Journeyman bartender Jason Rocksmore (Mulligan’s, the Old Gilbert Road Tavern, Kelly's Olympian, the Virginia Cafe) says he’s planning to open The Cavern, a whiskey-centric cocktail bar, in the abandoned Hawthorne Public House space at 4601 SE Hawthorne.

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Rocksmore has a band (Stumblebum, which our very own Ned Lannamann says "makes roaring, angry punk rock that would make Lemmy's mole tremble in fear”) and belongs to a record label collective (Volume Bomb Records).

The drinks menu, he says, will focus heavily on whiskeys, especially from Kentucky, Scotland, Ireland, and Japan.

“We'll be making classic cocktails and some simple craft cocktails but I'm not leaning into any specific genre or era.” In other words, no “whimsical” infusions or “eight different drinks that include egg whites.”

The food menu hasn’t been nailed down—Rocksmore just signed the lease and got the keys to the place—but he’s thinking charcuterie, sandwiches, melts, rice bowls, and skewers.

“I’m really looking to pull in the people in their 30s and 40s who live in and around Tabor, who maybe work weekdays but would really love a place in walking-biking-skating distance to enjoy a hard-to-find Hibiki (or three), catch a Timbers game, or maybe stop in for a few after the Bagdad,” he says.

The plan, Rocksmore says, is to open the space by the end of February. When it does, hours will be from 3 pm to midnight Sunday through Thursday and from 3 pm till 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Cavern: 4601 SE Hawthorne