Creator of Dirty Laundry to open retro bar
Stephen Schrutt, the creative driver behind the trendy Dirty Laundry and Good Fortune concepts, will introduce another new destination to downtown St. Petersburg in December.
Schrutt, the founder of the St. Petersburg-based Hunger Thirst Group (HTG), wants people to rekindle the nostalgia of the 1970s and ’80s in his new retro-themed cocktail lounge, Lost & Found. The plan is to open at 2420 Central Ave. mid-month.
It’s the former site of Somethin’ Different, a karaoke bar.
“I created the concept a few years ago and I’m always working on new ideas. I love the era, it has such great music that covers soul, rock, pop, disco/funk and more. A lot of the inspiration came from California during that time period,” Schrutt said, who is known for establishing unique destinations in St. Petersburg.
HTG is also the operator and founder behind Park and Rec, No Vacancy and The Avenue.
Schrutt worked with Joe Esposito of KW Commercial.
The Dirty Laundry Cafe.
The new vintage cocktail lounge in the 2,900-square-foot space will feature a large bar, and an outdoor area where a smaller bar will operate.
Lost & Found’s themed drinks, Schrutt explained, will pay homage to the era – a pornstar martini, a rusty nail, a zombie. The name of the lounge originated with the idea of a “lost and found box” filled with random items: clothes, sunglasses, hats, etc.
The property is large enough to accommodate food trucks on a rotating schedule.
“When I created the concept, I also did a food menu for it, which I always do for all of my concepts. For this space, I felt like there wasn’t room to build a kitchen, so the food truck option was the best way to still have food for our guests. I almost bought a food truck to be ours onsite, but the variety of having trucks made more sense,” Schrutt said.
Schrutt plans to hire roughly 20 team members, including management, bartenders, barbacks and cocktail servers.
Updates on the Lost & Found concept will be posted on its Facebook or Instagram accounts.
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The building at 2420 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. GoogleMaps.
