro-Detroit area after living in New York for 3.5 years. www.erinhildebrandt.com