D Lounge: How the Sanlitun icon was born

D Lounge is a Beijing nightlife legend that has been in the game for nine years and counting. When it first opened in the capital, the lounge concept was still a novelty. But it soon became popular with its eye-catching design and menu, and although almost a decade’s worth of new bars have come along in the meantime, D Lounge is still one of the hottest spots in town. Witness last year’s Drink Magazine Bar Awards, when D Lounge scooped the High Volume Bar title.

“I think the success of D Lounge can be contributed to the right timing, location and people,” owner Li Bo muses. “D Lounge was born at a time when the market demanded such a place, and its location in central Sanlitun definitely helped. And by the right people I mean Warren Pang [now of Janes & Hooch] and his team. I met Warren when D Lounge was still under renovation. He just moved to China but I thought he was perfect for the manager position. His style was younger than mine and the whole team were great.”

D Lounge is located in a building on Gongti Bei Lu, which Li rented in 2007. Now he’s transformed it into an f&b hub with neighbours such as Izaka-ya, Infusion Room, Scandal and the soon-to-open Late Night Dining Room. “This building was originally a factory constructed in the 1960s. It was really cool to see the old slogans still painted on the wall when I rented it,” Li says. However, the 10-metre-high ceiling made it difficult to decorate, so he decided to keep the minimal feel, without dividing the space into two floors. 

The decision proved to be right: the high, arched brick walls and the cave-like design behind the bar became the venue’s most recognised elements. First-time guests are often amazed by its grandness, after entering through a long, narrow corridor. “The original style of the building was too industrial, so we added some soft curves into the design. Otherwise it would have looked like a techno club,” Li explains.

Well, D Lounge is far from a techno club; as a matter of fact, you could even call it an art space. Since opening, Li has been very active in collaborating with galleries and artists, and the whole space has been dotted with paintings, sculptures and installations by different artists. Not surprisingly, it became known as a stylish night out – “so people would dress up when they come, which is nice”. 

The first group of guests at D Lounge were mainly from the fashion, media and art communities, clientele that are naturally vocal. The bar’s popularity therefore was achieved from word of mouth instead of advertising. But the crowd has changed after all these years. “I’d say the customer base of any venue is like waves – they always spread out,” says Li. “Now there are more people from financial and business circles than the media industry.”

Echoing the change, the best-selling drinks at D Lounge are now champagne, wine and Oasis Punch (rum, fresh musk melon juice, oolong tea syrup, lemon puree, ginger ale and tonic water), a shared drink tailor-made for group guests. “D Lounge is big – almost 500 square metres, and it’s mostly tables and sofas. The bar can only seat around 20 guests, and the 600 to 700 people coming on weekends will spend their night on the sofa. So we’ve developed this tropical punch and it sells really well.” The cocktail menu is updated once every three months, and the most recent 2018 spring-summer menu focuses on seasonal, refreshing flavours with such ingredients like passion fruit, strawberries and muscat grapes.

The music played at D Lounge is diversified – you’ll hear funk, acid jazz and folk according to the time of the night. There are DJs on Friday and Saturday, but even if you’re in the mood for dancing, there’s no dancefloor. “We want to make people move, but they can’t dance,” Li laughs, “because the focus will no more be on drinks if people start to dance. Our music only makes people want to move, and I think that’s what a lounge is about.”

A veteran in Beijing’s f&b industry (he opened his first bar Jazz.ya in Sanlitun 23 years ago), Li finds running a restaurant and a bar is slightly different. “For restaurants, the staff need to work with efficiency and team spirit. But for bars, you also need to offer your staff enough room to be creative, and you can’t kill their personality.”

Indeed, former general manager Kevin Song is full of personality: he became a star after winning the Chivas Masters 2015 with his drink-making skills and charisma. However, he left D Lounge and opened Scandal together with Li at the end of last year. Li admits that D Lounge lost some of its guests without Kevin there, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. “The original regulars at D Lounge were awesome – those from the media and art community, but every venue has its own cycles and nothing stays the same. We need to adapt according to the change. For Kevin, he really missed those old guests. So he opened Scandal in the hope of drawing them back.”

Li says he was a bit worried when Scandal opened its doors, but even though they’re so close to each other, there is no direct competition between the two because their crowds are so different. “D Lounge is more masculine, while Scandal is more feminine,” Li says. “Bars opening next to each other is not a bad thing if each has its own characteristics.” 

Looking back, Li says he might have been a bit too reserved when D Lounge was at the height of its growth. “People came to me for cooperation every day during those few years, but I was concerned the expansion might be bad for the brand, so I said no. But now I think I should have expanded – not for myself, but for my staff. Some of my best staff left D Lounge because there wasn’t enough space for their personal growth in one single venue. If I had opened more outlets, they would have stayed because there were more opportunities for them in terms of promotion, income and even life goals.”

So, how about expansion now? “I think now it’s a good timing because we’ve got a strong team at D Lounge. I don’t mean to open more big venues; what I have in mind are smaller bars with decent food and in other areas,” Li says. We can’t wait to see.

D Lounge，4 Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 010 6593 7710

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